By now many of you will have heard that Sommelier Journal is ceasing publication. The news came to me via SJ editor David Vogels, who several days ago issued an email to those writers who had contracted work with the magazine. I happen to be one of those writers, having only weeks ago completed a…
Category: wine news
Did We Just Win A Battle In “The War Over Wine?”
This is the kind of thing that probably gives major wine critics apoplexy. James Conaway, the talented writer and author of the excellent novel-with-a-wine-soaked-plot Nose, recently penned an article for Worth titled The War Over Wine. It’s cogent, well-conceived, deftly written and fiercely opinionated. In other words, it’s the kind of writing that fills borderline-hacks…
What We Learned From The Fulvio Bressan Debacle
Friuli winemaker Fulvio Bressan’s racially-charged political comments about Cécile Kyenge, Italy’s first African-Italian government minister (you can read the translation if you’re up for it, but fair warning: it will most likely disgust you) just caused a large crap-storm in the wine world. In my view, only an idiot (it takes a lot of stupid…
Blinding You With Wine Evaluation Science! (VineSleuth Data Show That Expert Wine Tasters Are Actually Consistent)
Piling onto so-called expert wine evaluators has become all the rage lately. Remember when the California State Fair commercial wine competition judges got steamrolled (again) by data showing that blind tasting medals are awarded in a random distribution? So expert wine evaluation is all just donkey-bong bunk, right? Not so fast, Jerky. According to data…