Author W. Blake Gray

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W. Blake Gray
Staff Writer
Wine writer W. Blake Gray is Chairman of the Electoral College of the Vintners Hall of Fame. Previously wine writer/editor for the San Francisco Chronicle, he has contributed articles on wine and sake to The Los Angeles Times, Food & Wine, Wine & Spirits, Wine Review Online, and a variety of other publications. He travels frequently to wine regions and enjoys coming home to San Francisco.

High quality sake in post-tsunami Fukushima

W. Blake Gray
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This should be a success story. In 1990, Fukushima prefecture got zero gold medals at the Japan sake awards. This was just when Japanese consumers started to pay more for premium sake, so the local government took the embarrassing shutout seriously. Fukushima's government started a sake academy to teach brewers

Ten reminders to drink Madeira

W. Blake Gray
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Of course you already like Madeira. It's the most unique wine in the world. It's one of the best values and one of the most delicious wines. Plus it's so old-school that it's hip – and so are you. These are just reminders. Everybody tells you to drink this and

How to love vermouth

W. Blake Gray
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Vermouth is the most underappreciated wine in the U.S. Most people don't realize that vermouth IS wine: that's the beginning of the problem. Imagine how much you would like Pinot Noir if you only drank it after it had been open for two months at room temperature. Recently I reviewed

A Club for Wine Club Haters

W. Blake Gray
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I hate wine clubs. Every organization from the New York Times to the National Rifle Association has one, and they all sell the same crap: bottled bulk wines exactly like those at the local supermarket, but with different labels. Plonk is different. Plonk is the first wine club I've ever

Rethinking Argentina

W. Blake Gray
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Trigger warning: This story will praise Merlot. Is Malbec actually the grape Argentina does best? And what are the best wines to drink from Argentina? The answer to the first question, for those buying $10 or $15 wines, is probably "yes." Malbec seems to be more forgiving of industrial-scale production

Cavas de Paratges attempts to upsell Cava

W. Blake Gray
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Cava has a problem, a common one in the wine industry. Call it the trap of cheapness. The question is, with the new Cavas de Paratges category, introduced this summer, have the Catalans found the key to escape? But first, the trap. Big Cava producers sold the Spanish bubbly worldwide