Well, it depends on what airline you are flying. And, of course, where you are sitting.

Wine has always been a tricky issue in the friendly skies. On one hand, they want to give you something reasonable but on the other hand they want to pay as little for it as is humanly possible and will put the wine selection out to offer (tender it) to varying companies to see what they can get. Historically most airlines, domestically speaking, have had a poor track record so they have enlisted wine experts to help them out and give them a way of ‘promoting’ their wine program while making the ‘pain of paying’ slightly less as you are getting better quality more often than not. My friends Doug Frost (United) and Andrea Robinson (Delta) have helped bring the wine programs of the economy classes of those respective carriers way up. Ditto for ‘classless’ airlines like Jet Blue who has enlisted Josh Wesson (he of Best Cellars fame) to assist in the wine selection process driven by the value proposition. Continue reading »

I had the honor, pleasure and privilege of being one of the two keynote speakers at the celebration of the 75^th Anniversary of the California Wine Institute recently. Following on the always remarkable comments of the brainy and articulate Jon Fredrickson of Gomberg Fredrickson, I had the awesome but challenging task of talking about the past 75 years’ worth of evolution of food and wine in America in…. twenty plus minutes. Not a small task but you can read what I came up with. Continue reading »

The wine industry has been going back and forth on this for years. The beverage category that pioneered its life with Orson Welles claiming that we ‘serve no wine before its time’ has gone back and forth as to whether their market base is older (baby boomers and empty nesters) or younger (millennials or those Gen Xer’s), aficionados (those who read the Wine Spectator) or ‘every person’ (those who read Redbook or Family Circle) or… men or women. And it seemingly changes like the weather in Baltimore (if you wait for five minutes…)! Continue reading »

Not THAT ‘Top 100!’ That title, to most wine interested folks, speaks to the Wine Spectator’s annual ‘Top 100 Wines,’ a perennial that people anxiously await and wineries hope and pray to be a part of, as sales of these wines inevitably fly once the reveal is made. But the ‘Top 100′ I am referencing is the industry “power list” that is compiled each you by the respected Decanter magazine. In this list they look at who has the juice in wine today and how/why they do. It is always a fascinating read, and this year’s is no different! Continue reading »

Or perhaps as confusing, when is a Syrah not a Shiraz? Great query. Perhaps as great as: when is a Pinot Gris not a Pinot Grigio or when is a Sauvignon Blanc not a Fume Blanc. Confused? You’re not alone.

Grapes that have multiple monikers are perplexing. Perplexing not so much in their names but in what those names actually translate to in the bottle. All are pairs of synonyms, if you will, in wine speak. As actual grapes, there is zero difference between any of those pairs: Syrah and Shiraz, same thing (grape). Ditto for Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc and Fume Blanc. And the reasons for the name differences have historically much to do with the physical origins of said grapes or a style. Shiraz is the Anglo-Australian name, if you will, of Syrah, which is French, while Pinot Gris is the French name of the same grape which is Pinot Grigio in Italian.  Robert Mondavi coined the term Fume Blanc in the late 1960’s to distinguish his dry style of Sauvignon against the sweeter versions (mostly blended out) that had existed in California prior. But over time and with wine becoming more popular, wouldn’t it be nice if we could extrapolate style and wine expectations from the names and confuse people less. Let me explain… Continue reading »

There’s nothing new about the fact that in this day and age sommeliers are dabbling in making their own wines. Some do it as a side-gig to their day job on the floor: Raj Parr (RN74 and Michael Mina, SF), John Lancaster (Boulevard, SF), Brian Duncan (Bin 36, Chicago) among others.

This concept took root years back (1995) when Larry Stone, sommelier at Rubicon in San Francisco, partnered with Daniel Johnnes, sommelier of Montrachet, to make a few wines under the moniker of Deux Chapeaux. Since then Mr. Johnnes, now working with Daniel Boulud, has produced many wines as a negotiant and imported many more from France while Mr. Stone, the managing director at Rubicon Estate in Napa, continues his proprietary label, Sirita, as a side line. Continue reading »