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 »

I was glancing through the myriad emails that come my way this past week when I saw a headline in Wines & Sprits Daily.com that read: SOME FRENCH PRODUCERS USING NEW WORLD TRICKS. Needless to say, I was intrigued. It’s not a secret that French wines have been having a hard time of late selling in the American market and it’s not exclusively due to the tough time the dollar is having versus the euro. Continue reading »

A tough question to answer. First off, the period that starts essentially around Halloween and ends just after that long brunch on New Year’s Day is probably the most important time of year for anyone in the wine (and spirits) biz as more than a disproportionate amount of sales and consumption happen in this time frame. When you hear your trade friends toss out that end of the year phrase OND what they mean is October/November/December- the holy trinity of wine sales quarters! Continue reading »