Oct 20, 2006
Have you noticed the sheer number of books that are written every year that are essentially there to tell you what you taste? Magazines too. Wine magazines and newsletters and food publications essentially exist to tell you what things taste like. Sure, there’s info on why things taste the way they do and what tastes best combined with what and how to make things taste a certain way. But in the end, food and wine writing is all about talking…
Oct 6, 2006
Buy this book. And be happy to pay full price. "What to Drink with What You Eat" by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page is the most comprehensive, illuminating and useful book of its type I’ve yet to come across. What it is? We are talking about a guide for food and wine matching, very simply. But that’s the key: very simply. There are two essential parts to this book. The first is an alphabetical listing of foods from Aioli to…
Oct 4, 2006
There’s a new wine sheriff in town and his name is Blair Campbell. Blair is the newish wine writer for the East Bay Express. I’m not sure how I missed what can only be labeled a most audacious rant in which he takes to task those phonies who read the Wine Spectator or make any time for wines that cost more than $10. It’s pretty impressive. To be fair, this original article of Campbell’s, "Ashamed of That Cheap Wine You’re…
Sep 28, 2006
From the looks of the various studies that have emerged over the past couple of decades you might conclude that drinking wine is the cure for all ills. Now I’m thinking that drinking might also be the cure for stagnant wages. A new study conducted by the Reason Foundation in Los Angeles has concluded that Drinkers make between 10% and 14% for income than non-drinkers. Furthermore, social drinkers (defined as those who go to a bar at least once per…
Sep 26, 2006
Today Wark Communications will help Saintsbury carry out the kind of even that I am most fond of: A tutored tasting of wines gong back 20 years conducted and hosted by the owners of Saintsbury and their winemaker. I personally like these events because they appeal to the geek in me, they give me time to really consider the way wines age and the pace is always appropriate. The attendees will be mainly wine writers and members of the wine…