Author Gary Thomas

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Gary Thomas
Gary Thomas is a longtime professional journalist and onetime senior correspondent at the Voice of America who spent much of his long journalistic career working overseas, including many of the world's wine regions. He served as wine columnist for the Austin American-Statesman, and has written about wine and spirits for Wine Spectator and other publications. Thomas now lives in Florida, where he continues to taste and write about wine and spirits for PalatePress.com. He describes himself as "ombibulous."

A Giant Steppe in Vodka

Gary Thomas
Features
2 min read
I am a ginhead, and have always been pretty dismissive of vodka -- until now, when a particular bottle came into my possession. It bore the name “Taiga Shtof” and came from Siberia. It also bore a hefty price tag. As you know, modern vodka is a triumph of marketing.

Wine Lovers Gift Guide 2018

Gary Thomas
Features
3 min read
Dear Santa: I have been a good boy this year. I drank up all the wine in my glass because it would be a waste to leave it when there are poor people in the world going around sober. As I sipped, I pondered. So I have a few ideas

The Case of the Copycat Cases

Gary Thomas
Features
4 min read
The designer and producer of a highly rated wine suitcase has accused a major wine gear purveyor of stealing his design. Barry Wax, who conceived and produced the original VinGardeValise (VGV) in 2014, alleged that the new Vino-Voyage (VV) wine suitcase - designed and marketed by Wine Enthusiast – is

Law and Order DOC: No Wine before its Crime

Gary Thomas
Features
10 min read
How would Sherlock Holmes deal with wine crime? After all, the famous detective definitely appreciated fine wine. In the very first Holmes story (“The Sign of the Four”) he drank not only red burgundy from Beaune with lunch, but old Hungarian Tokay and three glasses of port after dinner, and
ginandtonic

Gin & Me

Gary Thomas
Features
7 min read
“Red meat and gin.” – Julia Child, when asked about her longevity. “The gin and tonic has saved more lives, and minds, than all the doctors in the empire.” – Winston Churchill “I’ll stick with gin. Champagne is just ginger ale that knows somebody,” – Hawkeye Pierce Gin – which

The Bitter Cup of Brexit

Gary Thomas
Features
8 min read
2016 was heralded as the year of English wine. In March the British government and the English wine industry announced the ambitious goal of increasing wine exports from 250,000 bottles a year to 2.5 million bottles by 2020. The Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) predicted that UK

Travels with my wine

Gary Thomas
Feature Stories
5 min read
If you’re a wine lover (and I assume you are if you are reading these pages) this has probably happened to you: you travel to some far-flung locale, sample great wines, and want to bring some back. Once upon a time, of course, you could simply bring a few bottles