Watch this video below and imagine replacing the word “placebo” with “wine” This line is the most poignant: “The placebo isn’t about what’s in it, but the beliefs that we load onto it.” You see this all the time with wine. Expensive wines score better because people are happier drinking expensive wines.
So, I’m still the new kid in town, eager to please, and I have a question for you. Are you looking for reviews? As a teacher I’m awash in numbers and data and objective ratings. But wine isn’t objective. It’s subjective. Wine will taste one way to me, another to Matt, another to Gary, and [...]
Let’s be frank here: there are a ton of books about wine. The vast majority of these books intend to guide the novice wine drinker past their fears and into the territory of the confident, assertive wine drinker. The transformed wine drinker will then stride confidently into his or her local wine shop and inquire [...]
I gave up on the hundred point scale. It always bugged me was that all hundred points aren’t used. Each wine gets 50 points just for showing up. No wine of note would ever score lower than 75 points. Almost everything lands somewhere in the 80′s. Some wine critics don’t even publish reviews on wines [...]
Salutations Vinotrip readers. As I’ve rubbed elbows with the “traditional” wine media in recent months at various events, it seems there are a few main angles when it comes to wine writing. One camp focuses heavily on price, looking to answer the question “is this wine worth the money?” Others review on taste alone, passing [...]
Finally got out to Oregon’s Willamette Valley to do some wine tastin’, picture takin’, and relaxin’. The first thing I noticed while driving from winery to winery is all the dysentery is how they have other stuff planted besides grapes. Drive through any major wine region around the world and you’re likely to find every [...]
Attended a well-appointed cookout this weekend and a blind wine tasting broke out. Some of the most respected wine critics in Washington DC my friends bagged six wines and drank up, recording our data on my freshly printed wine tasting sheets. The theme was Syrah/Shiraz. Guests were asked to bring a wine where Syrah was [...]
I’ve often been influenced by external factors when tasting wines. Out driving through vineyards on a nice day, talking with the winery employees, having a good time, and everything just tastes good. Later, in the friendly confines of my house, I’ll pour myself a glass of something, take a swig, mince and frown and make [...]
Your regular blogger has let me pop in again and share a little Maryland wine tour. If there’s one thing Maryland wineries can learn from Virginia, it’s signage. The very first sign we saw for Black Ankle Vineyards was the one directing us to turn left into the driveway. Virginia, on the other hand, has [...]
Finally got a chance to check out Taverna Corvino, the Italian restaurant on Light Street in Federal Hill. Taverna Corvino replaced Junior’s in the location that works like a Tilt-A-Whirl for upscale restaurants in South Baltimore. If you aren’t slinging Miller Lite in Sobo, you’re going to have a rough time getting going. Winesdays, five [...]
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