Jamie Goode’s recent post “We don’t want our wines to taste nicer, but truer” marks an important distinction, although, as usual, I will want to
Category: Wine Culture
Should Wine Tasting Strive for Objectivity? The Yes Argument
In professional wine evaluation the goal of objectivity, avoiding biases that might distort perception, governs the procedures used in tasting wine. Blind tasting, where tasters
Is the Debate About Elegance Over Power Settled?
It wasn’t so long ago that wine lovers were snapping up the most powerful wines they could find—huge, alcoholic fruit bombs with sumptuous, ripe tannins,
In Praise of Cellar Rats
In the modern winery, the term “winemaker” is often misleading—“wine designer” might be more appropriate. In most wineries with an annual case production above about
Does Alcohol Harm Wine Evaluation?
One of the often repeated objections to the validity of wine criticism is that the influence of alcohol destroys the capacity for good judgment. Unlike
Do We Really Want Stories Instead of Quality?
We are often told by people in the wine industry, especially PR professionals, that new generations of wine drinkers no longer care about scores or
Exploring the Philosophy of Food and Wine 