Front Row Seat 

By now, wine professionals and consumers outside of the wine industry have hopefully had a chance to see the year’s hottest documentary, SOMM. It’s not hard to get excited about the film as it gives the layperson visibility into our world and what its like to be a sommelier. Ian, Brian, DLynn and Dustin are like the new John, Paul, George and Ringo of wine. Musical artist, Pink tweeted out to her 17 million…

German Pinot Noir is a grotesque and ghastly wine that tastes akin to a defective, sweet, faded, diluted red Burgundy from an incompetent producer.
-Robert Parker, 2002.

Do you still have this picture in your mind when it comes to German Pinot Noir? Then it is time for an update, because even in 2002 our dear friend Mr. Robert Parker was out of date concerning German Pinot Noir.

The Spread of Spätburgunder

First of…

If you are considering making the jump between a single unit operation and a multiple unit operation there are several considerations you must ask yourself before making the change. Are you someone who really enjoys working the floor, managing your own program, and retaining control over all aspects of it? Is the best part of your current position engaging with guests and staff on a daily basis? Do you like working with…

Houston has always had great wine professionals. When I first started getting into wine here people like Guy Stout MS, Paul Roberts MS and Tony McClung (Now with Copain) were already entrenched and doing exciting things. I have seen this city go from a few great wine pros to many amazing people doing exciting things. Some have come and gone but many are still here. My measure of the success of the wine industry in any…

The subject of wine bridges many different fields of study. Before developing a love for wine, I first acquired a love for science (albeit mostly due to the fact that appreciating science doesn’t have a legal age requirement), and when exposed to different disciplines or professions, one notices overlaps in terminology that, without clarification, can cause meanings to be lost in translation. The sommelier profession is…

The 2012 Vintage (and Style) in Germany: The View from Mainzer Weinbörse

As a German, you taste the wines of the world in March during the Düsseldorf trade fair “ProWine," but you have the opportunity to taste the new domestic vintage at the end of April in Mainz, when the VDP presents their wines during the “Mainzer Weinbörse.” It makes sense, because the wines need time to develop anyway, and every added day after…

1. There is this woman named Lucie Morton.  She works as a viticulture consultant for a number of eastern growers, some of which stretch as far south as the upper lobe of my home state, Georgia.  I met her in Virginia, while driving around in the cool Blue Ridge Mountains, checking out wineries.  Virginia wines might surprise you these days.  They don’t fit the usual profile of eastern wine.  On the average, they are neither…

Atauta

“This is one of the most desolate places in Europe; it’s more isolated than Finland, even.” In dying light, Dominio de Atauta winemaker Almudena Alberca and I sped along wintry, washboard roads, rugged and empty, in the backcountry of Soria province, some 50 kilometers from the Duero’s mountain headwaters. Here, along the far eastern edge of the Ribera del Duero DO, we explored small parcels of …

One of the great ironies of the beer world is a common familiarity with the idea of "Trappist beer", but little understanding of what the label actually means. Today, there are only eight Trappist monasteries in the world that brew beer, and these are the only breweries allowed to use that name. Contrary to popular belief, the Trappist breweries are not all in Belgium. One is in the Netherlands and another -- the most…

What’s the deal with yields? Or terms like “crop load,” or “vine balance?” What does it mean to ”green harvest” or to “restrict yields?” Why would one do that? Is 30 hectoliters per hectare always better than 60 hectoliters per hectare, or two tons per acre better than four tons per acre? How is wine character actually changed by adjusting to different crop levels? These terms get thrown around, but what do they really…