In Pursuit of Beauty
What Matters When You Taste Wine By Karen MacNeil I once had an employee...Continue reading
The Best Chardonnays
California Chardonnay has never been better. I don’t say that casually. It’s easy to make...Continue reading
Top 10 Reasons to Swipe Left on Dry January
A Guest Blog by Tom Wark Note from Karen MacNeil: Tom Wark is one of...Continue reading
Does Wine Have Social Value?
Why Do You Drink Wine? One of my favorite questions to ask wine drinkers is...Continue reading
ONE THING THAT’S KILLING THE WINE INDUSTRY
When Coravin entered the wine universe in 2013, the vinous planets realigned. The following content...Continue reading
HELLO, TERROIR, ARE YOU THERE?
The winemaker Randall Grahm once told me that questioning the existence of terroirThe following content...Continue reading
MY TOP TWELVE OREGON SPARKLING WINES
Oregon’s Willamette Valley has an uncanny ability to quietly go about making great wine, almost...Continue reading
Is Wine in the Alcohol Business?
Recently, a reporter asked me if I thought the wine industry was doing enoughThe following...Continue reading
On Being Nominated “Person of the Year”
A year and a half ago, on a late winter morning walk, I found myself...Continue reading
A New Spin for a Famous Zin
All told, Joel Peterson has made 52 vintages of wine, and for mostThe following content...Continue reading
Join Us for Come Over October!
Come Over October is an international movement encouraging wine drinkers to invite a friend, The...Continue reading
The Dominant Wine Word of the Day
Sometimes a certain word begins to crop up everywhere, The following content is accessible for...Continue reading
How I Learned to Give a (Good) Speech
I was once told that all great speakers use some kind of prop.The following content...Continue reading
AT THE FIRST AMERICAN COCKTAIL PARTIES, THEY DRANK THIS
One wine, more than any other, is strongly associated with the historyThe following content is...Continue reading
The Mindfulness of Wine
I have never understood the term Sober Curious.The following content is accessible for members only,...Continue reading
Why I Don’t Give Up
Once, I was in a plane crash. The plane had been hit by lightning twice,The...Continue reading
It’s Actually Not Flavor That Counts
What are we looking for in great wine? Whenever I ask winemakers in Napa Valley...Continue reading
Drinking Deception—How Cannabis Steals Wine’s Story
“The next time you attend an upscale gathering, don’t be surprised if alongsideThe following content...Continue reading
BRAVE NEW WORLD…Wine at a Critical Crossroad
Following is an edited version of my keynote speech to the DTCThe following content is...Continue reading
HIDING GUILT AND RACISM
I live in California which has the highest share of undocumented crop workers in the...Continue reading
What I Wish I Could Tell the Surgeon General
My parents, like so many of the generation who became parents in the 1940s and...Continue reading
Between the Earth and the Sky
(This piece originally appeared in Somm Journal) Cathy Corison has made 48 vintages of Napa...Continue reading
Five Stunning Napa Cabernets
Every century, every place, has its legendary vintages.The following content is accessible for members only,...Continue reading
Red Leaves? WAIT, Don’t Take That Photo
This time of year, scores of photographers and wine lovers line up along the roadsThe...Continue reading
Holiday Entertaining: Wine Wisdom from Karen MacNeil
Make your holiday party sensational this season, it’s easy to do.The following content is accessible...Continue reading
The Best Thing You’ll Ever Drink with Pumpkin Pie
Needless to say, pumpkin pie is sweet … but it’s also more than that.The following...Continue reading
Six Great Napa Cabernets
Two and half years ago, when most of the 2021 vintage Cabernets in the Napa...Continue reading
A Short History of Wine’s Beginnings
From the earliest times, all over the world and even when no one knew it,The...Continue reading
Perfection? Yes, for These Three
I rarely—in fact almost never–give 100 points to a wine.The following content is accessible for...Continue reading
Sancerre’s Stellar Sister
Chances are you know Sancerre. It’s one of France’s greatest Sauvignon BlancsThe following content is...Continue reading
How Napa Valley Became Itself—
Many people believe that Napa Valley The following content is accessible for members only, please...Continue reading
The Man Who Makes Squares Round
A few weeks ago, I sat down with Michel Rolland, the most famous wineThe following...Continue reading
A Man of Judgment: Warren Winiarski
Warren Winiarski, the founder of Stag’sThe following content is accessible for members only, please sign...Continue reading
The World in a Wineglass by Ray Isle
Ray Isle’s new book—The World in a Wineglass—is not simply a helpful guide to great...Continue reading
DAYS OF WINE AND SALADS
Remember the saying: white wine with fish, red wine with meat? The following content is...Continue reading
Eight Great White Burgundies for Under $40 (Sometimes Way Under)
Inexpensive Burgundy is usually an oxymoron. But in our tastings The following content is accessible...Continue reading
THE SEX LIFE OF GRAPES
Right now, there’s a lot of sex in the vineyards. Strictly between the vines of...Continue reading
I HOPE I REMEMBER THIS NIGHT
I wrote the following poem on the evening of September 21,2022 after attending a “Conversation”...Continue reading
THE TEN BEST CANNED WINES
I approached our recent tasting of canned wines with all theThe following content is accessible...Continue reading
NOTHING LEFT TO SAY?
I have been a wine writer for nearly 40 years. And yet, for the first...Continue reading
Ten of the Greatest White Wines for Spring
Spring always makes me want to cook. Maybe it’s the delight of walking into a...Continue reading
PRETTY IN PINK???
Rosé samples are already rolling into our offices, as they do every spring. And so...Continue reading
The 10 Best Chianti Classicos
Chianti Classico seems like a wine we Americans know well—after all,The following content is accessible...Continue reading
Marrying Well: Pairing Food and Wine
Pairing wine and food can be a contentious issue. Some experts The following content is...Continue reading
Why the Tongue Map is Totally Wrong
I still hear people talk about the infamous “Tongue Map” when describing what they taste...Continue reading
Great Barolo to Drink Right Now
Say it’s a cold winter night (not too hard to envision), but this time,The following...Continue reading
The Best Cheap Wines of the Year
We call them “Steals,” but no matter what you call them,The following content is accessible...Continue reading
Wine of the Year: RAEN “Royal St. Robert” Pinot Noir
Every year we look back at the 2000 or so wines we tasted that year...Continue reading
The Great White Wines of South Africa
“South Africa makes white wine?” an incredulous friend said to me recently.The following content is...Continue reading
How Do You Describe a Great Champagne?
Describing any wine is hard. Describing a great Champagne can seem next to impossible.The following...Continue reading