Archive for the ‘Readings’ Category
When the World Met American Wines
January 29th, 2010 by Tom Johnson
In 1873, Emperor Franz Josef of Austria hosted the Vienna Universal Exhibition. The exhibition attracted nations from all over the world to display their agricultural and industrial products. Franz Josef himself directed that among the products that should be gathered was wine. By the time the Exhibition opened, 20,000 wines had been submitted to be [...]
Tags: History, wine
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Do This Kind of Thing Today and Somebody’d Call the Cops
December 17th, 2009 by Tom Johnson
Legendary writer Gerald Asher, in his book On Wine, explained that “only fools take their pleasures frivolously.” Demonstrating his seriousness about pleasure, he assembled an exercise in matching sweet wines with dessert designed to find perfect combinations for future, non-frivolous consumption:
So, on my first idle Sunday afternoon, in a spirit of inquiry, I assembled ripe [...]
Tags: food, wine, wine and food matching
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Wine Writing of the Day
December 2nd, 2009 by Tom Johnson
James Suckling in the current Wine Spectator:
Drinking great old wine is one of the most exciting experiences a wine lover can have. Opening and decanting a mature bottle of Bordeaux, California Cabernet, Vintage Port or anything else great is like letting a genie out of its lamp. It can grant every wish a wine lover [...]
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Our Hard-Drinking Founding Fathers
September 22nd, 2009 by Tom Johnson
The Wine Commonsewer, quoting The Joy of Drinking, notes the bar tab for a celebratory night out at the end of the Constitutional Convention:
…in 1787, two days before their work was done, the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention adjourned to a tavern for some rest, and according to the bill they drank 54 bottles [...]
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Book Review: When the Rivers Ran Red
September 3rd, 2009 by Tom Johnson
The story of Prohibition in Napa and Sonoma counties is fascinating. It’s the story of a healthy and productive culture of family-owned wineries that is stamped out by political forces far away, and that comes back after Prohibition in a different and significantly diminished form.
When the Rivers Ran Red promises, as the subtitle explains, the [...]
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Hollywood Wine Before There Was Hollywood
July 16th, 2009 by Tom Johnson
I’m doing some research on Lillie Langtry, the late 19th/early 20th Century actress who was the first person from show business to buy a California winery as a hobby. Langtry was what is now called a superstar. She signed the first celebrity endorsement contract, banking hundreds of thousands of pre-inflation dollars for allowing her photo [...]
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Apparently, At 10th Century Wine Tastings, No One Spit Anything Out
May 14th, 2009 by Tom Johnson
From The History of Champagne by Henry Vizetelly, there is this account of a dispute between royalty and the priesthood over which of France’s wines is greatest:
The dispute becomes general, and the wines, heated with argument, exhale a perfume of ‘balsam and amber,’ till the hall where they are met resembles a terrestial paradise. The [...]
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Still Looking For the Blog: Maybe I’ll Find It at WW&W Open Bottle Night
April 10th, 2009 by Tom Johnson
One of the the things I’m still not sure of here at Louisville Juice is what to do with event coverage. The goal is primarily to be a forward-looking resource to Louisville wine drinkers, but there are legit reasons why the blog should look a little backward, too.
So here, in this posting, I wrestle with [...]
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The Other Down Under: Why Winemakers Don’t Sleep Much
April 7th, 2009 by Tom Johnson
South Africa’s 2009 vintage is shaping up to be a little weird. First, in the spring — which is fall here, because we’re in a different hemisphere — a cold snap set in. That stunts the growth of the vines, but can be a good thing because it slows the build-up of sugar in the [...]
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When It Seemed There Would Be No More Wine
March 20th, 2009 by Tom Johnson
When phylloxera plagued European wineries, no science or magic was able to stop it. For nearly 20 years, it seemed entirely possible that France would have no more vineyards, and that the plague would inevitably spread to the rest of the continent. Reasonable people feared the world would have no more wine.
It was at that [...]
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