The Wine Idea

As a winemaking technique the process known as carbonic maceration has some public relations issues: Its association with mass-market Beaujolais nouveau for one; a few too many syllables in its name for another. Throw in that it involves grapes that are never crushed and somehow ferment without the help  of yeasts and you’re losing people…

As we prepare to close out a year like no other with a holiday season like no other, it’s a good time to think about the meaning of gifts and what’s behind them. It’s often said that it’s the thought that counts. But the point of a gift — or one point, surely — is…

Dear Santa, It’s the night before Christmas! We can’t believe it’s been a whole year since your last visit. So much has happened. We’ve gone vegan. And you, we hear, married your longtime partner. Mazel tov, you old romantic! This is a holiday season like no other, so we’re especially delighted to welcome our dear…

The national authorities responsible for such things have strict rules about what can be said on a wine label. But there’s always room for creativity, and it can be hard to know where legally sanctioned terms leave off and marketing begins. In the latter category are references to the age of vines that are the…

Why is a set of wines arranged in a particular order for tasting purposes referred to as a flight? Even the venerable Oxford English Dictionary doesn’t seem to know. Its editors don’t give an example of the word used in this way. In wondering about the use of the term in this context, it’s natural…

In my mind, he wine experience is readily categorized into three distinct areas of operations. And, while two of these, the making of wine and its imbibing, draw the bulk of the attention, the area lying chronologically between them — activities connected with the keeping, serving or polite consumption of wine — I find frequently neglected. What constitutes…

If you love the world of wine, there’s no corner of its territory that’s without interest – not a single one you wouldn’t care to explore if you had the time and pocket money.  A field of vines set in orderly array has the same aesthetic appeal wherever it’s found, yet every vineyard is somehow…

Most of us turn to wine, if not as a vehicle of relaxation, at least as a gateway to it. If you’ve gone so far as to acquire the apéritif habit, the first glass of the day typically marks the moment you’ve set work aside and begun the slow, evening unwind. Later, there may be…

Shall we call them microflora or microfauna?  That depends on whether you categorize them among the plants or the animals. And since the biologists don’t seem to be able to give an unambiguous answer, who are we to presume to know?  All we can say for sure is that absent the vast, unseen and unremunerated…

They come from the mountains or the desert, most often – wild, uncultivated places where the hand of man has yet to make much of an imprint. They are themselves of this character: roughshod, unshaven and not exactly fresh from the bath. They have bees in their bonnets. They are not in the mood for…

Thinking about how we think about wine can be an enlightening exercise — and a humbling one. As an example, consider the ways we organize wines in a retail setting. Routinely, it’s a bit like the brochures in a travel agency — which is to say, by destination. Thus, the Italian wines huddle in their…