Dec 7, 2007
The 2007 calendar year is coming to an end an that prompts me to think harder about the past two months, to make assessments and to try to learn some lessons before we move on the perfectly lovely arbitrary notion of a "new year". The wine new of 2007 when looked at retrospectively turns out to be truly educational as well as a signal of what to anticipate in the coming year and years. Here are my most interesting news…
Nov 19, 2007
Over the past few weeks we at Wark Communications have been working on a catalog that presents various wines. It took a certain getting used to the idea, but after working on the project for a while and thinking about it, what became clear was that wine catalogs are all about sex. Well, not the messy —let’s make children—"hand me the smokes, dear"—kind of sex. Rather, creating this kind of catalog is all about turning the switch on a person’s…
Nov 12, 2007
Folks who find themselves arguing against ratings systems for wine, particularly the exacting 100 point scale rating system, often retreat, eventually, into what can only be called the "Final Point": Wine tasting is ultimately a subjective thing! It’s often a point that is offered as coup de grace in an attack on rating wine. A more robust assertion looks like this: "Even if one can accurately describe a wine using a rating system and words, the critic’s palate is just…
Nov 6, 2007
“Wine doesn’t submit very happily to scores, but I realize people making buying decisions are in a hurry … We live in a very impatient age.” "A Very Impatient Age"! This is Jancis Robinson, the English wine scribe, explaining the factor that provoked her to use scores on reviews of wine on her subscription website, Jancisrobinson.com. This explanation of her giving in to scores came in an article and interview with her by Appellation America’s Alan Goldfarb. The bulk of…
Oct 22, 2007
Even before I review it, which I will be doing, I want to bring your attention to a new book that will be published on October 29: Wine and Philosophy: A Meritage of Vintage IdeasEditor: Fritz Allhoff I was very excited to learn of the publication of this compilation of papers and essays that seek the nexus between wine, the experience of drinking wine and philosophy. I’ve come to believe that few pursuits are as ripe as wine drinking for…