The Wine Idea

The Georgians – and here I refer to those denizens of the Caucasus Mountains rather than the inhabitants of the sprawling suburbs of Atlanta — claim to be on vintage no. 8000, or thereabouts. If true, their boast sets the origin of wine culture deep into the era we call the neolithic and makes wine older than…

It seems laughable now, but in European theaters it was once common practice for the impresario to hire applauders for opening night. Claques, as they were called, were brought in to give it up enthusiastically for the playwright and cast at the end of the debut performance with a view to ensuring a long run. I…

An 18th century French prime minister once described the proper way to engage with wine this way: First one looks at the wine, then one smells the wine, then one talks about the wine. Whether he may have advanced so far as to actually taste the wine is not known, but there’s nothing to beat this oft-quoted…

The chattering classes of the the food and wine world find plenty to argue about, but I think its safe to say that there is today near-universal agreement on one point: we all want to know where the things we eat and drink come from, how they were made, and by whom. Indeed, it’s our…

First-time visitors to Central Bottle in Cambridge, Massachusetts are generally charmed by its appealing design and handsome, understated  furnishings. I can tell you it’s a pleasure to spend a workday in its light, cheerful space. The near-absence of signage leaves some shoppers a little disoriented, though. “How are the wines organized here?” is a frequent…

Proportion and scale are important in wine, particularly when it comes to matching food and wine at the table.  A powerful dish will overwhelm a slender wine, no matter how elegant, and vice versa. It works that way in the sales chain, too.  It’s hardly ever the case that a large, well-capitalized wholesaler will willingly…

The benefits of preparation are pretty well-established by now, wouldn’t you say?  It’s why you read all the directions before assembling your IKEA bookshelf, and why you do a mise en place (peel, chop, slice and measure all ingredients) before you begin to cook.  Take a similarly thoughtful approach to buying wine in the new…

In 2004, independent filmmaker and ex-sommelier Jonathan Nossiter administered a royal skewering to some of Big Wine’s biggest wigs with his quirky, accusatory documentary Mondovino.  In one of the film’s more memorable scenes, Michael Mondavi (son of the late Robert Mondavi) shares his dream of one day making wine on the moon. With a space program now…

By now it’s likely you’ve seen one of the new spots Verizon has rolled out touting the reach of their nationwide wireless network.  In the ads people are set in front of an easel spattered with colored dots, each representing a unit of network coverage for a particular carrier and asked to identify what they…

Some of the chief pleasures wine affords derive from the effects it produces on the special, hyper-sensitive tissue that lines the inside of our mouths – the way it grasps the lips, tongue and palate in a palpable, sensuous embrace. The food science term for this is mouthfeel, a term I find unbearably clinical for…

On Monday November 4th mobile-radio.net set up seven microphones in the Mosel Valley cellar of Rudolf and Rita Trossen to capture the sounds of the freshly-pressed 2013 vintage in the process of turning itself into wine.  The sounds were broadcast live for 17 hours over several Internet radio sites. You can listen to the little…

The Boston Globe Magazine recently published a story with my byline on sparkling wines for the holidays.  I had fun putting it together and editor Anne Nelson made a lovely two page spread of it,  but it left me a tiny bit unfulfilled.  The assignment — recommend 10 bubblies at a variety of price points worth…