At Food & Wine since:2005
Born and Raised:Houston
Background:Before Food & Wine, I was the managing editor of Wine & Spirits magazine. Prior to that, I was a journalist who sold Port during his daytime hours.
Career Turning Point:In 1997 I was working as a cellar rat during harvest at Clos LaChance Wines, up above Saratoga, California, while teaching creative writing at Stanford. I was at the winery at about 7 a.m. punching down fermenting Pinot Noir grapes, which is hard, tedious work. But the mist was clearing off the mountains in front of me, the air smelled of new Pinot Noir, and I thought to myself, the hell with academia. I’m switching to wine.
Most Memorable Wine Experience:Walking up the hillside slope of Miguel Angel de Gregorio’s Calvario vineyard in Spain, while he explained to me that local pilgrims used to follow the same path, and each turn represented a different station of the cross. Calvario is a great Rioja, but that insight into the history of the region and how it is embodied in the wine encapsulates why I love writing about the stuff.
Favorite Obscure Grape:Black St. Peters. It’s actually an early 19th-century name for Zinfandel, and I wish they’d go back to it. Drinking a glass of Black St. Peters sounds so much more dangerous than drinking a Glass of Zinfandel.
Biggest Wine Pet Peeve:Expensive wine aerators. Buy a jug. Pour the wine in it. Presto! It’s aerated.
Fantasy Wine Splurge:A case of each of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’s wines from the 1990 vintage. Though I’d settle for a case of each of Roumier’s wines from the 1990 vintage.
Guilty Pleasure:BBQ. Particularly brisket (as a Texan). Particularly from Louie Mueller’s, in Taylor, outside Austin.
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