Yearly Archives: 2018
How to Open the Doors of Portception
With (deep) apologies to William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell along with Aldous Huxley’s The Doors of Perception and the Doors of “Peace Frog” and more: If the doors of Portception were cleansed every thing would appear to people as they are, Infinite. For people have closed themselves up, till they see all [More]
Maybe I Should Be Less Judge-y About Alcohol Levels in Wine
A while ago I was having a phone conversation with a winemaker. I remarked on a Chardonnay (made by said winemaker) I enjoyed with a listed ABV of 14.5%*. The dialog about wine alcohol levels went something like this: Me: “I really dug that Chard, was surprised it was so good with the alcohol that [More]
Headed to Portugal: Boats, Trains and Planes
Greetings from the Newark Liberty International Airport, good ol’ EWR. I’m waiting to board a flight to Lisbon then Porto for a media trip sponsored by Symington Family Estates. It’s my first visit to Portugal in (gasp!) six years. What will I be doing while I’m there? I’m glad you asked. My first full day [More]
Australian Chardonnay Comparative Tasting
I was invited to attend an Aussie wine seminar (thanks, Wine Australia!) and I didn’t know what the topic was until I sat down. I was delighted to see I’d be undertaking a comparative (blind) tasting of Australian Chardonnay. Since it was put on by Wine Australia, a bunch of the wines were going to [More]
François Villard Makes the Ultimate Viognier For Under $30
I’m grateful when I get to go to big wine trade tastings, but they can be overwhelming. One hundred-plus tables, many of them crowded with clamoring masses, yearning to drink taste free. My advice is to go in with a battle plan. Study that spiral-bound playbook you get on arrival! But sometimes it’s dumb luck [More]
Delinquente Wine Makes Fizzy Fresh Fun in a Bottle
After a comparative Australian Chardonnay tasting (stay tuned ) I shoveled in as many little sandwiches as I could and contemplated a walk-around tasting put on by Wine Australia. I was hovering near the Wine Dogs Imports table and, since they are a friendly lot, decided to check on a familiar label. I’ve had the rosé [More]
Chilean Wine Podcast
My recent conversation with Rodrigo Soto got me thinking about Chile. So it was quite serendipitous that not long after I wrote about it, I got to speak with Michael (“Schach”) Schachner. He reviews the wines of Chile for The Thuse and we had a lively discussion about the state of the country’s wine industry and what’s [More]
