I’ve been talking longer than I’ve been writing so it’s about time I launched a podcast. Wine Without Worry is live, and my first episode is a great half hour chat with Bryan Maletis of Fat Cork. It’s a Champagne 101 for anyone curious about what makes the wines and the region so special. After [More]
Leading Between The Vines Evokes The Heart of German Riesling
Besides the act of pouring it down my gullet, nothing has had a bigger impact on my appreciation of German Riesling than the writings of Terry Theise. He has discovered, rediscovered, and championed some of the most compelling wines in the world. So I was suitably geeked as a member of the wine media to [More]
Champagne Is Way Better Than Cable
This was definitely my 2012 Wine Quote of the Year, made even more sparkling for concerning Champagne. I wish I could take credit for saying it, but this quote comes from David Speer, owner of the Champagne bar Ambonnay in Portland, OR. I asked him, “What if I don’t have a Champange budget?” His response: [More]
Resolve for a New Year
Are you a New Year’s Resolutions type of person? I’m not. Normally New Year’s Eve is a time for me to become extra anxious about the year past. (Or passing, rather.) I like to go back and think about what happened over the year. The Good. The Bad. The Regretful. And then I replay the [More]
2012: Full of Tote Bags, Oregon, and Skittles
I’m feeling guilty that I didn’t hand-select my 5 favorite blog missives for this post. (“Then why didn’t you do it? Lazy blogger! Boo!”) But I like the idea of letting the numbers decide my Top 5 Posts for 2012. It was surprising and very curious to see what resonated the most. But next year [More]
A Top Pinot Noir from Germany and Things I Never Saw Coming
When I think about this class photo of me from high school (that my mother holds dear enough to prominently display in her home), I never anticipated that confronting this image 20+ years after it was taken would give rise to a range of emotions including (but not limited to): horror embarrassment shame nostalgia I [More]
FREE: My Ebook in the Beginners Guide to Wine Series
Hey, did you know I wrote an ebook in the “Beginners Guide to Wine” series? It’s about the Melon de Bourgogne grape, which makes one of my all-time favorite wines in France’s Loire Valley: Muscadet. The good folks at Demand Media Studios are letting me offer up a free copy from now until 11:59pm Sunday, [More]
Other People’s Pinot Noir is Not Naughty, Naturally
If your salad days were in the 1990s and you’re a wine blogger, I defy you to write about the 2010 Mouton Noir O.P.P. (“Other People’s Pinot” Noir) and not think of the ubiquitous Naughty by Nature song. It was inescapable in 1991. Well, I was able to escape it. I think I spent most [More]
