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Forty years. I sometimes find that difficult to believe. I recently opened a bottle that Betsy and I purchased more than twenty years ago. As I eased the cork from the bottle, I realized I was not simply opening wine. I was opening a particular moment in our lives. The wine had been aging quietly… Read More

How My Palate Has Changed Over the Years One of the questions I am asked most often is whether my taste in wine has changed over the years. The answer is an unequivocal yes. Like many wine enthusiasts, my early years were spent chasing intensity. Bigger wines seemed more impressive. Higher alcohol, richer fruit, more… Read More

When Wine Becomes Personal Over the years, I have attended more wine tastings, wine dinners, and educational seminars than I could possibly count. Some have featured extraordinary wines. Others have offered remarkable food pairings. A few have showcased bottles that most wine lovers only dream of tasting. Yet when I look back on the experiences… Read More

Inspired by our recent exploration of Tenuta delle Terre Nere and a continuing fascination with the wines of Mount Etna. Among wine enthusiasts, few descriptors are invoked as frequently—and as imprecisely—as minerality. We speak of crushed stone, wet slate, volcanic ash, flint, and smoke as though we can taste the geology itself. Yet the reality… Read More

Every year around this time, somebody asks me the same question: “Paul, what’s a good summer wine?” My answer is usually disappointing. It depends. I know that’s not the answer people want. Most folks are hoping for a specific bottle recommendation—a magical wine that somehow improves the weather, keeps mosquitoes away, and transforms an average… Read More

One of the most common questions I get in my classes is still the same one I was asked fifteen years ago: “Paul, how do I buy good wine without spending a fortune?” The funny thing is that despite all the changes in the wine world, my answer hasn’t changed very much. Back in 2012,… Read More