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outside the bottle

A MAILBAG COLUMN FROM AN ECCENTRIC SOMMELIER

News

Welcome, Lady Adelaide

Welcome, Lady Adelaide

Alas! The Quinta Do Vallado Adelaide 2015 is now available! Though my posts generally focus on a historical event related to the wine I’m writing about, today’s is all about NOW! There’s no time to look back because our latest IBO, an ultra-premium Douro Valley...

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Thanks for the “New World,” Magellan!

When it comes to wine, oceanic influences are quite significant. Yet what happens in Casablanca, Chile is far different from Bordeaux, France.   Sure, all oceans and seas are massive moderators, but think about coastal France, Portugal and Spain in comparison to...

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Grapes are of the Essence

Every morning we wake up at a certain time on a certain day and we go about our routines. You probably have multiple clocks, from one hanging on the wall to your stove, your phone and on your wrist. But it hasn’t always been this way. For the majority of human...

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Because Life Needs Good and Evil

Black and white. Chaos and order. Sinner. Sinless. Life is a constant search for the happy medium, the yin and the yang. It’s as renowned psychologist Jordan B. Peterson explains, “Order is not enough. You can’t just be stable, and secure, and unchanging, because...

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Thank you, Lehman Brothers?

On this day, 13 years ago, the world broke out in a panic when Lehman Brothers filed for Ch. 11 bankruptcy. Still the largest bankruptcy filing in US history, it was the climax of the Great Recession of 2007-2009. Subprime mortgages were to blame, lending money to...

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The Beginning and The End.

Alas, the sun has crossed the celestial equator from north to south. Summer is now quite uneasy, shifting into fall in the north, while life is springing into action down south. What a beautiful time of the year! When grapes are cut from the vine to create new wine,...

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The Future of Wine

We humans are bold if nothing else. Unlike any other species (that we know of), only we have chosen time and again to go boldly where no other has gone before. This holds especially true to the modern European, the first to really “discover” ignorance. Though they...

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Could Mozart Make Your Wine More Complex?

We usually do three things when drinking wine: look at it, smell it and taste it. We activate three of our five senses to understand what’s going on in the glass. I propose we go further by incorporating sound and touch. Surely what we’re listening to while...

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“What’s My Next Question?” – Benjamin Kaplan

What’s My Next Question? On a random day like today 11 years ago, a legendary Harvard Law professor and lawyer, Benjamin Kaplan, died at 99 years of age. A rich, marked life that left an impact long after his last breathe. Apart from influencing the likes of Ruth...

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Founder’s view  |  Financial insights outside the bottle

A Mailbag Column from an Eccentric Sommelier

Would you bring your child to a winery?

DEAR READER, What a pleasure to be back! I admit it: these mailbags are now my favorite point of the week. Even during the contentious back-and-forth, I always enjoy opening my inbox to see words from you all. “Kind” ones, sometimes—but as you know from last week—I...

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Our Sommeliers suggested wine

DEAR READER, I must be honest—I expected many more well wishes after posting that old journal entry. Everyone is modest when they say they don’t want well wishes, and so I expected there would be a few of you who saw through my “plea for privacy”. But, I forgive and I...

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Beer vs Wine, a timeless debate…

DEAR READER, Blah blah blah let’s get right to it! Dear Sommelier Ferdinand, You’ve dropped some hints that you look down on beer. Why is this, Sommelier Ferdinand? You have a growing fanbase—surely, you’re aware the effect that your insults have? And before you...

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Ever heard of a wine cocktail?

DEAR READER, I hope some of you learned from the reader letter last week [hyperlink to Week Ten post] and checked your attics! You never know how much wine sits above you, waiting to be uncorked and decanted—on someone else’s dime! Dear Sommelier Ferdinand, I have a...

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What on earth is a ‘Wine Decanter’?

DEAR READER, It’s come to my attention that many of you are ill-informed, misinformed, and frankly, uninformed about how wine is to be consumed. Were I only a wine enthusiast, it would be wholly dispiriting. But—wine is my profession, and I’m obligated to recognize...

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Wine Reviews

The First Ultra-Premium Chilean Syrah Wine: Montes Folly

This is the story of a rare red wine coming from a pioneering winery in Chile, the story a pioneer winemaker in the name of Aurelio Montes who dared to plant vines on extremely steep vineyards to produce the best red wine he could possibly make, giving birth to his ‘Folly’, the first Ultra-Premium Chilean Syrah.

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Chateau Coutet IBO

Nestled among the most prestigious Grand Cru properties, on the limestone plateau of Saint-Emilion where some of the finest Bordeaux wines are extracted from a rare terroir, Chateau Coutet has been owned and operated by the same family of wine makers for over 400 years, since 1601.

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Wine Trading Academy