Wine’s vocabulary can serve as a scaffolding that supports understanding and insight. Fluency is freeing, stimulating deeper conversation among peers. But language can also feel exclusionary, and fluency can feel like a badge.
My latest, free to read:
www.makerstable.com/p/stickbuilt
The Salt is a new curated collection of essays, articles, and marginalia at the intersection of wine and food. These are pieces that caught my attention, challenged my thinking, changed my mind, or simply invited me to sit back, relax, and enjoy the read. www.makerstable.com/p/burgundy-a...
Six Rhône-grape Wines from There and Here www.makerstable.com/p/six-rhone-...
My latest Notable tasting report focuses on Rhône varieties vinified both in their native territory and abroad.
www.makerstable.com/p/six-rhone-...
Tina, thank you. 🥂
What constitutes a good wine, or a good wine experience? What assumptions drive those assessments? And are they still relevant?
We owe it to wine to reappraise our criteria periodically. Here are five examples I’m thinking about:
www.makerstable.com/p/renovating...
Print is sweet.
I've seen it spelled wrong in print that should know better (viz., all print).
Ditto Bechthold.
A 1990 Cos d’Estournel, an old-vine Chinon from Olga Raffault, a rare varietal Nerello Cappuccio from Benanti, three elegant Prosecco Superiore from La Farra, and three traditional method sparklers from Scharffenberger.
Levity for cold, dark times.
www.makerstable.com/p/notable-la...
Wine evolves according to our changing understanding of nature, science, aesthetics, thirst, the works. In my new essay, I follow the evolution of wine as cultural production to see how each era influenced the ways wine was thought about and discussed.
www.makerstable.com/p/toward-met...
In grad school, fifteen years ago, I wrote a paper about fascist aesthetics. It was not a good paper, but it got the job done. The main problem was that, at the time, fascism was an abstraction, remote, anachronistic.
I should re-write the paper.
Writing about wine means confronting the difficulties of animating the experience for readers, making it alive and vivid. Lately I've been adding my own artwork to my notes, but here's a new experiment in finding resonance across centuries and sensibilities. www.makerstable.com/p/a-pigeon-a...
The Wall Street Journal today laid off a number of staffers, including Lettie Teague, their wine columnist of 16 years. I’d guess they’re not planning to hire anyone new to fill the slot.
I feel so bad for Lettie, who is minted from solid gold. 🌟
Drink more Lambrusco! My latest:
www.makerstable.com/p/notable-ea...
After I finish a long piece of writing, I search the document to find every instance of "very." I’m glad when I don’t find it.
My latest:
www.makerstable.com/p/write-stro...
My brother Chris is a genius. Deconstruction of Richter’s “Hamnet” score into “I Will Survive.” And so much more. Watch:
youtu.be/nC_QVc0k-bw?...
Today’s Daily Cartoon, by P. C. Vey. #NewYorkerCartoons
Wine and culture writer Bodhi Landa read the conversational piece between me and Terry Theise and propels the conversation forward, offering his own framework for negotiating the correspondences between wine and us, us and wine. A must-read.
thirstbehavior.substack.com/p/nothing-is...
The piece really grew on me, too, a peek into another domain that's just as geeky as ours.
Apropos of yesterday’s post about “A Defense of Wine Writing,” a bit of backstory. www.makerstable.com/p/why-write-...
My latest, co-authored with my friend Terry Theise. It’s a conversational piece that grapples with the craft and practice of wine commentary.
worldoffinewine.com/news-feature...
www.makerstable.com/p/notable-la...
Two 20-year tawny ports from Graham's and Dow's, two Pinot noirs from Domaine Anderson, two pét-nats from La Garagista, a sparkling from Presqu'ile, and an old-school Irancy from Benoît Cantin.
My handful of predictions about the future of wine commentary. Most of these trends are well underway. Some are dispiriting, some uplifting. But all of them, being our collective future, are within our power to change.
www.makerstable.com/p/wine-writi...
Three young children standing on the staircase, wearing pajamas, on Christmas day.
Merry Christmas from the Houston kids, 1968.
