Apr 9, 2014
There are pros and cons to the idea that the loser in a civil lawsuit ought to be required to pay the legal fees of the winner. The “pro” side of that argument was aptly demonstrated in this lawsuit, brought by a wine drinker who sued a wine retailer simply because he did not like the wine be bought from the store. First, imagine the kind of marketplace that would be created if a consumer could return a product and…
Mar 24, 2014
Do you ever start to wonder if there might be something seriously wrong with your mental or emotional capacity due to the fact that so many people understand or agree with something that is instead entirely lost on you? This is how I feel about the idea of rating or ranking something that is nearly entirely a subjective experience: Wine. Yet, recently I’ve read so many different explanations as to why the idea of rating wine on the 100 points…
Jan 31, 2014
It’s not the easiest thing, nor the least expensive thing, to have our wine reviewed positively by an authoritative wine critic or wine-related publication. So when it happens, it’s important for the producer and vendors of the wine to take full advantage of occasion; to extend the life and utility of the positive review. But first, ignore anyone who tells you that the reviews published by wine critics are a useless, waning in marketing value, ignored by any particular generation…
Dec 24, 2013
I’m a fairly close observer of what we have come to call “The Wine Media”. My 20+ years observing the writing and reporting of all things wine, and any expertise I’ve accumulated as a result, is part of what I offer my clients—who hire me and keep me around in part because I’m a fairly reliable analyst of the wine media. I make a living understanding the wine media, how it works, what it wants and who reads it. Me…
Nov 5, 2013
If a Sonoma Pinot Noir tastes much more like a Burgundy Pinot Noir than it does a Sonoma County Zinfandel, isn’t this a very strong argument for making varietals the organizing idea behind wine? This is the question that occurred to me when I read Andrew Jefford’s article in Decanter that made the opposite case. Jeffords, who is a very clear-headed, succinct and thoughtful writer, gave us the money quote to his argument early in the article when he wrote…