My most recent columns and articles:

In DECANTER:

Good Riddance to California’s High-Concept Wines

September (DECANTER California 2010 supplement) — If there’s a silver lining somewhere in the cloud of the global economic crisis, it might take the hot air out of California’s over-inflated “high-concept” wines—those bottlings that start as the brain-child of producers who want “a 95-point world-class wine to compete with the world’s best.”

The recipe is simple: Take one wealthy owner with towering ambition, mix with a star winemaker, limit supply, and add lavish packaging.  Sprinkle with marketing hype and garnish with attention-grabbing price-tag.  Yes, you need a grape source too, but a high-concept wine starts with an idea, not a vineyard. It’s all about the illusion of uniqueness….

In BLOOMBERG NEWS:

Beaujolais Gang of Four Rescues Red From Scandal

Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) — It’s a hot night. I have a fan going on the deck, but drinkers at my party want red wine. That’s why I have bottles of Beaujolais resting on a big tub of ice.

These are the first of the fabulous 2009 vintage to hit shop shelves, several from the “Gang of Four” vintners who rescued the world from bubble-gum-style Beaujolais nouveau. Unlike tannic cabernet and merlot, these reds shine when lightly chilled, perfect for summer…

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In BLOOMBERG MARKETS:

Tokyo’s Mix Master

September, 2010 (Bloomberg Markets) — Bartending legend Kazuo Uyeda shakes drinks the hard way — and serves complex, customer-pleasing creations that go down easy.

Kazuo Uyeda holds a filled cocktail shaker at a precise slant and then pumps his elbows in a three-point twisting motion so furiously that his arms are a blur. The slim Japanese master bartender is showing off his much-discussed “hard shake” in New York’s Hiro Ballroom.

The recent fascination in the West with the mystique of Japanese cocktail techniques has drawn more than 100 top bartenders and enthusiasts to this two-day seminar with Uyeda. In Tokyo, the 65-year-old is a legend…

In ZESTERDAILY.COM:

Does Napa Have Terroir?

September 2 — Debates about terroir are as hot as ever, especially when it comes to California. My big question is always: Do wines from individual vineyards display a distinctive sense of place in, say, Napa Valley?

It doesn’t help that Napa produces hundreds of wines made by producers who are all over the map in their approach to winemaking.

So when I had a chance to sample 63 wines made from Stagecoach Vineyard grapes, I grabbed it. On the basis of rocks, exposure, altitude, microclimates and volcanic soils, this is surely one of the valley’s most distinctive sites. Would the wines reflect that — and the subtleties of its soil and topography…?

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