March 2011 – THE GRAPE BELT

Tower Of Babel

Sometimes I get the distinct impression that most wine producers don’t want the public to buy their wines. Maybe they love their wines so much that the very thought of their precious bottles falling into the hands of strangers makes them think that Prohibition might have been a good idea. How else to explain some […]

We’re Not Worthy

I am quickly moving from sympathy to frustration with people who begin conversations about wine with self-flagellating disclaimers: “I’m no connossieur……” “I know nothing about wine….” “I choose wines by the label/price/winery name/bottle shape/weather report/horoscope/fill in the blank…..” “I only drink merlot/pink/chardonnay/Australian….” and on and on. I cringe whenever these apologies crawl weakly out of a friend’s […]

Called Out On Strikes

Friends are people who tell you the truth. And yesterday I got served a face-full of friendship. It turns out, my truth-telling pal insisted, I have been a big, fat phony since I started writing this blog. The big, fat part, I thought was fair. But phony? Wow, talk about knowing how to hurt a […]