by admin | Dec 9, 2019 | Blog
n It’s the holidays yada yada. Once again, the year is careening to a close with alarming finality and potential for collateral damage. Family dinners and corporate gatherings loom large on the horizon like accidents waiting to happen. Now more than ever the art of...
by admin | Nov 24, 2019 | Blog
n As times goes on, I have fewer criteria for the wines I like to drink on a regular basis. First, regardless of place or grape, a wine has to be well-made and typical for what it is. Mineral and earth qualities help keep my interest. But above all, a wine has to be...
by admin | Nov 2, 2019 | Blog
n “Wine is complicated. Almost impossibly so.”Jamie GoodeRecently I was in Brooklyn for a meeting. Dinner the first night was with four MS colleagues. The menu was shellfish and seafood-based and the wine list was small but eclectic—no surprise given that we were in...
by admin | Sep 17, 2019 | Blog
n nnnnnGerhard RichternnnnnnI’m often asked about classes I teach outside of the Master Sommelier curriculum. While I often put together one-off custom tasting sessions for various clients, there are two classes that I regularly teach at the Napa Valley Wine Academy...
by admin | Aug 22, 2019 | Blog
n If I had to prepare for the MS tasting exam all over again, I would make the process as streamlined as possible. And the two the things I would spend the most time on are the concepts of “cause and effect” and “impact compounds.” The idea of cause and effect is all...
by admin | Jul 31, 2019 | Blog
n Recently I had lunch with a colleague. At some point during our conversation he bemoaned the complexity of food and wine pairing and how difficult it was to get the right match, much less explain the concepts. I countered saying it was a lot easier than he thought...
