In an opinion piece for Wine Spectator, wine writer Matt Kramer said, regarding wine certification, “Nothing about wine or — dare I say it! — accomplished wine service requires this pseudo-professionalization.” Kramer explains that wine certifications are as useless as they are elitist, and that too many professionals put emphasis on formal education over real…
In her hugely-popular self-help book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, Marie Kondo gives readers tips on organizing every room in their homes. Yet this book goes beyond messy closets and stuffed kitchen cabinets. Did you know that you can apply many of Kondo’s principles when you organize…
Thousands of wine festivals take place around the world every year, making it tough for collectors to decide which ones are worth a visit. To make matters worse, some wine events change dramatically over the years. For example, the St. Vincent festival in Burgundy was once a locals-only mecca of wine, open only to true…
Picture your ideal Napa Valley wine cellar, filled to the ceiling with priceless bottles from your favorite cult wineries, from Scarecrow to Sine Qua Non to Screaming Eagle. One early morning, you’re startled awake by a massive earthquake; later, when you open the door to check on your cellar, you find that nearly every bottle…
A couple of years ago, I attended a huge summer tasting event at a Washington winery with two friends. One of my friends brought along a wheeled wine carrier, tucking each new bottle he bought into its own little cubby inside. My other friend lightheartedly teased him about his paranoia, joking that his wine carrier…
For every incredible restaurant with a top-notch wine list, you’ll find at least 10 more with boring lists. Finding a fine restaurant that also offers an incredible array of diverse wines is a rarity, especially when cities like New York ban sommeliers from buying wines sold by private collectors. Wine Spectator’s Jim Fish suggests that…
In GQ, Alan Richman tells a fascinating story about his friend, who he simply calls “The Collector.” The Collector has an expansive wine cellar filled with more than 2,000 of the finest wines on the market, enough to make any wine collector’s mouth water. One day, The Collector suddenly sold off 90 percent of his…
MENTIONED IN THIS POST: Krug Chateau Beaucastel Moët & Chandon Gosset Few dilemmas are worse for a wine lover than wondering what to bring to a dinner party, especially when you’re the only wine connoisseur in the room. Do you give the host a Bordeaux blend, or do you stick with something more basic, like…
Take it from Andrew Jefford if you want to write great wine tasting notes; as one of the best wine writers in the modern world, Jefford knows what it takes to write gorgeous, pragmatic prose. He says, “Numbers alone cannot adequately address the mystery of wine’s complexity; words must be involved.” Yet these words are…
In 2010, Screaming Eagle released special edition cases of its Sauvignon Blanc to members of its elite mailing list, selling each case for $1,500 a pop. Soon after the first shipments arrived on customers’ doorsteps, some members turned around and resold the wine on the secondary market for as much as $15,500 per case. Consumer…
About 25 years after becoming a serious wine collector, Scot Six had accumulated a collection of about 14,000 bottles. With a collection this big, Six was in desperate need of an easy-to-use app that would make organizing and keeping track of his collection more simple. “I was looking for something to make it easier…
MENTIONED IN THIS POST: Domaine de la Romanee Conti Chateau Margaux Moët & Chandon When you’re a wine collector throwing a party, the pressure is high; your friends often expect you to pull out the best wines for your guests, especially if your friends are wine collectors themselves. However, as sommelier Jeff Kellogg points out,…
