by admin | Sep 1, 2026 | Blog
Recently I gave a wine presentation at Texsom. If not familiar, Texsom is a sommelier-wine conference in its 21st year. The conference was created by friend and fellow MS, James Tidwell. Starting with the earliest iterations, Texsom has always been about promoting...
by admin | Aug 18, 2026 | Blog
Is there such a thing as having a bad palate? I was asked that not long ago in a podcast interview with Sean Trace on his show Barrels and Roots. I answered Sean by saying that unless someone has anosmia—meaning they can’t physiologically smell, or ageusia when they...
by admin | Aug 4, 2026 | Blog
It’s a question I sometimes get asked at consumer tastings. Someone tells me about a wine they had while on vacation in an exotic location like Provence. How it was the best thing ever. So good that they bought a case and then schlepped it back with great expense....
by admin | Jul 17, 2026 | Blog
Some years ago, I was in Singapore with three colleagues teaching MS classes. One night our local contact booked us a table for dinner at one of the city’s most popular restaurants. It was a seafood joint called “No Signboard,” because the place literally had no...
by admin | Jul 7, 2026 | Blog
Chemosensory scientists study how we process smell and taste. With the latter, they estimate the human tongue has between 2,000 and 10,000 taste buds, with the average adult having between 2,000 and 4,000. Each taste bud also has between 50-150 specialized receptor...
