Vitis Plutonius

n www.plutoidsinfo.com My first grade teacher, Mrs. Barwin, was a kind caring woman. She ended up being the calm eye in a hurricane of scary-ass nuns that would begin just the next year in second grade with the cruelest, most sadistic nun of them all—Sister Peter...

Tasting Strategies: Improving Olfactory Memory and Sensitivity

n One of the keys to tasting be it for pleasure or profession is olfactory memory. The good news is that we’re born with all the necessary hardware for it. We develop our smell memory, largely at the unconscious level, over a lifetime. Professional tasting carries...

Random Bits

n www.kirstymitchell.com The Photography of Kirsty MitchellI came across Kirsty Mitchell’s work not long ago and was completely amazed. The U.K.-born Mitchell initially studied art history, photography, and fine art in London going on to train in performance costume...

Tasting Interview: Doug Frost, MS, MW

n Good friend Doug Frost is the second among only five people in the world to have passed both the Master Sommelier and Master of Wine exams. Author of several books, including “Uncorking Wine,” “On Wine,” and “Far From Ordinary: The...

Attack of the Liver Chicken

n “Atomic Chicken” by bark.deviantart.com On a cold, damp, and foggy London night five of us were crammed into one of those charming, proper, and bone-crushing London cabs. Dinner was at Motcombs, off Sloane Street south of the park just a stone’s throw from...

Tasting Interview: Gillian Ballance, MS

n Master Sommelier Gillian Balance has spent over 20 years in the hospitality industry with stints at several well-known restaurants including Picholine, Cello Restaurant, Windows on the World in New York, and the Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara. Gillian has also...