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Merlot Thursday: Murphy Goode California Merlot (2023)
I think and talk constantly about what makes a wine good. For a person whose wine life intersects the commercial, critical, and consumer spheres, a glass of juice is almost never just a glass of juice. But what if, once in a while, it could be? What if the little voice that’s always yammering on…
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What it’s like to be a wine judge
If drinking a glass of wine is like taking a walk in the park, then tasting and scoring a hundred wines is more like running a marathon. Wine judging takes discipline, focus, and endurance–not to mention a lot of crackers and celery! Since judging my first wine contest in 2025, I’ve been involved with several…
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First Glass: How to Taste, Talk About, and Buy Wine Like a Master Sommelier by Tim Gaiser MS (Review)
Master Sommelier Tim Gaiser’s new book, First Glass: How to Taste, Talk About, and Buy Wine Like a Master Sommelier was released on October 20, 2026. It’s available in paperback and digital formats. I’ve been looking forward to reading it since Gaiser announced the title at the TEXSOM Conference back in August 2026. Here’s my…
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Texas + Rioja: Spain’s finest wines come to Dallas
You could say that we’re separated by an ocean but united by a grape. Texans adore our smooth, spicy, food-loving Tempranillo wines, whether homegrown or imported from the historic wine-producing villages of Spain. That love was evident when Rioja came to town this week, bringing lots of their signature Tempranillo-based reds–plus a few delicious surprises!…
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Can regenerative wine scale? Ridgely Evers on AVIVO, Lodi, and the business of deliciousness
In early September, I sat down to chat with Ridgely Evers, founder and owner of DaVero Farms & Winery and co-founder of AVIVO Wines. Our conversation touched on climate-adaptive varieties, retail marketing, and the most important job of any bottle of wine. (Hint: It’s to taste good.) “I wrote software from 1967 until 2024–but for…
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Tasting the 2026 Costco holiday wine calendar: Wines #1-6
It’s time to tackle the first group of wines from the 2026 Costco Wine Advent-ure Calendar. Corkscrews at the ready! For more info about the 2026 calendar–and a complete list of the wines–check out our earlier post. There are 24 wines in the box, and I’ll be reviewing them in four groups of six. At…
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Merlot Thursday: Markham Vineyards “Six Stack” North Coast Merlot (2023)
As Dallas continues to sprawl northward, newly-built steakhouses pop up along the Tollway overnight, like mushrooms. And, like a forager, I poke at them and turn them over. I’m looking for my next tasty prize: a new bottle for #MerlotThursday. J. Alexander’s has that odd, affluent-suburb combination of steaks and gooey sushi rolls, no happy…
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How I score wines
How are wine scores calculated for The Wine Fairy blog? What do the different scores mean? I’m so glad you asked! Having published almost two hundred bottle reviews in the last 18 months, I realized this explanatory post is long overdue. In this article, I share some of my methodology and philosophy of grading wines.…
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Merlot Thursday: Orin Swift “Advice from John” California Merlot (2024)
“There is no arguing about taste” is a maxim that goes back centuries. But as wine fans and wine critics, that’s what we absolutely love to do, regardless. Let’s taste wine! Argue about taste! Then open another bottle and argue about taste some more. Today’s wine is a very popular Merlot from the very popular…
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TEXSOM Sommer Camp 2026: The most exciting week in wine
It’s a reunion that I’ve been awaiting for many months: TEXSOM 2026 and almost an entire week of Sommer Camp! Sommer Camp starts in Irving, Texas on August 20. In the summer of 2025, I was a raw beginner with stars in my eyes and a brand-new wine blog. I registered for five days of…
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Merlot Thursday: Château La Rose Perrière Lussac Saint-Émilion (2020)
“When you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail,” the saying goes. And when you are a cooper, every wine needs time in a barrel. So it is with Château La Rose Perrière, the Bordeaux estate owned and managed by Jean-Luc Sylvain (of renowned barrel supplier Tonnellerie Sylvain). The Château’s red wines, unusually, are…
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Review: Granbazán “Etiqueta Ámbar” Albariño Rías Baixas (2023)
Albariño from Spain was on the screen and in my glass. I pulled a cold bottle from the wine fridge and settled in for a one-hour Zoom class hosted by New York-based importer Olé & Obrigado. “El Camino del Albariño” is their July-August virtual education and promotional tour. It’s an invitation to wine pros to…