It was in shabby but comfy French cafés that I learned that common folk typically took their wine in tumblers – and decided that, since I was common folk myself, I … Glass MenagerieRead more

Oak barrels have been important in winemaking for a very long time, and the spice and vanilla flavors they impart are by now familiar. The drama added by aging in new … Oakus PocusRead more

The answer is yes, I think, so long as you can set the question firmly within a context. The era matters, as does the place. If you lived in an isolated … Does the Ideal Wine Exist?Read more

It’s a question we ask ourselves nearly every day – not so much because we worry about the breadth of our posterior parts (though this is never far from our minds), … Does This Wine Make My Butt Look Big?Read more

Unaccountably, many people who are perfectly capable as both cooks and hosts find themselves at sixes and sevens when it comes to bringing suitable wines to their holiday tables. Since I … <span class="entry-title-primary">Keep Calm and Pass the Pickled Beets</span> <span class="entry-subtitle">Solving the Holiday Wine Riddle</span>Read 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

Is that which is complete inherently better than what is incomplete? By definition, the complete thing has and does it all; the incomplete, something less.  What’s complete is fully fleshed out, … <span class="entry-title-primary">Must a wine tick all the boxes?</span> <span class="entry-subtitle">Why I'm besotted with incomplete wine</span>Read more

 I do my best to avoid using wine jargon – but sometimes I don’t recognize it when I speak it.  Asked to describe a red wine, I might talk about extraction, … <span class="entry-title-primary">Watching the Clock and the Color</span> <span class="entry-subtitle">To understand winemaking, brew up a nice pot of tea</span>Read more

The signature on a document, work of art or other object is a mark of origination: A sign that attests to the individual responsible for the existence of a thing. Although … Sign Here, Please.Read more

Wine ‘splainin is surely as old as wine itself, or, if not quite, then at least as old as wine whose source could not be taken for granted by the person … <span class="entry-title-primary">Wine ‘Splainin</span> <span class="entry-subtitle">Must wine always have a spokesperson?</span>Read more

What do an ideal cup of coffee and an ideal glass of wine have in common?  To answer that question allow me to introduce Giorgio Milos (above), master barista for the … <span class="entry-title-primary">The Right Beans</span> <span class="entry-subtitle">What wine drinkers can learn from a proper cup of joe</span>Read more

Emile Zola’s 1873 novel Le Ventre de Paris (The Belly of Paris) opens with a pre-dawn parade of horse-drawn carts laden with produce making their way into the city’s public food … <span class="entry-title-primary">Wine and the City</span> <span class="entry-subtitle">What makes connoisseurship possible?</span>Read more