How far would you drive to taste some vintage port? That’s most often a rhetorical question but I actually confronted it head on last week as a rare vertical tasting including some legendary wines came on the agenda in Montreal. So I hopped in the car. The Taylor still had big tannins; the Cockburn was more supple. MORE >>

Dear Friends and Readers, Although I try to give some meaningful details, when I write about a wine I try to focus more on context than on descriptions of flavor or aroma. That said, many of you have contacted me in the past few months asking me to me more specific about aromas and flavors, to use more and better descriptors. MORE >>

Could California’s wine excise tax increase 12,600 percent? If Josie and Kent M. Whitney have their way, it will. According to the Sonoma Valley Sun (via wineopinions ), the Secretary of State has cleared their ballot initiative that would raise the excise tax on a regular bottle of wine from four cents to…$5.11. MORE >>

I'm leaving Chile(till later) and heading over to California to try a few more Zin's. I'm starting to surprise myself with what I am finding with Zinfandel and also a bit disappointed that I wasted so many years with such a limited selection or narrow palate. Deep dark fruit aromas with some cherry. Hey, you're never too old to learn. MORE >>

I am sometimes asked about where my articles appear in addition to my online wine magazine, [link]. Virtually everything I write appears on the popular site [link]. was Tastes critic for a while and if you click on the Tastes section [link] most articles are mine. My articles also appear in The Juice (the national newsletter for Local Wine Events). MORE >>