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The Epiphany (and the room where it happened)
Once, on a fast run up the autostrada from Ancona to Verona, an old friend and I were talking about epiphanies. He’d had many in his life and had distilled it down to its essence. “It’s a bolt of...
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What Miles Davis and John Coltrane taught me about wine
Lately, I’ve been organizing my musical recordings. I’m a big jazz fan. Somewhere along the line, during college, while I loved to listen to rock, especially the San Francisco style in the 1970’s, I...
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Will we ever get back?
In this period of sequestration, some have had time to peer into the well and reflect. What do we miss? What have we lost? What have we gained? Where do we go from here? Can we survive this? More...
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Come back, Trebbiano, we miss you so
Dearest Trebb,It seemed just like yesterday we were sitting by the beach enjoying each other’s company, the gentle waves lilting to the cadence of the soft Italian jazz music coming from Chalet...
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the Immerging Wine Writer of the Year
During a recent communique with a wine writer friend, I noticed this person sounded just shy of despondent. Knowing that, of late, many of us are dealing with loss and disruption, I hesitated to press...
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My Funny Valentine
In memory of Lizanne Feb.14,1953 - Feb.17,2001Has it really been twenty years? I only knew her for fourteen years. She’s been gone longer than I knew her alive. Time is the culprit, our hearts are the...
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Do you know what it means?
New Orleans has been on my mind lately. Maybe because last week should have been Mardi Gras. Or perhaps I am just missing a place I got to know well. And it got to know me too. I love that place. It...
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Wanted: Wine Tastemakers – Older White Men Need Not Apply?
Feb. 29, 2040Dear Salem Morgon,Thank you for your inquiry regarding the position we posted. We are currently screening the next level candidate for our wine tastemaker stint and you have made the cut....
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The Dramas of Life
From the archives - Sunday, April 06, 2014 This week in Italy, Barone Alessandro de Renzis Sonnino was taken from us by Covid-19. He will be sorely missed - he was "One of a kind."Here in Italy, as in...
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Barone Alessandro de Renzis Sonnino – “There was nobody in the world like him.”
Those were the words a close friend of his (and mine) said as he wept into his phone, recounting so many wonderful stories and such a rich history their friendship represented. Barone Alessandro de...
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10 of my favorite off-the-beaten-path places to eat in Italy
From the archives: Most of us cannot jump on a plane and go to Italy, and those in Italy might not have the mobility in 2021 that we had a year or two ago, especially now, as Italy has imposed a...
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Where we've become - And where do we go from here?
This is going to be a mish mash of stuff, as we’re kind of in the doldrums of wine blogging. Also, I have a few things I need to do to clear off my desk. So, here goes.Where do we go from here?Good...
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A Tale of Two Tastings
Options for tasting wine in the last year have been somewhat curtailed by the events that we’ve all encountered. In-person tastings have not resumed, trade shows have been put on hold, and even larger...
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Old Cheese Man Wine
Lately, during this extraordinary era, I’ve been digging into ye olde wine cellar and pulling out crusty specimens that have arrived to an old age. It was a dream of youth, to have access to older,...
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Are you still here? [And when in hell are you gonna get off our grass?]
Looking through my wine closet I came upon a couple of bottles I’d forgotten. And probably for good reason. They’re old. They’re white. And when they were first released, they were, let’s say, a little...
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The wonderfully complicated and all too brief (and happy) life of Pio Boffa
A fond remembrance There are moments in life when a particular event happens, that sends ripples across the water. Such was the moment yesterday when I heard about the passing of a friend in Italy,...
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The Deciders vs. the Influencers – A saga for espousing wine in the new era
There are voices out there, in the ether of the internet, who are pushing the idea of the demise of the old guard. “The decider class is dying,” they clamor, hurling salvos about the decrepitude of the...
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What is wine worth to you?
Now that many of us are getting back up, not quite running yet, but moving forward, some are looking at the value of things. Keeping in mind that health and sanity are paramount above all material...
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By the Bottle: #1 - a new series about winelovers and their tastes (and...
Wine lovers on wine and the vinous life. I’m starting a new series, By the Bottle. It mimics the By the Book feature in the Sunday NY Times Book Review, which asks a series of questions to authors...
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What Italian winemakers can imbibe from their Swiss watchmaking cousins
Guido Terreni is running out of time. And he knows it. Terreni, who is in his mid-50’s, left a comfortable and prestigious job as president of Bulgari’s watchmaking division, to go to work for a...
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