Why is it so hard to find an awesome $10 bottle?
Pick a random $100 wine at Costco and you are likely to get a very memorable bottle. But if you walk further down the aisle and pick a random bottle in the $10 range, I’ll estimate your chances of finding an outstanding wine to be about 1 in 50. (And Costco is great, BTW. Your [...]
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2010 wine blogging trends and predictions
It’s that time of year again, and once again, I’m throwing some predictions on the wall to see if they stick. Here goes for 2010: Wine Blog Snobbery 2.0 evolves into Wine Friendly 1.0. Historically, as a group, we wine bloggers have not been very friendly. We gaze at our navels, write in vinspeak, and [...]
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How ‘Turley’ went from $7 to $45 a bottle
There are times when your trusted wine retailer can’t do everything for you. Because they can’t be everywhere and stock everything, it’s important that you do your own scouting of up-and-coming regions for good values. And besides, it’s fun! This is a story about how the Pesenti zinfandel vineyard, that once turned out wines at $7 [...]
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Corkscrew FAIL
I used to be into high ceremony and flashy accessories when it came to opening wine. When having guests over, I would proudly walk over to my laminated box full of glitzy accessories and conduct the ritual that I thought ‘serious’ wine drinkers should perform — you know, the foil cutter, an antique wine funnel [...]
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Hot Region
The 411 on Cremant – the other French bubbly
New Year’s Eve. Birthdays. Promotions. Weddings or Anniversaries. The typical “break out the bubbly,” “let’s make a toast” occasions. My first experiences with champagne or sparkling wine, or as I prefer, bubbly, were those sorts of events. Hell, my first bottle I remember was New Years Eve 1991. My college buddies and I, feeling suave and sophisticated, [...]
How to...
Why is it so hard to find an awesome $10 bottle?
Pick a random $100 wine at Costco and you are likely to get a very memorable bottle. But if you walk further down the aisle and pick a random bottle in the $10 range, I’ll estimate your chances of finding an outstanding wine to be about 1 in 50. (And Costco is great, BTW. Your [...]
Reviews
Private wine sale web sites — reviewed
The newest phenomenon to hit wine retail: limited-time and private sales. Great wine. Killer prices. Limited time only. Sounds great, right? As I’ve written several times lately, the weak economy has forced surplus of wine on the market. One result of this trend is there are many interesting new players on the web contributing to [...]
News from Around
The so-called greatest wine buying opportunity in decades
I mostly despise recessions. We get too grumpy as a whole. But isn’t the recession supposed to be over? Not if you talk to wine pushers. Adler’s recent post in Vinography provides the most dire viewpoint yet about the current wine inventory problem, especially among smaller and leveraged producers. While the State of the Wine [...]
Recent Articles
Private wine sale web sites — reviewed
The newest phenomenon to hit wine retail: limited-time and private sales. Great wine. Killer prices. Limited time only. Sounds great, right? As I’ve written several times lately, the weak economy has forced surplus of wine on the market. One result of this trend is there are many interesting new players on the web contributing to [...]
Wine preservation methods for an open bottle
At our home, weekday wine drinking habits are erratic, meaning we often open a bottle that may be left around for up to 4 days. On ‘pour and store’ occasions, I keep some important tools on hand to prevent the bottle from spoiling and wasting not only the wine, but my money as well. The [...]
The so-called greatest wine buying opportunity in decades
I mostly despise recessions. We get too grumpy as a whole. But isn’t the recession supposed to be over? Not if you talk to wine pushers. Adler’s recent post in Vinography provides the most dire viewpoint yet about the current wine inventory problem, especially among smaller and leveraged producers. While the State of the Wine [...]
Time to stop beating up on domestic chardonnay
Overheard at least 5x yesterday at the tasting tables of the Pebble Beach Food & Wine show: “I CAN’T STAND American chardonnays, because they are too…oaky, syrupy, monodimensional, unbalanced, (enter adjective here)…” Also heard at least 5x by servers of chardonnay(with insecure, apologetic tone): “Our wine is more BURGUNDIAN in style , unlike those other [...]
Why is it so hard to find an awesome $10 bottle?
Pick a random $100 wine at Costco and you are likely to get a very memorable bottle. But if you walk further down the aisle and pick a random bottle in the $10 range, I’ll estimate your chances of finding an outstanding wine to be about 1 in 50. (And Costco is great, BTW. Your [...]
The 411 on Cremant – the other French bubbly
New Year’s Eve. Birthdays. Promotions. Weddings or Anniversaries. The typical “break out the bubbly,” “let’s make a toast” occasions. My first experiences with champagne or sparkling wine, or as I prefer, bubbly, were those sorts of events. Hell, my first bottle I remember was New Years Eve 1991. My college buddies and I, feeling suave and sophisticated, [...]
NYC perfects the recession-era wine list
I was in New York last week. You can definitely feel the recession’s pinch on Manhattan’s food scene. But as usual, restaurateurs are rising above the challenge. Their latest invention: the perfect recession-era wine list, featuring a wealth of carefully chosen value wines from around the world. The key words here are carefully chosen. It’s one [...]
Wine medal competition study reveals…randomness!
I’m pretty transparent about my pet peeves about the wine industry, and near the top of that list is wine medal competitions. It’s because, with few exceptions, I haven’t been able to correlate gold-silver-bronze with my personal experience. And because, I see many people rely too heavily on such medals. But recently, I’ve felt vindicated. [...]
Winery clubs are for suckers
Winery clubs are a brilliant marketing invention. They are a way to seize the buzzed moment in their tasting room to forge a deeper relationship with the customer, and sell a lot more wine at a much higher profit margin than they can through distributors. To this, I hope you would say: “Great for the wineries, [...]
Buy wine online? Yes, but stick with what you know
Online wine shopping is better than it’s ever been, but still has a lot of room to grow. To echo previous posts, I believe your most important wine merchant is the shop your hometown — which is where you should do 80% of your buying. But online buying should always be in your mix, even [...]
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Private wine sale web sites — reviewed
May 5, 2010 13:05 -
Wine preservation methods for an open bottle
May 4, 2010 16:05 -
The so-called greatest wine buying opportunity in decades
April 16, 2010 14:04 -
Time to stop beating up on domestic chardonnay
April 12, 2010 19:04 -
Why is it so hard to find an awesome $10 bottle?
March 15, 2010 12:03