Category: Education

  • Wine Competitions: It Won a Medal – It Must be Good!

    A research study published in a recent issue of the Journal of Wine Economics found an interesting aspect of wine competitions that might be disturbing to our the aforementioned winemaker as well as to consumers who choose their purchases based on medals and ribbons: A gold medal in one competition does not mean a gold medal in another. In fact is may not even mean it’s good!

  • Corkage Fees – What are they?

  • Another Wine Byte 15: France’s Red-headed Stepchild

    Back in the day before people knew about genetics and recessive traits, it was assumed that a redheaded child born to a couple of brunettes was obviously the product of an affair. And while the father would claim the child as his own, to save face, he tended to treat the child poorly, thinking certainly it was not his own. This grape was treated with similar scorn.

  • New Study Adds Gravitas to Wine Bloggers

    I very much enjoyed the advice to wineries on how they can benefit from working with wine bloggers. Professor Thach provides a number of suggestions, which have also appeared in our posts, as well as in the blogs of PR consultants like Rob Bralow and Michael Wangbickler.

  • Winos stole my burrito!

  • One for You, Two for Me: Blending Can be FUN!

  • Another Wine Byte 14: Attack of the Clones?

    Whenever I hear the word “clone,” I remember silly references to “human-animal hybrids” and fears that Dolly the Sheep would lead to Gavin the Goat boy — or some such nonsense as that. But the cloning of grape varietals doesn’t occur in some dark laboratory with a mad scientist

  • Wine Accessories: The Fine Art of the Corkscrew

    While looking for images of sommelier tools, I came upon some interesting specimens; some that look particularly sinister (above) which reminded me of the first horror movie I ever saw, Edgar Allan Poe’s The Pit and the Pendulum, starring Vincent Price. So I started thinking; who invented the corkscrew or waiter’s tool, and when?

  • Another Wine Byte 13: To Sur with Lie

    Coincidentally, to pair with our cod and julienne vegetables, Joe chose a Muscadet from Chateau La Tarciere, that has on the label, and in raised letters on the bottle “Sur Lie.” If you haven’t studied wine making you probably have no idea what the aroma of “lees” or sur lie means. I know before Joe began his studies with ISG, neither of us knew either.

  • Another Wine Byte 12: Wrap It Up, I’ll Take It

    When it comes to wine, it’s not just the “thought” that counts. In fact, if you don’t know that much about wine, perhaps a wine-related gift, rather than a bottle of wine, would be a much better choice. But there are other considerations when giving wine. Should you take a bottle of wine when invited to dinner? Should a host or hostess be expected to open the wine? And what about “re-gifting” wine?