CN: Slurs; rape jokes; racist and sexist langage and images (mostly in links) It’s no secret that the artisanal food and beverage criticism field is a pretty privileged bunch. After all, to get into it you have to have disposable income, no ailments or conditions that would preclude imbibing a significant amount of alcohol or eating a wide range of foods, and spare time to devote to your blog––or,... »
In Part 1 of this post, I discussed what happens as a wine ages and its unique relationship with air. In this follow-up, I’ll explain what makes certain wines age-worthy and how to keep your wines happy for however long you can wait before drinking them. Selecting Wines for Now and Later As I mentioned in my previous post, most wines sold in your local store are meant for consumption within... »
Every once in awhile somebody shows me a bottle of wine they found in their basement and asks if it’s worth anything. I’m always excited to take a look, out of curiosity, but it’s not because I suspect they’re harboring some fortune-making collector’s bottle. I just really love tasting spoiled wine. It’s fascinating, to me, how air can be wine’s best friend and worst enemy with only a few factors ... »
I am a lucky lady for a whole bushel load of reasons. One reason in particular is that I get to meet a lot of wonderful, brilliant people. And every so often one of these amazing people lets me photograph them. And on a very good day they also let me pick their brain so that I can learn even more about them and then share what I find with you. This is one of those times. Please enjoy the latest in... »
The squeaky anticipation that comes with uncorking a bottle of wine is akin to the tactile sensation of placing a needle on a spinning record: romantic, nostalgic, exciting, evocative, and above all, a vestige of a bygone era. But with every snap-crackle-pop murmur to life as a record player finds its groove, that needle is slowly destroying your record, and while corks aren’t always bad for wine,... »
Pictured, my friend Bridget O’Malley’s genius pairing: rosé champagne and Twizzlers. Every year in wine media I see posts about what wines to pair with Thanksgiving dinner. With Superbowl Sunday. With Easter ham. With Flag Day. Even though I think people obsess about pairings a lot less than they used to, pairing advice, much of which I find completely useless due to the generalities o... »
“I think I’m allergic to sulfites. This wine gave me a headache.” “Well, how much did you drink?” “… a bottle?” It happened so many times during my time as a wine salesperson that it had become one of our most standard jokes, some of us even going so far as to just cut out the second line: “This wine gave me a headache.” ––“Well, you’re not supposed to drink the whole bottle!” Most of the customer... »
Last month, the NYT reported that wine dealer Rudy Kurniawan was convicted of fraud after successfully passing off regular wine he’d mixed in his kitchen as sought-after, top-end bottles. This man swindled wine collectors out of large amounts of money, made a mockery of those who are supposed to be able to catch these things, and raised an obvious question: What is the difference between his own m... »
Oh yeah, I think the pain thing was the only reason they were against it, the whole hypnobirthing classes thing was weird. Apparently you not... – Jul 31, 5:23 AM Urgh, I wish I'd said something in our hypnobirthing classes. Midwife was just totally supportive of a couple who wanted to not have the injection.... – Jul 31, 5:19 AM
These things last way longer than you might think. Wakefield's original Lancet article was published in 1998, and only retracted in 2011. However, it raised... – Jul 30, 10:40 PM
I don't think this is a particularly helpful comparison to make. On the one hand we have parents making a misinformed decision because they believe... – Jul 30, 7:53 PM
According to the Wikipedia article on "false rape allegations", the % of false reports of violent crime is nearly identical to false rape allegations. However,... – Jul 30, 7:04 PM
"They also believe it causes leukemia thanks to one poorly done and since debunked study from the ‘90s." ...have we not spent the last fiveish... – Jul 30, 6:21 PM