Jan 3, 2021
Wine is a commodity. The vast majority of wine released for sale every year is drunk casually and within hours or a few days of being purchased by consumers who bought the wine because it fit their budget and the label was pretty. And yet, wine is also an important and permanent item among humanity’s small collection of enduring treasures. Ideas as to what it is about wine that puts it in this exclusive category are many, expressed by thoughtful…
Dec 22, 2020
The point of identifying trends is to help hedge one’s future risk. If we can predict what will come we are more likely to flourish where there is a real risk of being overrun by events. As I have for many years, here I look ahead a year to two out and attempt to articulate how current trends will impact the wine industry. In some respects, this year’s foray into predicting the future is easier than in past years. For…
Dec 15, 2020
One of the fundamental principles of thievery (as it has been explained to me) is the value per pound of the item to be stolen. The greater this ratio, the more complex the thriving operation: heavy things are hard to move while lighter things are more easily spirited away. This explains why identity theft is so attractive. The object of the theft is without weight. This calculation, however, has always called into question for me the reasonableness of stealing wine,…
Dec 12, 2020
It’s always interesting to look back and see which posts attracted the most readership here at FERMENTATION during the year. As is has been in past years, 2020 readers were attracted most to those posts that touched on the current events in American culture. Below are the top 10 most-read posts of 2020 beginning with the most read. 1-Data Shows Wine Economists Are Wrong — Wine Industry Does Not Support Donald Trump This mini-controversy roiled the online wine world for…
Dec 10, 2020
“Our most protective urges are almost always saved for our family first. Blood relations or otherwise, our immediate family tends to be the folk we are quickest to rise up and protect and defend when treated unfairly, threatened, or intimated in wrongdoing. “Why this is the case is unimportant to me. Why our protective urges are on greatest display when family is involved may have many explanations. All I do know is that I would leap into a boiling vat…