Opinion

This month Meg Maker examines whether a wine communicator can ever really be objectively critical.  I enjoy reading criticism of books, art, cinema, and architecture. As a writer who does some wine criticism, I find it instructive to see how critics from other domains approach the exercise. I was particularly struck by a recent New Yorker piece, an essay by Julian Lucas reflecting on the critic ...

Liz Sagues recaps the highly topical talks this month in the Circle's Let's Talk About... series. The second of the two April Let’s Talk About... sessions could hardly have been more topical. As Benjamin North Spencer recounted the story of the new wines of Etna, Europe’s largest active volcano rumbled and grumbled in the background, in its most explosive eruption for more than two decades. The...

In this month’s column, Circle Chair Meg Maker reflects on why a skilled editor is one of a writer’s most valuable collaborators — especially in today’s fast-moving world of digital media.   “Every smart person wants to be corrected, not admired.” —Marvin Minsky   I’ve recently completed two large wine media projects. The first was a series of naturalistic portraits of women who...

Meg Maker explores the second sense in wine — texture.  For a few days last week, a rhinovirus gripped my system. My normally prismatic sensorium went dark. Flavours were reduced to the basics: salty, sweet, bitter, sour, savory. My morning tea was hot, astringent, wet but curiously drying. A segment of orange was cold and juicy, sweet and sour. Cheese seemed sticky, fatty, salty. Bread was spong...

Dijana Grgić takes off to the bubbling core of the Veneto, to Valdobbiadene, and savours the spumantes from Villa Sandi and prized other members of its porfolio.   Over the past couple of decades, Prosecco, which is produced primarily in Veneto as well as in smaller areas of the Friuli region, has seen a surge in global popularity. For a sparkling wine to be labeled as Prosecco, it must be made w...