Monthly Archives: August 2011

Waugh Cellars: Six Degrees of Vinification

Posted on August 28, 2011 by intoxreport

Ryan Waugh is the kind of winemaker who believes that 90% of a finished  wine happens inside the vineyard, and he insists that the three thousand cases of wine he made in 2009 prove him out. He’s  also believes that … Continue reading →

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Michigan Meritage Merits Mention

Posted on August 27, 2011 by intoxreport

The term ‘meritage’? Not. First, if you’re going to invent a word, why make it one you have to teach everyone how to pronounce?  Second, if you’re going to combine two words to make a third, why use two words … Continue reading →

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Foie Gras and Wine: Silence of the Geese

Posted on August 27, 2011 by intoxreport

Few marriages made in food/wine heaven—that is, those magical matches that simultaneously compliment and contrast, fuse complex flavors while maintaining component individuality, satisfying every gastronmic whim while leaving you craving just a bit more—are better suited to one another than … Continue reading →

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Cold (And Brother, Do I Mean Cold) Heaven Cellars: Defriend in Need is Defriend indeed.

Posted on August 27, 2011 by intoxreport

What a revoltin’ development! On Facebook, I’ve been ‘defriended ‘ by a California winemaker after I took exception to some silly-ass generalization she made about wine writers, which in the interest of journalistic trifling I would repeat verbatim except that … Continue reading →

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Good Harbor Vineyards and the Dialectics of Cherry Wine

Posted on August 27, 2011 by intoxreport

Plato, Third Century, BC: “Nothing more valuable than wine was ever granted mankind by God. Now, wanna argue about it…?” (Okay, this is Plato paraphrased—he didn’t tack on the argue part.  But I’m sure he would have; the crusty old … Continue reading →

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Wines of India: Zin and zen

Posted on August 27, 2011 by intoxreport

The tasting room is pure California.  Dominated by a blue mosaic balcony bar with a panoramic view of rolling vineyards, the open floor space is gently lit by suspended wine bottle lamps, flanked with backlit cases in wood-paneled walls and … Continue reading →

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Millennial Wine Drinkers Come of Age

Posted on August 27, 2011 by intoxreport

The other day I received an email talking up wine to Generation Y—a.k.a., Millennials, a.k.a. Echo Boomers, a.k.a. the MTV Generation, a.k.a. etc.  Apparently, along the way, while I had my nose in a snifter, Gen Y metamorphosed from being … Continue reading →

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Premium Sake: Occident Waiting To Happen

Posted on August 27, 2011 by intoxreport

Shigeru Yamada stands behind his array of designer sakes with a demure, otherworldly expression that seems to conceal, in a glance, all the profound mysteries of the Orient. Then, the inimical owner of Novi’s Cherry Blossom Restaurant smiles and opens … Continue reading →

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Tudor Wines: Dan Is Now The Bubble Boy

Posted on August 26, 2011 by intoxreport

“You can take my identity, my pension, my Black Amex card, my blue suede shoes, but keep those mitts off of my pinot noir.” There’s Some Bull In The China Shops Earlier this year, a scandal was uncovered by Chinese … Continue reading →

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Chablis: Chardonnay Never Had It So Good

Posted on August 26, 2011 by intoxreport

It used to be cute to mispronounce ‘Chablis’;  to say it like Johnny Lunchbucket would if he didn’t happen to possess your enological erudition and snobbish grasp of French orthography, because it sort of made you sound ironic and clever … Continue reading →

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