As I type this, over on Twitter, Dr. Vino, Steve!, and lord knows where else, folks are rehashing—with considerable vitriol—arguments on the merits of 100-point wine ratings, or lack thereof. This got me thinking about what it takes to assign meaningful numerical value to a wine’s attributes—something I have had some experience with at points [...]
Archive for the ‘Topical’ Category
Consumers Finally Ask About Alcohol Levels
There’s little need for me to rehash the back-and-forth in the wine media regarding alcohol levels: in short, the wheel has turned and we are back in the 1980s when it was fashionable to criticize California wine for having high alcohol. Here we are again. The difference this time around is that there is a [...]
Natural Wine Myth
Tom Wark recently posted a criticism of the “natural wine movement” on his blog, titled “Authentic Wine and Mistaking the Tail For the Snout” where he says: In many ways the “Natural Wine” and now “Authentic Wine” movement is well behind the curve. Winemakers the world over have long embraced the notion of exposing terroir [...]
Wine Aeration Fail
A while back I did a post titled “To Decant Or Not” where I expressed opposition to the idea that decanting (other than to remove a wine from sediment), aerators, or blenders improves wines subjected to that treatment. In my post I suggested that “improvement” is relative, and that not everyone would agree. Writing for [...]
The Greatly Exaggerated Demise of Syrah
For the past several years when I have shown our wines to distributors, brokers and retailers I have heard the refrain: “Pinot? Sure. Blend? Maybe. But I (we) can’t move any Syrah… especially not at your price point.” It seems to me that many (most?) critic types have piled on, at the very best damning [...]
Biochar & Yeast Nutrition
I love Twitter. For example, biochar would not be on my radar today if I was not following @RandallGrahm on the platform. I remember reading an article on terra preta some time ago (might have been this article in National Geographic) but it is Randall’s sustained expression of enthusiasm for biochar as a vineyard amendment [...]
To Decant Or Not
That is the question. I have a number of decanters around the house. I use them when I have a wine that needs to be removed from a sediment in the bottle. But I never decant a wine hours before serving it to let it “breathe” and I don’t own one of those thingamajiggys that [...]
Demagoguery At The Wine Party
When I am into harvest there is not much else that can get my attention. When harvest is on, I’ve got my head down, in the moment. But at the moment for me harvest is decidedly not on–yet (see my last post). Oh, I am busy–don’t mistake me–mostly selling wine but also monitoring and managing [...]
Wine Marketing As A Sandwich
Yeah. A sandwich. Bear with me–this ain’t rocket science. First and foremost–if your filling is not delicious, you aren’t even in the game. It can’t be a great sandwich if the filling is not delicious. The filling can be many things–hopefully many things that complement each other. But fillings are distinct from condiments. If you [...]
Judging A Wine On Its Own Merits
I recently came across this exchange between Wine Wonkette (Amy Corron-Power) and 1 Wine Dude (Joe Roberts) on Amy’s “Another Wine Blog” (which is up for a 2011 Wine Blogger Award–and BTW so is Joe’s blog). Joe: “Do critics give decent ratings to wines that they don’t personally like but otherwise are made well, just [...]
