Archive for the ‘Wine Media’ Category

Feb 24, 2021

The Plain Facts of Diversifying Wine Writing

Diversity and inclusion in the wine industry have been top of mind for some while now within the trade. And it seems appropriate that this topic has been frequently addressed by the industry’s communicators: media, writers, and reporters. Let’s state for clarity the obvious: There is no downside to a diverse contingent within the communications side of the wine industry. If you need proof of this, think back to the time when blogs emerged on the scene and there was…

Jan 18, 2021

Stalin, the Khmer Rouge and Wine Influencers

It’s not often that you get to read in a wine article in which “Wine Influencers” are compared to Joseph Stalin or the Khmer Rouge. In discussing the claim by Influencers that they work hard at the thing they do, James Lawrence, writing at Wine-Searcher went and did it: “even if we accept that this firmament [Wine Influencers] can sell a lifestyle, and the associated brands, the defense of “working hard” is fatuous. History’s worst men and women have ‘worked…

Dec 24, 2020

My Favorite Wine Book of the Year

Let me state right out of the gates that Jamie Goode’s new book, The Goode Guide to Wine: A Manifesto of Sorts, is a fabulous read, very unique in its form and structure, entertaining, thoughtful and quite easily one of the best wine books released this year. I also disagree with much of what is in it, yet I can’t seem to stop picking it up and re-reading it. In what is a relatively small little book comprising a short…

Nov 17, 2020

Wine Writing In the Age of COVID

Thinking about my 16th anniversary at the helm of FERMENTATION, it is the uniqueness of the current moment rather than the longevity of my efforts that strikes me today. I don’t think I am alone among those that write about wine and the wine industry in noticing that the wine writing space has been enveloped by a filter colored by COVID’s impact and the adjacent influences particular to the moment. The analytical effort of describing and commenting on this industry…

Mar 18, 2020

The Passing of Michael Broadbent MW and a Debt Owed

I can’t be sure how much it amounts to, but I know that I owe Michael Broadbent a debt. The great Michael Broadbent MW has passed at the well-cellared age of 92. The man was an absolute giant in the international wine world. I’m not sure he can be replaced nor should he. As one would expect, Jancis Robinson has penned the best obituary/remembrance of Mr. Broadbent. I recommend it. As for my debt, it is directly related to Broadbent’s…