Words and Wild Spaces

Summertime means fewer wine sample shipments, as the heat makes shipping wine to the Mid-Atlantic a shady enterprise. So, I get a bit of a ...

Damn, I love Madiera. And Port. And high-octane Cali Zinfandel. But, sometimes, I don't want to drink wine that is going to get me bli...

Well, Labor Day weekend is in the past and autumn is on the way. But it’s still hot here in the mid-Atlantic and, now that the crowds have s...

Two years ago, I called Muscadet “Frances’s Most Oceanic Wine.” After recently tasting threw a slew of Muscadets and eating all sorts of ...

I’ve been bodyboarding for more than 20 years, and I’ve swallowed more than my share of salt water. I’ve collected tons of sea shells and...

 The steep slope of Hermitage in France's Northern Rhone Valley is the ancestral home of the syrah grape. Ah, BYOB blind tasting,...

I taste a lot of wine, and inevitably I come across some disappointmenting bottles. This weekend contained no such wines. I tasted a slew of...

If you don't know muscadet, you're missing out. Grown in the western part of France's Loire Valley and made from the relatively...

I love blind tasting wines with good friends. We always end up having great discussions, bouncing guesses off of each other, debating, think...

Let me get one thing straight: I’m not here to slam Virginia wines. There are many solid viogniers and chardonnays, and some decent red blen...