Monthly Archives: December 2012

Wine Predictions, 2013: Part Two

Posted on December 31, 2012 by

The following column needs to be taken seriously.  It was channeled via ‘psychography’, wherein the author falls into a trance-like state and is then possessed by some disembodied external force which composes a written prognostication without the subject’s conscious awareness.  … Continue reading →

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Wine Predictions, 2013: Remember, You Heard Them Here First

Posted on December 31, 2012 by

Some things you may not know about me: My favorite color is SAE/ECE amber—one of the few technically approved colors for automotive signal lamps.  Also, I enjoy long, romantic strolls on the beach at sunset.  As well, there is nothing … Continue reading →

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MacLean is MacDirty?? I Have Your Hack Back, Natalie!

Posted on December 23, 2012 by

Over the past week, dutch-courage diva and distillate dominatrix Natalie MacLean has found herself in some professional hot water.  It began with the Palate Press’s tabloidesque rippage of her website’s use of unattributed wine reviews from other wine writers without … Continue reading →

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What’s Christmas All About, Stillman Brown?

Posted on December 15, 2012 by

‘Normative ethics’ is that branch of philosophy concerned with the practical means of determining a moral line of conduct in a given situation.  It is rooted in the Greek word ethos, meaning ‘character’, and is perhaps the single most socially … Continue reading →

Posted in CALIFORNIA, Paso Robles | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Another Column About Me. Oh, And ‘The Slow Wine Guide’

Posted on December 14, 2012 by

Like so many of you, I like to pause during the final weeks of December and do some personal reflection with the aim of becoming a better parent, a better friend, a better American and a kinder, gentler anti-journalist in … Continue reading →

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Smith-Madrone And The Value Of Venerable Vines

Posted on December 13, 2012 by

Today’s ‘tree falls in the forest’ enigma, my friends:  If one digresses before one begins, is it still a digression? Because, before I get involved in all this boring ‘old vine’ Smith-Madrone crap, I would like to take a moment … Continue reading →

Posted in CALIFORNIA, Spring Mountain District | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Bordeaux Without The Bloodshed

Posted on December 11, 2012 by

From time to time, I mock the French for some of their inexplicable cultural anomalies, such as eating bugs you can buy poison at English Gardens to kill and animals on which you can bet at Churchill Downs; for having … Continue reading →

Posted in Bordeaux, FRANCE | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Top Ten Holiday Wines For Under $10,000

Posted on December 10, 2012 by

The other day I read an interesting statement made by my colleague Robert Whitley of Whitley on Wine. And, so we’re clear, by ‘colleague’ I mean ‘someone who writes about wine like me, but actually takes it seriously’.  Seriousity is … Continue reading →

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‘the wine business’ In Blunderland Has Alice In Danderland

Posted on December 9, 2012 by

Ever been in a relationship with—or, worse case, been married to—someone who thrives on getting pissed off; to whom bile is lifeblood, huffiness heroin and acrimony the only emotion possible that can offer day-to-day, hour-by-hour equilibrium? I’m talking about someone … Continue reading →

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‘CR20′ And Ruscalleda’s Rocking Restaurante

Posted on December 8, 2012 by

Every decade or so, a new culinary caprice climbs aboard the buzzword B&O, and—city by city—restaurants open up to cash in on pay homage to the ‘trend’. Here in Detroit over the past thirty years or so, there was ‘nouvelle … Continue reading →

Posted in Penedès, SPAIN | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment