Category: COMMENTARY
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AFTER COVID-19 – Wine versus disinfectants
On a jog down the boulevard de Belleville yesterday, I passed a street cleaner in protective gear spraying something on the streets. I held my breath for a block, concerned it could be hazardous. Later I was relieved to learn that Paris has, for now, resisted calls to rinse the streets with bleach in misguided […]
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WINE IN AN AGE OF POPULIST OUTRAGE – Tariffs, wine caves, and sausage parties
Wine in America is under political threat like it hasn’t seen since Prohibition. How did we get here? And could sausage parties save us? President Donald Trump, having already imposed tariffs of 25% of certain French wines in October, now threatens to impose tariffs of up to 100% on a much wider swathe of EU […]
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CALIFORNIA – Brumaire 2019 (and more on natural wine in NorCal)
I often wonder if natural wine in the USA has sort of passed me by – as a concept, as a cultural phenomenon, as a business opportunity. The phrase itself had eked its way into select US wine circles – but no further – when I moved to Paris in 2009. When I revisited Los […]
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BEAUJOLAIS – 2018 Saint-Amour: You Can’t Hurry Love
A few years ago I wrote an article for the Financial Times and another for EATER about the market forces that had made the Beaujolais cru of Saint-Amour a veritable desert for quality winemaking. It being Valentine’s Day again, I thought I’d write a small update. I don’t wish to encourage anyone to drink 2018 Saint-Amour […]
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UNNATURAL INFLUENCE – Bots in Wine Media
Here are plausible reasons for possessing massive social media reach in the wine world: being a famous winemaker, chef or restaurateur; being a legendary importer, or a veteran sommelier with a star-studded decades-long résumé; being a wine critic for a major publication; having written several well-received books on the subject; or some combination of these […]
not drinking poison 