A slightly battered Madcap Magnus label (Staffelter Hof)

The Unbearable Preconceptions of Riesling

Simon J Woolf
Feature Stories
3 min read
- “I hate Chardonnay – it's so buttery and sweet” - “I can't drink Spanish red wine – it's always too oaky” - “The alcohol level of this wine is 15% - It's going to be unbalanced and jammy” Preconceptions about wine are all around us, and whether they're formed

Travels with my wine

Gary Thomas
Feature Stories
5 min read
If you’re a wine lover (and I assume you are if you are reading these pages) this has probably happened to you: you travel to some far-flung locale, sample great wines, and want to bring some back. Once upon a time, of course, you could simply bring a few bottles

Ten ways to define a “cool climate” wine region

Erika Szymanski
Features
6 min read
How do you define a “cool climate” wine region? According to the folk behind this year's International Cool Climate Wine Symposium, the distinguishing characteristic is how much sleep the winemaker gets. Warm climate = easy winemaking (lots of sleep) = bad. Cool climate = difficult winemaking (less sleep) = good.

Brazil Ready to Enter Wine Olympics

Roger Morris
Feature Stories
3 min read
There is a reason you haven’t heard too much about Brazilian wines. It’s not because Brazil is new to wine production.  It has more than 1,100 wineries, mostly in the cooler southern regions, and there are more than a quarter of a million acres under vines. But, although there are

Walk down Gin Lane with these gin-centric books

Gary Thomas
Features
4 min read
GIN GLORIOUS GIN: How Mother’s Ruin Became the Spirit of London by Olivia Williams Headline Press, $14.99 (Paperback), available on Amazon “Gin was mother’s milk to her.” –Eliza Doolittle, “Pygmalion” by George Bernard Shaw Is there a spirit both loved and reviled more than gin?  Many people cannot stand its