On September 7, the Consorzio del Brunello di Montalcino will vote on a proposal to potentially make Brunello’s little brother, Rosso di Montalcino, less awesome. Specifically, they are proposing to allow Rosso di Montalcino, currently made with 100% Brunello (a form of Sangiovese) grapes but with less aging requirements than Brunello di Montalcino wine, to…
Category: commentary
Being Able To Describe A Wine Does NOT Make You Awesome
If I told you what it takes to reach the highest high, You’d laugh and say “Nothing’s that simple!” – from “I’m Free” (Tommy, The Who – 1969) The following commentary is not an easy one to write, because whenever one talks about something that they do, they run the risk of appearing immodest, or…
The First – And Last – 160 Days: What Does Gary Vaynerchuk’s Exit Mean For The Wine World?
Those of you who have just been rescued from being stranded for decades in South American jungles and are now coming to grips with you strange new world that involves cellular telephones, 3D television and the Global Interwebs, might not have heard that influential wine personality and bestselling author Gary Vaynerchuk last week announced that…
The Hopeless Quest To Define Wines Of True Character (Or “Screw The Ratings, Even Mine”)
Roughly two months ago, in the follow-on discussions on a feature on the wines of Lodi producer Matt Powell, a reader named Olivier chimed on with some though-provoking questions, the kind that, for me, define the 1WD readership because they exponentially increase the value of the content on this little ol’ website. The discussion was…