Mouth.

Every once in a while someone utters a phrase so pithy, poignant and potent that it becomes a veritable font of ideas. Yesterday, Steve Heimoff made such a statement in the discussion thread to his post about Demystifying wine: “The only problem with demystifying wine is that, once the mystique is gone, certain wineries won’t be able to charge as much.”

Assuming that demystification means “debunking myths”, “dispelling misconceptions”, “removing the intimidation” and “educating”, that statement is true. But all such posits have caveats and contingencies. (more…)

1976 Defil.

Some time ago, Oregon winemaker Jerry D. Murray said some nice things about me as part of one of those memes that require one to pass on the favor. It’s actually been a bit longer than I’m normally comfortable with. It has been difficult to put together something of substance because I am generally not very forthcoming about myself.

Finally, over the holidays, I was able to give this meme some thought. If the web, and blogging in particular, are to be more personal and the interaction is to be more conversational, then it makes sense that I should expose more of what I am about to those that read this blog and redwinebuzz.com. So, here are six things that most people may not (but conceivably might want to) know about me. I also recommend six sites that reflect what I value and enjoy. (more…)