Category Archives: Dispatches From Academia

Not About Wine: Here’s to You, Mr. Roberts

Posted on June 28, 2012 by

I had a feeling that the Affordable Care Act would be upheld, largely because of Chief Justice Roberts siding with the “liberal” wing of the court on their ruling on the Arizona immigration law. I thought it would be 6-3, … Continue reading →

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Food & Wine Thursdays: Natural Wine, Noise Music & the Deliberately Obtuse

Posted on March 22, 2012 by

Anyone involved in the wine business, at least in cities where there is also a vibrant music scene, knows that there is a lot of overlap between the wine world and the music world. In Los Angeles, where I work, … Continue reading →

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Not About Wine: In Praise of Fair Weather Fandom

Posted on January 26, 2012 by

I’m not a big sports fan. At least not any more. I’ll catch a Cal football or basketball game every now and then and I’ll rarely turn down an invitation to drink beer and eat unhealthy food while watching any … Continue reading →

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Food & Wine Thursdays: Biodynamics & Nazism, Same Time, Same Place, Coincidence?

Posted on November 3, 2011 by

(Preamble: I’m in no way equating the practitioners of Biodynamic farming with adherents of National Socialism in terms of philosophy, but merely making note of their shared origins in a tumultuous period in European history.) Biodynamics, as I’ve mentioned several … Continue reading →

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Food & Wine Thursdays: Tempranillo, the Other Noble Grape

Posted on September 1, 2011 by

The term “international varietal” is batted around quite a bit in the wine world. It’s used both favorably to describe grapes whose combination of hardiness, quality and market-friendliness has given them  cosmopolitan reach, being planted in virtually every wine growing … Continue reading →

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Food & Wine Thursdays: On Wine Accessories

Posted on August 18, 2011 by

There are exactly three things you need to enjoy good wine. They are, in order of practical importance: Corkscrew Appropriate wine glasses. Decanter. That’s it. I promise. Perhaps the area of the wine world that draws my ire more than … Continue reading →

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Food & Wine Thursdays: 100 Points Redux

Posted on August 11, 2011 by

I feel silly again bringing up the topic of the futility of publicly rating wine on a 100-point scale, its innate uselessness, and its role as a net-detriment to wine and wine appreciation, but after SF Chronicle Wine Editor Jon … Continue reading →

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