Archive for the ‘Wine Media’ Category
If you meet enough people in your lifetime you eventually come to the conclusion that there is a scale upon which all people can be placed with "Tossers" at one end of the scale and "Savers" at the opposite end. Extreme Tossers are the least sentimental among us. They toss stuff out readily, surround themselves with only minimal reminders of who they are, never kept a scrapbook in their life, and can’t figure out why anyone would save that picture…
The new issue of Wine & Spirits Magazine is a fantastic read. The entire issue focuses on mavericks, revolutionaries and agents of change in wine (and food…for example, I learned that Goat is "in" and Pork Bellies are "out"…who knew!!) I’ve long thought that Wine & Spirits Magazine is setting the bar high for the rest of the traditional wine magazines and this is the issue to discover what I’m talking about. It was nice to see Wine 2.0 well…
I finally had a chance to give serious face time to Tyler (Dr. Vino) Colman’s newest book: WINE POLITICS: How Governments, Environmentalists, Mobsters, and Critics Influence the Wines We Drink. A book of this sort is so long overdue and I had been looking forward to it with such great anticipation that I nearly wet my pants when it finally arrived at my door. I cracked it open somewhere over Nevada on my way to the National Conference of State…
One of Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s many great roles was his brilliant and intimate portrayal of the uncool Cream Magazine Editor and writer Lester Bangs in the Cameron Crowe film "Almost Famous". Hoffman portrays the perennially uncool Bangs who, in 1973, believes Rock n Roll is in its death throws due to the "swill merchants" that have taken over the business of rock n roll and only care about business. There is a wonderful line in the film where Bangs is…
Joel Stein reminds us just how important a statement Richard Hofstadter made in his seminal 1963 work, "Anti-Intellectualism in American Life." This reoccurring theme we see throughout American history of folks aiming their disdain at intellectuals, "elites", and deep thinkers is at the core of Stein’s recent LA Times Column entitled, "The Language of Snobbery". Wrote Stein, "When wine drinkers tell me they taste notes of cherries, tobacco and rose petals, usually all I can detect is a whole lot…
