I admit it, I've become obsessed by mouse taint. If that seems strange or perverse, let me expand. Most wine faults in this day and age are pretty well understood. We know a fair bit about Brettanomyces, volatile acidity, reduction and many other common complaints. Not so with the stray rodent Read More
Is there a single word that's caused more controversy and argument amongst wine connoisseurs/geeks/lovers than “natural”? At least recently, I doubt it. The debate about “natural wine” has raged for a good few years now. During that time, zealots and detractors have nailed their colours to the mast so frequently Read More
Like so many wine terms in the absence of legal definitions, “natural wine” is slippery. Some people claim that the beast can’t exist at all winemaking always, necessarily represents human intervention. Others say that “natural wines” can be chemically adjusted and augmented so long as the additions are naturally occurring Read More
So here I was, last spring, talking away with the recently-departed Marcel Lapierre, the Beaujolais vigneron who was one of the dominant figures of the natural wine movement in its strictest definition—organic in the vineyard, wine made with grape juice-read more- Read More
The word "sulfur," in my mind, is inexorably linked back to Mr. Burcik's high school chemistry class, when we were given soft, pungent, yellow chunks to mix with other chemicals. When elemental sulfur is exposed to air, it forms sulfur-read more- Read More