The Wine Idea

Since my job is essentially to meet and chat with guests  and answer their questions about wine, I have a pretty good idea of what’s on their minds.  What follows are the five questions I field most often, and how I respond to them.

Assigning numerical scores on the 100 point scale has emerged as a standard tool for navigating the complicated world of wine. The intent to simplify may originally have been legitimate and … <span class="entry-title-primary">Do Numbers Point the Way to Better Wine?</span> <span class="entry-subtitle">Don't Count On It</span>Read more

Wine has a long history, 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 … <span class="entry-title-primary">The Guessing Game</span> <span class="entry-subtitle">The reliable markers used to identify wine are blurring</span>Read more

Judging from the questions we field in the Formaggio Kitchen wine corner and what we hear in the classes we regularly conduct (if you haven’t been to one, you’re missing out), the … The Pairing PuzzleRead more

When the exotic beverage known as coffee first appeared in Europe in the second half of the seventeenth century, inns, taverns, alehouses, pubs and caterers of every description were already well-entrenched. … Meet Me at the CaféRead more

The first order of business for the Biblical patriarch Noah — once the ark came to rest on Mt. Ararat and he and the fam set their sandals down on dry land … The Mother VineRead more

TThe first order of business for the Biblical patriarch Noah — once the ark came to rest on Mt. Ararat and he and the fam set their sandals down on dry … The Bug That Remade the Vineyards of EuropeRead more

Wine grape varieties don’t generally send out end of year letters as many families do. But if they did, some of the more interesting would surely be those leaking from the pens of … Keeping Up with the SangiovesesRead more

A few years ago, I visited the island of Vulcano, one of a flotilla of small land masses that poke up from the Tyrrhenian Sea off the northeast coast of Sicily. It’s the … <span class="entry-title-primary">Wine’s Old Frenemy</span> <span class="entry-subtitle">Sulfur Dioxide and its Discontents</span>Read more

The mystery of what exactly constitutes human nature seemed a step closer to solution when, in 1800, a young boy was found living without family or adult supervision in the wilds of the Aveyron in … Wine and the Wild ChildRead more

THIS WEEK IN THE WINE CORNER: Good of you to take time to talk with us here in the Wine Corner, Easter Bunny. Few people know that you’re passionate about wine. … Easter Bunny: The InterviewRead more

  Human beings are marvelously equipped to enjoy the vast and detailed spectrum of sensations brought to them by their food and drink. Strange then, that science should maintain that our ability to taste is limited … Wine and the BitterverseRead more