Journey to the Center of the Mosel: a Nordic Perspective
How a former chef's trip from the Norwegian Fjords to Germany's Mosel valley took wine appreciation to the next level.
What’s the Point of Fine Wine, Afterall?
Channeling literary theory in order to propose a new threshold test for fine wine.
Better Spät than Never in the Ahr
How catastrophe proved a catalyst for change, and helped Germany’s Pinot paradise find a new way to farm.
Biodynamics’ Blind Spot
An essay reconciling the realpolitik of Rudolf Steiner today.
But for that Umlaut
The spelling of grape names can be fraught. Iconic viticulturalist Georg Scheu once delivered an address, accompanied by a poem, wittily satirizing those who would…...
In Alsace
The ancient injunction to keep your friends close and your enemies closer is all very well, but in Alsace it can be hard to tell…...
Germany · Essay · Mosel · Tasting Article
What’s German for Drier Than Dry? Furztrocken, of course
The dark wit of Berlin. Dangerously low water levels in the Rhine River. Black bread. Germany does trocken like few others. And then there’s the wine. Despite…...
What to Drink When a Somm Comes to Dinner
It is Friday night and I’m terrified. In 24 hours, a top sommelier is coming to our house for dinner. A sommelier who puts together…...
Hermannshöhle Hallelujah
Her child, she thinks, is a Riesling. Of all the varieties in the world, she inevitably returns to this one. There is something in the…...
How Natural Wine Made Me Confront My German Problem
For a Jewish baby boomer like me, the Holocaust was always part of my DNA. Yet, I was not the child of survivors. My Polish…...
Germany · Austria · Essay · Switzerland
Opinion: Reconciling the Racism of Rudolf Steiner
It was biodynamic wine that helped me to find my footing in Europe. Yet, as a Black American woman living in Europe, Rudolf Steiner's interests and views present a complicated and troubling legacy.
The Greatness of Small
Truth be told, I relish the fact that the phrase “kabinett trocken” feels like an oxymoron to so many people. For all reasonable drinkers who…...