Category: Opinion
In Wine We Trust: The Valentina Passalacqua Saga
The explosive Valentina Passalacqua saga is a cautionary tale for anyone who would exploit a human being for business advantage. It’s also a deep dive into business accountability, transparency and crisis communication. It may also mark the moment when the wine world begins to worry less about sulfite additions and native yeasts and more about […]
An Open Letter to Cameron Diaz
Dear Cameron: Let me be among the first to congratulate you on your new wine project, Avaline. This is very exciting news in our little world of wine where fellowship and “you’re the asshole on Twitter” are the front and back labels of our public face. You’re one of us now and you can rest […]
Swiss Wine: An Ill Wind Blows
There’s an ill wind blowing through the vineyards of Swiss Romande. After a decade of below-average harvests, and little wine to sell, the bumper crop of 2018 has left behind a glut and with it a bit of political turmoil. It seems during the down years, Swiss supermarkets — which sell more than 60% of […]
Opinion: Why I Dislike Brands and Still Champion the Consumer
In Honor of Salvy, a True Wine Warrior Some of us in the wine world tend to look at branded wine with disdain. As a general rule, we don’t approve of focus-groups, big-dollar ad campaigns, laboratory shenanigans or distribution monopolies that crowd out the little guy. We don’t like that brands tend to exploit the […]
Opinion: What’s Happening at the Wine Advocate?
After years as a lapsed Wine Advocate junkie (Parker free since 1992) I recently re-upped when it became apparent that the online newsletter is committed to covering Swiss wine in a meaningful way. I’m encouraged that Stephen Reinhardt, their Swiss commentator, appears to be passionate about the subject and has a pretty good grasp of […]
Opinion: The True Cost of Cheap Wine — An Update
Back in April I wrote a piece titled The True Cost of Cheap Wine in which I set out to advance the narrative that cheap, industrially made wine has cost consequences beyond the obvious. It was easily the most read piece in these humble pages, inspiring both praise and criticism alike. While it is the avowed purpose […]
Opinion: The True Cost of Cheap Wine
Since everyone seems to be weighing in on the Bianca Bosker-Cork Dork controversy I’d like to add my own two cents. I’m a bit disappointed that we missed a great opportunity for constructive debate on several key issues, but I’m truly beside myself that what little discussion did take place turned frivolous with petty charges of wine snobbery and elitism. Crowded out […]
Opinion: Is It a Flower or a Root Day?
There isn’t much in social media, with the exception of international calamities and Donald Trump, to stir up the internet trolls as much as the subject of biodynamics. It’s as if the desire to improve soil health, the taste and quality of our food and how we interact with the earth is somehow a red […]
Opinion: Words Have Meaning (Especially Hugh Johnson’s)
A quote from a recently published interview in the Washington Post (Some Wine Writers Benefit From Aging, Too—October 22, 2016) struck a distressed chord with me but seems to have been accepted as incontrovertible elsewhere because of who said it. “Orange wines are a sideshow and a waste of time. What’s the point of experimenting? […]
