Category: Recent Columns

Wine scores. Oh, my. On one level, ridiculous. On another level, essential to wine’s success over the past half century. Some observations. Continue reading →

Happy New Year. We survived another sun circumnavigation. Sunlight grows slowly longer. Spring rebirth looms over the sere, cold-swept horizon. Endure these last temperature-challenging months, and we emerge into warm, bright shining mornings. Two wine types provide solace during this frost-dusted interlude: Porto and sherry. Continue reading →

This column runs on Wednesdays in most markets—Christmas Day in 2024. If you have not secured your wine before now, no chance today. We can, however, look forward to New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Continue reading →

With Christmas/holiday feasts coming soon, what is the ideal alcohol percentage for wine paired with food? The answer is 10-14%. Why? Continue reading →

If you have a wine lover on your Christmas/holiday gift list, some recommendations. Continue reading →

Wine is in turmoil. People are turning to alcohol alternatives. Red wine sales are down, white and rosé are up. French and Italians and Spanish are drinking less wine. There is a glut of wine. What?! Continue reading →

Thanksgiving is the great American gastronomic holiday. Halloween is for foolishness, costumes, and candy. Christmas is for worship, family, and unseemly lust for gaudily wrapped material goods (somewhat antithetical to the Christian origin of the holiday). Continue reading →

It takes two to four centuries to grow the oak tree for a wine barrel. Then, after tree harvest, four, usually more, years to season the wood and the staves. Finally, it is time to turn the staves into a wine barrel. Continue reading →

Wine is an agricultural product. Hardly an earth-shattering revelation. But consider its scope. Not just wine vines, as essential as they may be, but in many cases—trees. Continue reading →

Some facts and trivia to lighten your mood as we prepare for the horrors of “fall back” when the government gives back the imaginary hour it stole from us on the second Sunday in March. Continue reading →