Nov 14, 2021
It has been years since any state seriously considered raising the age at which it is legal to drink. But it’s notable that for decades that age was not near what the mark is today in all states. Most would consider it folly to make an attempt to lower the legal drinking age. And I understand that. But I’m not one of those who think it is a bad idea. And now it appears that there are others who also…
Nov 5, 2021
Venturing somewhat outside his well-trodden cocktail lane at The Wine Enthusiast, Dylan Garrett makes a good point about the formula for enjoying wine. He makes the case that the worth or value of a wine ought to be properly defined by the enjoyment it brings the drinker and that this enjoyment is almost certainly related to the experience where the wine was consumed: “It’s time to step back and reevaluate how we define value. While there’s a thrill to sipping…
Nov 4, 2021
Oliver Styles’ recent call for drinking equity for wine industry workers is a variation on a common theme. It’s not a theme you see so enthusiastically endorsed these days primarily because long experience has demonstrated that the Marxist/communist principle “from each according to his ability to each according to his needs” has proven to be such a disaster for humanity. But to Styles’ argument, laid out at Tim Atkin site, put simply he advocates that the most coveted wines in…
Oct 26, 2021
Things you don’t see much these days: Fax-based marketing, beepers on hips, rotary phones and job listings for “Newspaper Wine Reporter”. And so it was with shock and honest giddiness that I perused a job description for a San Francisco Chronicle Wine Reporter. But let’s break this down. Back in the day, there were a number of “wine writers” that were employed in one way or another by large and medium-sized daily and weekly newspapers. They were rarely called “reporters”….
Oct 21, 2021
It’s just fine to buy wine with no intention of drinking it. It’s just fine to buy a wine with no more intention than having it and appreciating what it is without any intent to drink it. This is collecting. And sometimes it gets a bad name. “Label Sniffers”. “Ego Strokers”. “Snobs”. “Wine is for drinking.” These are some of the charges that sometimes are leveled at that group of collectors who purchase wine—often expensive wine—simply to have and keep…