It was American essayist-philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson who first suggested that the mentality that rates order, uniformity, and predictability too highly is not to be trusted.  ”A foolish consistency is the … <span class="entry-title-primary">We Prize it in Peanut Butter</span> <span class="entry-subtitle">How important is consistency in wine?</span>Read more

Book Review Shadows in the Vineyard: The True Story of a Plot to Poison the World’s Greatest Wine By Maximillian Potter We know from prison movies that inmates who really ought … Tedium in the Vineyard</br>Read more

I like wine that’s Italian and red. “I shall have a Barolo,” I said. But I had to think twice When they told me the price. Now I favor Barbera instead.  The … When Wine Doesn’t RhymeRead more

We returned to a familiar theme last week and played the game I call Three Bottle Monte at the tasting table in the wine shop where I work.  The bottles and … Not as advertised</br>Read more

Early in his career Robert Mondavi recognized that he could differentiate his California-made wine from those made in Europe by emphasizing the inherently fruity character of the former. In comparative tastings … Dirt is the new fruit</br>Read more

The twentieth may have been the American century, but it was during the eighteenth that we made the transition from an ethnically uniform but marginally viable colony of the British Empire … <span class="entry-title-primary">What Yankee Doodle drank</br></span> <span class="entry-subtitle">Whetting our whistles in a revolutionary time</span>Read more

  Glou-glou. Jaunty French slang for simple, fruity wine that’s so delightful to drink you scarcely give a thought to anything but the pleasure it gives.  I think of glou-glou (pronounce … Lingovino Monday</br>Read more

At large-scale tasting events one very good indicator that I’ve sampled something quite fine is a reluctance to spit the wine out, as is customary.  I used to consider this a … Wine’s Full Measure</br>Read more

Every trend has its own secret history, beginning when it’s still too small to be noticed and ending when its momentum is spent and energetic new trends overtake and supplant it. Between … <span class="entry-title-primary">Blip! </br></span> <span class="entry-subtitle">Part Two</span>Read more

Trendspotting is a game we all like to play, and if you’ve been in the news business you’d better be good at it. I’m not anymore (in the news business, I … <span class="entry-title-primary">Blip!</br></span> <span class="entry-subtitle">Part One</span>Read more

Like the fashion world it mimics, the world of wine likes to move a little faster than most of us can comfortably keep up with, thus the need for the occasional … Lingovino Monday</br>Read more

Today, it’s common for people choose wines the same way they choose movies: by consulting what they consider to be expert opinion. While it takes the two thumbs of a film critic … Ninety-eight thumbs too many</br>Read more