Archive for the ‘Culture and Wine’ Category
There some people in the wine business who can only be described as Legends, pure and simple. They’ve pioneered some part of the business or succeeded so profoundly on an individual level that their work has led to many others trodding a similar path after having been inspired. Kermit Lynch is one such legend. The importer of small, boutique French producers has introduced thousands of people to the joy and intimacy that comes with sipping something authentic. Lynch introduced the…
It’s no secret that a huge number of visitors to wine country come away with the idea in their head of how great it would be to make their own wine. Some have visions of owning a winery on Highway 29 in Napa. But most just want to take a shot at bottling their own wine. For these types there is a pretty large industry that caters to home winemakers. However, the learning curve can be pretty steep. Plus, there’s…
My sister and I connect in a lot of ways, but one of them is not wine. She doesn’t drink, so it’s hard to share my enthusiasm for wine. That’s one of the reasons I like stories like this one. Apparently scientists have determined that white wine occupied some of the vessels found in King Tuts’ tomb in Egypt. Previous stories had Tut enjoying only red wine. But liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry now show that wine wine was placed…
I made my peace with Valentines Day a long time ago. However, for quite some time I found the holiday somewhat offensive. In fact, I recall helping to organize a demonstration against the "Corporate Created, Guilt-i\Inspiring Holiday". Clearly our efforts didn’t have the effect we hoped for. Plus, a number of girlfriends, boyfriends and spouses of those of us leading the protest weren’t exactly sure how to view our actions. But, as I mentioned, I made my peace with Valentines…
Last night my wife and I watched what were probably the last four episodes of the best comedy to hit TV in the past five years. Arrested Development won Emmys for best comedy, best comedy acting, best writing, etc, etc. It was a critically acclaimed show. Yet, it was being cancelled. It occurred to me while watching and mourning that this could never happen in the wine business. A wine that received such critical acclaim would only succeed. So why…
