Author: Stephen Meuse

The wine world isn’t unique in prizing expertise; Let’s just say that it does so to an exaggerated degree. Ask someone, just offhand, to associate a subject domain with the word connoisseur, … Must You Be a Know-it-All?Read more

When helping our clientèle choose wine, I typically suggest several options that seem appropriate — at different price points. What typically follows is a conversation about what qualities attend a more … The Price is RightRead more

From time to time, winemakers will drop by our cellar to present and talk up their wines  We love having an in-person opportunity to ask all kinds of questions about how … The Style IssueRead more

Millions of wine drinkers rely on tasting notes provided by celebrity critics to direct their wine-buying. I’m not going to argue the advisability of such practice except to note that one … Moving PicturesRead more

Is this seat taken? No? How lucky for me! Mind if I plop down? Chances are that we’ve met before, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised or offended if my … Call Me CounoiseRead more

A vigorous world trade in wine had existed for perhaps a thousand years when the western Roman Empire collapsed and cities, key hubs of both mercantile organization and of customers keen … Prayer into WineRead more

We’re not talking about Ball, Teale, Davis or Inman squares here (as you Cambervillians may be thinking). No, this is about conceptual squares and how what we’re calling Next Square Thinking … A Visit to the Next SquareRead more

The people who work hard everyday to present a positive image of wine and wine culture like to emphasize wine’s ancient lineage and unbroken continuity. The simple process of harvesting grapes … Topsy, Meet TurvyRead more

Were we to pen a biography of wine, we might start out with a chapter entitled The Early Years – as many bios do.  There, we’d tell the story of how … Raising a Glass to Good Enough WineRead more

”A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds” Ralph Waldo Emerson (that’s the old troublemaker himself, above) memorably opined. But in the world of commerce, consistency is pretty much everything … Should We Be Talking About Continuity?Read more

That’s Orson Welles who as a 23 year-old wunderkind set America’s nerves on edge with the 1938 radio play War of the Worlds — listeners believed they were hearing a live … No Wine Before Its Time?Read more

I’ve written before in this space about what I like to call the fog of wine — that state we all get into from time to time; feeling lost in a cumulus of … In Case You Mist ItRead more