And no, I am not talking about fault lines in California, Mexico, Japan or even… of late, Chile. The ‘plates’ I am referring to have to do metaphorically with the dramatic shifting in the UK wine market and the fact that France no longer appears to be most anyone’s favorite when shopping these days. Not first, second, third, or now even fourth… are you amazed?

In restaurants, when I was first learning about wine in the late 1970s (yes, back in the proverbial day), it was all about French wine. Bordeaux and Burgundy were the pinnacles, and yes we tipped our berets to the Loire Valley, the Rhône, and a few bits and pieces of Provence and the Languedoc. We studied and consumed Italy at the peripheral level (Chianti and Barolo), enjoyed our token Germans, and locally were fiercely proud and supportive of an emerging local but, at the time, globally insignificant California wine industry. Continue reading »

And one would also add that nothing easy is always good. Such is the case with the evolution of Pinot Noir in New Zealand. Fresh off of a successful workshop on Syrah in Napier, I spent several days in Wellington at a terrific symposium, Pinot Noir 2010. 400 plus delegates attended, all with a unified love of Pinot Noir, and especially NZ Pinot Noir, to examine the state of the state of this amazing grape in this equally amazing country.

Having had the pleasure and privilege of speaking at the previous conference in 2007, I was able to really explore how things have evolved and changed. A few years in the hands of passionate winemakers and viticutiuralists is a proverbial mini-lifetime vis-à-vis what a difference, in this case, only three years can make. Continue reading »

Those of you who follow my blog know that I am rarely one to laundry list out wines that I have tasted and enjoyed over any form of evaluation forum (be it informal like visiting a single winery or more formal such forums as the recent Pinot Noir 2010 in Wellington (New Zealand) a couple of weeks back). That said, I tasted so many noteworthy wines that I thought I’d give you a handful of my favorites, so, without further ado…

Wines of consequence (no 100 point scale from this boy): Continue reading »

Greetings and kia ora from New Zealand! I spoke this past week at a Syrah workshop in Napier (Hawkes Bay) and will be speaking this week at Pinot Noir 2010 in Wellington. But, as the Pinot event has not yet happened, well, not much to talk about that conference less anticipation and excitement for what’s sure to be a killer few days and a tad of anxious trepidation about speaking on a blind Pinot Noir tasting panel later in the week to be flanked on either side by Oz Clarke and Matthew Jukes. Continue reading »

Question: How many Master Sommeliers participated in the national conference/AGM this past week at the Inn at Spanish Bay in Monterey? In what was truly an awesome event, big thanks need to go out to Jay Fletcher, the current American Chairman, Kathleen Lewis, our CEO, and Fred Dame, well, need one say more about Fred (!), for putting on such a great experience. Kudos!

Who woulda thunk it 23 plus years ago, that in 2010 there would be over 100 American Masters, plus one each in Canada and in Chile forming what is now known as the Court of Master Sommeliers- Americas, embracing our compadres to the north and to the south. As an early MS, we thought we’d be about 15-20 of us hanging out at the Veterans Home in Yountville, slogging down Cabernet Sauvignon, and telling war stories as it were at this point. Well, how time can prove one so wrong. Continue reading »

In reading a recent piece by my good friend Dan Berger regarding terroir in Sauvignon Blanc, I found myself nodding my head in affirmation regarding his comments about this varietal being a paramount vehicle for demonstrating the concept of ’sense of place’ (aka terroir). In the article Berger: Sauvignon blancs best at reflecting “terroir”, his stated feeling is that no other grape does this as well. Though I am in agreement that white wines are much better mirrors of terroir than reds, I have to take slight exception with Sauvignon Blanc as being the singularly best conduit. Continue reading »

The New Year always starts out with folks wanting to make prognostications as to what the forthcoming twelve months will bring. Financial people look at indicators from the opening day on Wall Street (up 150’ish for those who don’t recall) to consumer confidence numbers. Retailers take physical and emotional inventory of the ‘OND’ (October-November-December) and especially the holiday ‘D’ numbers while restaurateurs intuitively get a hit from the level of consumer happiness they detect in the dining room, the number of private parties booked at holiday and what they were spending, and bullishly anticipate what the first few weeks of the year will bring. Continue reading »

In a recent blog I ranted (albeit for just a couple of lines) about my frustration regarding exorbitant wine mark-ups in restaurants. I understand all of the reasons why, have partaken in numerous dialogues on the subject and have debated the pros and cons of how lists can/should be marked up in a number of trade gatherings. There are no simple answers, but what most of us do know is that when prices do get too high, the people vote to opt out and do so in one of two ways. Continue reading »

Over the two plus decades that I have been teaching about food and wine I have, of course, evolved my philosophies in keeping with changing palates, evolving wine styles, and culinary changes (and challenges). The one paramount concept that has remained a constant for me is that, for most people, experience (the totality of who you are with, what the occasion is, where you are dining, etc.) trumps food and wine matching perfection. If you ask Joe and Mary Consumer what their most memorable epicurean occasions were, they are more often based on context rather than the actual synergy (or even epiphany) of the wine and food. The couple in love enjoying crappy Italian wine and mediocre risotto at a little trattoria in Siena likely recall their occasion with great fondness though if they had the same wine and food combo at home on a Tuesday night, it would not carry the same emotionally attached result. Continue reading »

OK, bad pun (sorry Robin Leach) but being in (if you’re Jewish) or going into (if you’re celebrating Christmas or Kwanzaa) the holidays, it’s important to have a few wishes to go into the New Year and I have a few that bridge the personal and professional twain. So, in no particular order… I wish in 2010 that…

The reality TV thing for chefs dies down. Iron Chef, Chopped, Hell’s Kitchen, Top Chef… enough already. Cooking should be about sharing, nurturing, and giving and not about all things smackdown. Let’s get back to showing people the pleasure in food and how to go about creating it themselves and not cooking competitively against a clock, our peers, or both. Continue reading »