Essays

Life, under Coravin

by  |  23-07-2018

The Coravin. This little device has changed the face of wine service and storage massively since its creation in 2011. The act of jabbing a hollow needle through the cork in a wine bottle, injecting... more »

Wine buying in a vacuum: Winebuyers.com

by  |  28-05-2018 ~ 8 Comments

"Disruptive" is a term that raises my hackles. This is due to it being used either when referring to something like Uber who are outright breaking the law or then someone who is claiming to... more »
If you're not on social media, give people something to put there

The winemaker/winery guide to social media

by  |  04-04-2018 ~ 2 Comments

For anyone in wine, you've probably been constantly hearing how this generation or that generation or men or women or fill-in-the-blank is "now buying wine via social media!" Most of these articles usually make big... more »
Mustard, Napa has it

Seeing the Napa Valley of now

by  |  26-03-2018 ~ 2 Comments

This past February, the impossible happened: I actually slept in Napa Valley. In fact, I slept seven nights and passed an entire week within the confines of these world-famous vineyards bracketed by the Mayacamas and... more »
Simply cannot determine the original source...

The wine blog. Where from here?

by  |  30-01-2018 ~ 3 Comments

To a great extent, I've become numb to shocking headlines over the last year and half. But despite the constantly being on the brink of nuclear war and shithole talk, when I read "Huffington Post... more »

On writing a Georgian wine guide

by  |  28-06-2017 ~ 2 Comments

For anyone who might think it a quick way to riches, you simply do not write wine books for financial gain. Most everyone writes these types of books with little regard to the scant paycheck... more »

The continuing potential of Croatian wine

by  |  07-05-2017

In regards to tourism, Croatia is now a destination in its own right and has long shed the infamous, "The Next" descriptor which has seemingly been passed on to Albania, now "The Next Croatia". In... more »
One year at the San Francisco Love Parade...

Natural, assholes, & how to get attention in wine writing

by  |  03-04-2017 ~ 1 Comment

It's preferable to sit in the sidelines of wine and social media to let the bits retweet as they may. But what happens when you do actually need to stand out and "use" the internetz... more »
A window back into the pre-pandemic

The guide to terrible tasters

by  |  17-03-2017

While spring means changing clocks and remembering to take an umbrella with you, for those of us in the wine world, it means that it's the season of wine tastings. I have yet to understand... more »

Why regulating “natural wine” is a very good thing

by  |  15-12-2016 ~ 6 Comments

Recently, Suzanne Mustacich, contributing editor to Wine Spectator and author of "Thirsty Dragon" wrote a lengthy article that discusses how the French are working to define what "natural wine" is. It's a noble pursuit which... more »