As some of you may have guessed from my column this week in the newspaper, I love Burgundy. I love to drink it, think about it, talk about it and write about it.  Read More →

Friday was a rare moment in the legislative sun for the subject of wine direct shipping in the Maryland, where, as we discussed, is a felony to ship wine . Consumers and wine industry experts gave testimony before a committee. Tom Wark, executive director of the Specialty Wine Retailers’ Association, who was there writes via email: “Huge turnout in favor of shipping. Largest contingent of consumers I’ve ever seen at such a... 

A profile on Paul Draper, the chief executive and winemaker at Ridge Vineyards, and his approach to wine making.  Read More →

Many facilities in the Chilean wine industry were damaged by the earthquake, though specifics were hard to come by as wineries were still assessing the aftermath.  Read More →

Tragedy struck Chile overnight on Friday in the form of a massive earthquake that has displaced two million people, severed north-south bridges in the narrow country, and killed hundreds of people (see coverage on nytimes.com) . Chile has a large, export-oriented wine industry. Some of infrastructure, particularly in the regions of Maule and Rapel (including Colchagua), has been damaged or destroyed. Contacted via email, Lori Tieszen, executive... 

The perception that boxed wine is poor quality might be changing.  Read More →

SPIT: a move upmarket The Chilean wine industry attempted a concerted move upmarket a few years ago. But the strong peso and weak global economy have crushed those plans. To wit: exports were up a whopping 17.6% by volume last year but flat by value. [ LA Times ] SPIT: California bargains Mike Steinberger contemplates the puzzle of why so few “superstar” winemakers in California make wines under $20. We discussed the lack of tasty... 

I got a few wines from Astor Wine & Spirits in Greenwich Village via UPS the other day. When I opened the box, there was no Styrofoam. There weren’t any cardboard inserts. Instead, each bottle was wrapped in an inflatable plastic sleeve. It was the first time I’d seen this. Styrofoam is popular with retailers and wineries shipping …  Read More →

According to Decanter.com, a group from the Languedoc wine industry has been found guilty of selling fraudulent Pinot Noir to E. & J. Gallo.  Read More →

Jay McInerney, author of Bright Lights, Big City among other works of fiction, has been named WSJ wine columnist according to a tweet from Ray Isle, wine editor of Food & Wine magazine. McInerney wrote a monthly wine column at House & Garden until Condé Nast shuttered the magazine in 2007. His columns were compiled in two books, Bacchus & Me ( amazon , aff) and The Hedonist in the Cellar (…  Read More →

A short while ago, Blogger, the medium by which this blog is currently published, announced that they’d no longer be supporting publishing by ftp. For the non-technical, let me explain. Currently, I use blogger to compose and organize blog posts, and then I publish them to my own web space, on my domain name, www.wineanorak.com. Having the blog integrated into wineanorak.com is important for several reasons, and so this announcement by... 

This is a really lovely northern Rhône Syrah, made by Maxime Graillot, son of Alan (the most famous grower in this appellation of Crozes-Hermitage). It’s quite an edgy, polarising sort of wine, though: with its high acidity and bold, striking flavours, some will fall in love while others will find it a bit too much. It’s just my sort of wine. I’d much rather have these somewhat wild, untamed flavours that speak so clearly …  Read More →

New York legislators are considering a shift to allow wine to be sold in supermarkets –and wine stores to sell gourmet cheese, cigars, beer and even have ATMs. To find out how small shops can even exist in such an environment, we turn to three “mom & pop” shops in three of the 35 states that currently allow such competition. Click through for tales from The Bottle Shop in Wilmette, IL, Wine Authorities in Durham, NC, and... 

At the Pinot Noir 2010 symposium I was interviewed by Jamie Drummond of Good Food Revolution – you can view the interview here: Jamie Drummond on Food and Wine: Episode 12 – Jamie Goode from GoodFoodRevolution on Vimeo .  Read More →

Cory Cartwright considers how fragile diversity is in the wine world.  Read More →