Pale Fire: Part I

Pale Fire: Part I

I remember when I first got into wine eons ago. I had just moved to San Francisco, so was only an hour and change from Napa and Sonoma. No surprise that I initially cut my teeth on California wine, which didn’t involve learning any classifications or Byzantine wine...
Gin and beef

Gin and beef

I’m not a big gin drinker. But my wife Carla likes the occasional Martini. I made one for her the other night using Plymouth 80-proof. Plymouth is also my go-to gin for Negronis with Carpano Antica the vermouth of choice and the required Campari. Negroni aside,...
Personal Tasting Strategies Part III: Palate

Personal Tasting Strategies Part III: Palate

In the last post I detailed my internal strategies for smelling a glass of wine. As I mentioned, I think smell is by far the most important aspect of tasting. So I do most of the work assessing a wine on the nose. By the time I taste a wine, I’m only doing two things:...
Personal Tasting Strategies Part II: Smell

Personal Tasting Strategies Part II: Smell

In the last post I explained my internal strategies for looking at a glass of wine in the context of using the deductive tasting grid. At one point I mentioned I thought that the nose of a wine—or smell—was by far the most important aspect of tasting. If anything,...
Personal Tasting Strategies Part I: Sight

Personal Tasting Strategies Part I: Sight

In the fall of 2009, I worked with good friends Taryn Voget and Tim Hallbom on their project called “Everyday Genius.” Their goal was to deconstruct and model what I do internally when I smell and taste wine. To accomplish this, we set up two video sessions with Tim...