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Review: Sea Pearl Sauvignon Blanc (2023)
Ordering wine at a non-wine place can feel like rolling the dice. Is the wine stored in a freezing bar fridge, or by the radiator in the boss’s office? Will they serve it in a beer glass? Will anyone have a corkscrew, or at least know how to use one? Fortunately, I know how to…
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75 do’s and don’ts of wine service
Last month, we published an article about how not to look like a dumbass when ordering wine at a restaurant. Today, we’re looking at the other side of the transaction–the server’s side. Dining room and bar service is a complex art. There are countless ways to mess up the deceptively simple act of selling wine.…
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Review: Wine Journal by Clever Fox
“What is the best feeling in the world that doesn’t come from sex or drugs?” Somebody asked me that at a party recently, as an icebreaker. I didn’t have a good answer at the time, but now I just might: It’s tearing the packaging off a brand new notebook or journal. You get a new…
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Study tips for the WSET Level 2 Award in Wines: How to Pass with Distinction
I got my Wine & Spirit Education Trust Level 2 results last Friday! As promised, I’m sharing those results along with some tips for doing your best on the Level 2 exam. Over the last few months, I studied hard to build a wine vocabulary and a basic understanding of styles and regions. Then, I…
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Review: Eccentric Malbec (2020)
Today, I’m sipping on a bottle that I found in my wine cabinet, Eccentric Malbec. It’s a value wine and it’s coming up on its 5th birthday this year–which by my house rules means, “Down the hatch!” My wife loves inky red wines and we used to never come home from the supermarket or wine…
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Are bars the last great “third place”?
Earlier this week, Starbucks rolled out a new “Code of Conduct” for their cafes. The headline- grabbing change was a directive straight from the chief executive: You can’t pee for free. Beginning soon, restrooms and seating at Starbucks will only be available to paying customers. Baristas are currently being trained on enforcing this rule. The…
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Review: L’Enclos de Carbonnieux Pessac-Léognan Blanc (2021)
Late January is the worst. The Yule tree is put away, and yet it’s still below freezing and gray outside. I find myself daydreaming about springtime and picnics. And with them, picnic wines. In the Wine Fairy’s household, a picnic wine is something crisp and aromatic. Buzz-inducing, but not so high in alcohol that you…
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The trippy AI wine art of Flying Blue Imports
Costco sells a wine advent calendar, which we reviewed back in December. The wines are generally pretty good. But the video marketing materials that accompanied them are nothing short of a surrealist masterpiece. Today we’re looking at samples from the vast AI art dump that accompanied the 2024 calendar release. The wines are by Flying…
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Stop saying “elixir”: 5 cocktail trends we’re so over in 2025
Just another day of typing while the world burns. It’s all too scary out there–so let’s just complain about some drinks, shall we? Recently, The Wine Fairy posted about wine words we think are dumb and wine trends we don’t really understand. But why only pick on wine? Here’s how cocktail bars are getting on…
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Review: La Tour Blanche “Emotions” Sauternes (2018)
Are you sweet on Sauternes? I certainly am! Sweet wines a usually get a bad rap in the wine world. Beginning wine drinkers tend to prefer sweeter tastes–a fact that causes many intermediate wine drinkers to assume that sweet wines must be basic or bad. But the nobly-rotted white wines from Bordeaux have a long…
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This $5 Temu item will spice up your wine tasting notes
Okay, wine friends: I’m totally geeking out over this 560-piece Vegetable and Fruit Stickers set I bought off of Temu. I know I’m going to have a blast with these while I practice identifying the flavor and aroma characteristics of different wines. I’m not usually an advocate of ordering cheap crap from China, but where…
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WSET Level 2 Class: Week 2 Thoughts
Hooray, I’ve done it! I’ve completed my Wine & Spirit Education Trust Level 2 class and exam. Now comes the long wait for the test results–and hopefully, a nifty digital certificate and bragging rights. Last week I posted some notes about WSET Level 2, including how I decided to take this class and why it…