Author: Stephen Meuse

Wine’s long history is replete with fact and fancy. Over the centuries, its enthusiasts have wrapped it in a cloud of myths, tropes and what today we call memes. One of … Connoisseurship. Still a Thing?Read more

We’re living through a period just now when the more natural a wine is, the more cachet it enjoys. We have no argument with this, exactly, except insofar as . . … Wine’s Geyser FantasyRead more

The benefits of preparation are pretty well-established by now, wouldn’t you say?  It’s why you read all the directions before assembling your IKEA bookshelf, and why you do a mise en … The Pleasures of the House PourRead more

Yes is welcoming. Yes is affirming. In a negotiation, yes is the thing we strive to get to. In the Wine Corner, we like saying and hearing yes, but sometimes a … It Ain’t Necessarily SoRead more

Much maligned, but still a bit too useful to do away with altogether, Sigmund Freud, above, taught us that the best analogy for the mental life of the individual isn’t that … Is That You, Ego? It’s Me, Id.Read more

The 2025 Beaujolais Nouveau has arrived, and has been sitting cooly and calmly in the FK wine cellar, as we waited for the calendar to tell us that it’s legal to … Solemn Sacrament or Just Hot Potato?Read more

Here in the Wine Corner, we don’t go in much for fancy dress — you won’t find us stocking shelves or flourishing our feather dusters in monogrammed jumpsuits or sporting FK-branded … Lab Coats, Everyone!Read more

In 1989, when the film Harry Met Sally was a box office smash and its now famous line “I’ll have what she’s having” restaurant scene (see a clip here) was just … I’ll Have What I’m HavingRead more

Like every other product, practice, trade or cultural artifact, wine has a history — and it’s quite a long one. Evidence of fruit-based fermentations reaches back well into the murky depths … What Next for Wine?Read more

The signature on a document, work of art, or other created thing is a mark of origination: a sign that associates the object in some definitive way with those responsible for … SignatoriesRead more

I’ve written elsewhere about the age-old romance between the wine vine and trees, and of the numerous ways in which the two have interacted over the centuries. It’s understandable that this … Still Over a BarrelRead more

Some of the chief pleasures wine affords derive from the effects it produces on the special, hyper-sensitive tissue that lines our mouths — the way it grasps the lips, tongue, gums … You Feel Me?Read more