The question I’m asked most often is how did I get into wine and spirits? Well, over 20 years ago when I was a community columnist for my local newspaper and the editor of our weekly entertainment section asked what else I could write about. At that time I had been in a few wine…
On September 27 I did a review of the book Japanese Drinks on this website; today I have a second book on Japanese Whisky alone for you. Similar in format with lots of glossy photos and understandable text, I was impressed with the work of the Japanese distillers and distilleries, their challenges, the differences between…
When I received a copy of the book “Buy the Right Wine Every Time” to review, a quick leaf through it and I thought, no problem, it’s just a grouping of writer Tom Stevenson’s wine picks, and immediately discounted it. Why? Because wine books telling you what to buy are dated pretty much as soon…
So I had this friend/co-worker that had a nasty habit of taking my ideas and repeating them as her own in a very weird way: immediately, and right in front of me. She would listen, then physically turn to another person in the group, and spew it out again. I mentioned it when it happened:…
I covered The 15 Most Influential Wine Men in my Life back in 2011, even needed a part two, but realize now that I never covered the women. I even reran both parts on the men in early 2016. With more male than female winemakers, sommeliers and educators I had an excuse not to write…
Pulchella Winery 2010 Mainini Vineyard Zinfandel Paso Robles Alcohol 15.3% Disclosure For a change, and for fun, I pulled out my “WSET* Systematic Approach to Tasting Level 2 to use during the tasting of this wine. I often use the guide in Wine 101 tastings to help beginners, and those not-so-new to wine, with descriptors…
I don’t have many pet peeves in the wine world as I still consider myself a beginner. And I rarely take on an opposing opinion with someone with a wine pedigree much more impressive than my own. But sometimes, argh, those with the long pedigree do and say things that they think they are somehow…
A few weeks ago I teased Beacon readers about the new Scotch tasting club membership that I purchased for my husband, Eddie, for his birthday from ForScotchLovers.com. Well, five wax-sealed sample bottles arrived, along with the proper nosing glass, and we were off! Our first allocation, as there would be several more in the upcoming…
What’s with those crazy wine descriptors? Wine 101ers are often bewildered by a wine that promises to offer “notes of freshly sliced apricots on a warm afternoon” or “deep lingering tannins” that they simply can’t find when they taste the wine. Or worse yet, it’s all that they can find because the thought was…
Okay, if you’ve been following some of the results from my Scotch of the month club blind tastings, you know that I can usually guess which Scotch I’m drinking, but have been failing miserably in the descriptors. So, this time, I went to ForScotchLovers.com and equipped myself with some study notes that I will now,…