A Commencement Speech to Grape Graduates of 2013

I cannot believe that I am standing here in front of all you young grape graduates about to give you a commencement speech.  As I stand here and look at you, I see wide-eyed yellow, green and red grapes of all sorts.  Hello Albariño on the 50 yard line and cheers to the good ol’ Pinot Noir standing next to the Gamay on the 32 yard line.  I am so proud to see that this year so many more grapes have graduated than in any other year.  Yes, Malvasia, I see a bright future for you.  Hola Tannat, this too is going to be a good year for you!  I know that this is what each and every one of you want to hear.  Unfortunately, I cannot tell a lie.  I cannot stand in front of you and say the same for all of you. (more…)

Explaining Wine Storage to a Three-Year Old

Post by Anthony Filippone II

Explaining wine storage to some people can be as daunting as explaining something to a three-year old.  I don’t mean that in a bad way.  Some people have no idea what proper wine storage is, why it is important for the safety of their wine or even that wine storage facilities exist.

My three-year old son asked me recently, “What you do at work Dada?”

I answered without thinking, “I store people’s wine for them.” (more…)

Inside the San Diego International Wine Competition 2013

I always look forward to judging the San Diego International Wine Competition because I always learn something new.  I am always blown away when the winners are revealed.  I am also humbled when I see the wines that I selected as winners and the wines I did not award a medal.  There is always a surprise in the bunch.  Best of all I get a chance to hang out with other wine professionals that I rarely get to see.  Everyone is there to have a good time and there is no pretentiousness.  I guess it is difficult being pretentious when everything we judge is blind.  I really enjoyed judging with Thrace Bromberger from Villa San-Juliet and Mark Lovett a 30 year veteran at the San Diego International Wine Competition.  We had many laughs at our table and for the most part agreed with our choices for winners. (more…)

A Sommelier an Outsider Living on the Inside

Growing up, I never in a million years thought that I would be a sommelier.  I don’t know if there are any 10 or 11-year-old boys or girls that dream about being a sommelier.  In fact I don’t know if there are any kids that know that the job even exists.  So how did I ever get here?  To me, wine always seemed as something for the rich and élite.  Now here I am, writing about wine, teaching and recommending wines to people with a higher income than myself.  What I am going to state is merely a personal observation of myself and some other sommeliers I know.  In no way do I want to generalize and assume that all sommliers feel the same way. (more…)

The Wine-Phabet in it’s entirety.

After 8 months of coming up with a new wine concept every week, I am finally finished.  It is a sad feeling knowing that the work is done.  Will I start it over again?  No way Jose!  There is only 1 Wine-Phabet and it cannot be re-done.   I hope that you have all enjoyed reading it.  Please share with your friends.  You can now see the entire Wine-Phabet on my home page.  The Whimsical Wine Glossary.

THE WINE-PHABET: A WHIMSICAL WINE GLOSSARY