Author Archives: intoxreport

Booting the Boot: Italy Becomes My Chanterelle

Posted on February 8, 2017 by intoxreport

Boot camp sucks, boots on the ground kill, boot licking is for losers.  All in all, referring to Italy—Europe’s most celebrated culinary gem—as a boot, the same item consumed by the Donner Party right before they switched to the inner … Continue reading →

Posted in ITALY | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Left Bank-A-Palooza 2017

Posted on January 30, 2017 by intoxreport

At the periphery of every wine experience, Bordeaux looms.  In a pinch (and a stellar vintage) other wine regions may be considered Bordeaux’s equal, but none are superior. Like the specter of a master—like Michelangelo hovering above an art class or … Continue reading →

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Shannon Walters: A Friend with Weed Is a Friend Indeed

Posted on January 29, 2017 by intoxreport

My old pal Shannon Walters is perhaps the most charismatic winemaker in Northern Michigan. At least, he used to be. At any tasting or press junket, he stands heads above the crowd with his rock star persona, Fabio fringes, signature … Continue reading →

Posted in Michigan | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Ups and Downs in the Côte d’Or

Posted on January 24, 2017 by intoxreport

On that subject, a book could be composed—a column couldn’t do the subject justice. But this story is purely territorial—the tale of two tipples, identical in price and weight; one from the extreme northern nose of the Côte d’Or, the … Continue reading →

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The Itsy Bitsy Snyder: Let’s Wash the Snyder Out

Posted on January 14, 2017 by intoxreport

When it comes to wine, people from Michigan talk dry and drink sweet and when it comes to politics, we talk blue and vote red. Recently, Michigan wine and politics entered the demolition derby again, this time to undermine Granholm … Continue reading →

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Window on ‘Indo’—And William Schwab’s Drink List

Posted on January 9, 2017 by intoxreport

In my halcyon youth, I used to write extensive wine lists for expensive restaurants. If you’re a total novice to the game, such an endeavor may sound intimidating, but if you’ve advanced beyond Level Apothic and Kendall Jackson and surround … Continue reading →

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The World’s 10 Most Expensive Cocktails

Posted on December 26, 2016 by intoxreport

Jiminy Glick’s playful interview with Mel Brooks culminates in the zany lardbucket asking Brooks, ‘So, Mel—what’s your big beef with the Nazis anyway?” Were Glick to interview yours truly, the loveable hog-beast might lead with a similarly wacky and irreverent … Continue reading →

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Botticelli’s Brunello

Posted on December 6, 2016 by intoxreport

When it comes to ageless art, the Italians certainly understand sensuality. A catalog of the masters, from Anguissola to Zandomeneghi, is a showroom of sumptuousness; a busty, broiling fleshpot. Though radical for its time, Renaissance art wasn’t a discovery of physical … Continue reading →

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Why My Books Now Cost Thirteen Billion Dollars Each

Posted on November 19, 2016 by intoxreport

My youngest daughter is one of those kids who pops an anti-ADHD pill every morning to get through the school day and also, probably—being that it’s an amphetamine—to lose weight. For each pill she wolfs down with her Honey Bunches … Continue reading →

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Wine-Free Column: Hanoi Jane’s Children

Posted on November 15, 2016 by intoxreport

A few years ago, I had the odd experience of visiting the original Hanoi Hilton, the prisoner-of-war camp where McCain, and hundreds of other American soldiers, were held during the Vietnam War. It’s now a museum, and if ever there … Continue reading →

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