General

Observations from the annual GuildSomm survey

by  |  26-06-2017

If you’ve not seen it, GuildSomm has posted its 2016 salary survey which anyone, even non-subscribers to the site can view. They create this by putting out a poll that people answer anonymously on the... more »
Photo from Underwood Wines

Canned wine? Sure

by  |  08-06-2017

Apparently, there’s been a bit of chatter about canned wines lately. This must be a US happening, as I’ve been largely immune to it, especially as we have wine in tetra briks that can run... more »

Roseatis & the shark looming on Rosé’s horizon

by  |  03-06-2017

A few days ago, I received the press announcement for a new store dedicated solely to Rosé wine called, Roseatis. A Catalonia-based website that’s just in Spanish, I find the name horrible given that it... more »
Athens in 2015, I think?

Wine & Health

by  |  10-04-2017

Wine by definition is cyclical. The growing season presents us with a new vintage each year and this in turn defines the commentary on the beverage. I mention this as currently we’re seeing something of... more »
One year at the San Francisco Love Parade...

Natural, assholes, & how to get attention in wine writing

by  |  03-04-2017

It’s preferable to sit in the sidelines of wine and social media to let the bits retweet as they may. But what happens when you do actually need to stand out and “use” the internetz... more »

Building a wine & the art of the blend

by  |  21-02-2017

There are those that say winemaking is an art, but in truth, making the wine is a relatively simplistic process as it just comes down to letting grape juice ferment. Sure, there are many more... more »

Renaming English Sparkling Wine

by  |  02-02-2017

As of late there has been a bit of circulation in the wine trade about “English Sparkling Wine“, well, the name anyways. It’s a name that seems has been come about to as a compromise... more »

A tale of two New Zealand Pinot Noirs

by  |  08-01-2017

The wines of New Zealand are probably well-known via different ways depending upon where you are in the world. For instance, when living the US, everyone knew of the Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, but few knew... more »

“Wine lies” are still lies

by  |  03-01-2017

My plans for New Years were probably similar to those not terribly game for the evening which was to say, chilling with my dog and a bottle of Champagne from the “decent” range. But, at... more »

Wine Predictions for 2017

by  |  28-12-2016

This is of course that time of year when anyone writing in wine sets forth their grand predictions for this next trip around the sun. Yay! They can sometimes be interesting but, despite its slow... more »