If you haven’t head about the plan to levy 100% tariffs on European wine (and cheese, whiskey, olive oil, and more food products), you have until January 13th, 2020 to express your displeasure. This will be a disaster for wineries, importers, distributors, restaurants, and retail shops. My friend Jeremy Parzen of Do Bianchi has written [More]
Good news, I smoked my Goodreads 2019 Reading Challenge. I set the bar at 30 books and am currently parked at 37…with a little over a day to go and only a few short pages left in number 38. Without further ado, here’s my Favorite Books 2019 list. Well, not a list per se but [More]
Initially I had a more provocative title for pushing the notion that pairing old wines with food is…perhaps counterproductive. But in my latest article for VinePair, the idea thankfully matured like a…well, you know what. I ended up getting my impertinence tempered by three wine experts: Heinz Frishengruber, managing winemaker/technical director at Domäne Wachau (Austria) [More]
I’ve been answering wine queries on the question and answer site Quora. I’ll share some of the most interesting questions I’ve been asked and, of course, my answers. I limit myself to spending a couple minutes on each response, not doing any research or “cheating.” I rely on my experience and opinion, which is probably not [More]
When I read Social Creature, then perused the reviews on Goodreads, I was surprised by the vitriol from folks calling it a cut-rate/derivative spin/lift of Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley. I really enjoyed Social Creature, but had no point of Ripley reference since I’ve never read said classic. But then fate intervened. Well, not [More]
I’ve been answering wine queries on the question and answer site Quora. I’ll share some of the most interesting questions I’ve been asked and, of course, my answers. I limit myself to spending a couple minutes on each response, not doing any research or “cheating.” I rely on my experience and opinion, which is probably not [More]
I got very ambitious as a reader, picking up a copy of a (nearly) 800-page book. No regrets! I gladly sacrificed some/much sleep to stay up and finish Labyrinth of the Spirits by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. Let’s take a look at my review on Goodreads, shall we? The Labyrinth of the Spirits by Carlos Ruiz [More]
A wine list that’s a thoughtfully chosen, slender guide can bring as much pleasure as an overstuffed tome, and it’s certainly easier to navigate. This was one of the thoughts running through my head while perusing a review copy of Natural Wine For The People by Alice Feiring. The book serendipitously arrived after a coworker [More]
