Author Archives: William Wilson

Wine for Newbies is your free online wine course. There are audio lessons that you can listen to and written articles on the web site.

30 Wines in 30 Days (Wines you should know)

Written on March 9, 2010 by William Wilson in Wine, Your Wine Education
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So many wines, so little time–at least according to us enthusiasts. For budding wine enthusiasts, the range of wines can be almost overwhelming. For others, they wonder what to try after becoming familiar with Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah/Shiraz.

To help out, I’m launching a series starting April 1, 2010: 30 Wines in 30 Days (Wines you should know). Each day I will publish an article detailing a different varietal. At the end of 30 days, you’ll have a good range of alternative choices. Some of the wines you may have already heard of, but the odds are that you’ll find a few that are new. (If not, then you should probably join the Wine Century Club.) These 30 wines are not the most important 30, and there are certainly plenty of others that merit inclusion in any group. But, when picking these 30, I picked the ones that came to mind. Perhaps there will be another series later this year to highlight others to know.

If you want to follow this series, the easiest way will be to sign up for the Wine For Newbies email list. Every day during the series, the wine of the day will appear in your mailbox.

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Quick item: My favorite decanter

Written on February 10, 2010 by William Wilson in Miscellaneous
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Wine decanters are an enigmatic topic. Do we need decanters? What kind of decanter do we need?

A listener asked about styles and benefits of different decanters. I’m not an expert, but I think decanter styles is largely a matter of personal taste. For those who are interested, here’s my favorite decanter. (Please note that’s not an affiliate link, just a straight link to the page on Amazon.)

Now if I could just get rid of this cold so I could enjoy some wine (and record a podcast or two!). :-(

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Yet another politician opposing direct shipment of wine

Written on February 8, 2010 by William Wilson in Wine
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The Baltimore Sun reports on a member of the Maryland senate who will not allow a vote in her committee on a bill that would end the ban against direct shipment of wine. Again we get the tired old “minors will get alcohol by ordering online” argument. Never mind that the facts don’t support this position.

In the U.S., there is only one (maybe two) documented incidents of minors trying to order alcohol online–and it was as a part of a “sting” organized by the wholesalers (who want to protect their economic fiefdom). Apparently no one recalls the basic facts:

  • Ordering wine (or other alcohol) online is not easy. Retailers want to ship to a business address so there is certain to be someone 21 or over to sign for the package during the day. Residences are often empty during the day, so retailers do not want to ship to them.
  • Ordering wine online is expensive. The shipping costs add plenty of dollars to the cost of the wine. Minors, for the most part, don’t want to spend the extra money nor are they likely to have it. Minors want a cheap buzz.
  • Minors already have plenty of access to alcohol: getting older friends, siblings, or others to buy it for them. Minors also want instant gratification. I doubt many would be willing to wait for delivery, especially when responsible sellers will delay shipment if the weather is unfavorable in terms of temperatures during the shipment.

I have often said it is easier to buy a gun online than it is to buy wine online. If  you think I’m kidding, check out this gun dealer’s how-to information. It’s not as easy as ordering from Amazon.com, but it’s definitely not impossible.

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Where can I buy that wine?

Written on February 1, 2010 by William Wilson in Resources, Wine
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If there’s one thing about being a wine enthusiast that will drive you buggy, it’s trying to buy wines you’ve heard about. If you live in a state like Indiana in the US, the wholesalers bring in only 5% of the wines available in the US. It can be tough to find wines that Wine Spectator, Robert Parker, or even just the local newspaper are writing up.

Luckily, for some folks in the US, there is a partial solution. I don’t normally plug vendors here, but WineAccess.com is worth mentioning. I’m an affiliate, which means like with Amazon.com, I get a commission from any sales through this web site. More importantly, though, I’m a customer. And if I didn’t do business with WineAccess.com myself, I wouldn’t bother to mention it.

One of the cool things about Wine Access is that they occasionally find wines that they can get for a song. Maybe a winery is going out of business, or it’s a distributor. Last year, Wine Access picked up a bunch of cases of California Merlot. The winery priced them at over $40 per bottle. After someone went kablooey, Wine Access purchased the remaining cases and offered them for $140 or so–for all twelve bottles.

Is it the best Merlot I’ve ever had? Perhaps not. But I am glad I bought the case. For fifteen bucks a bottle, I have plenty of wine I can serve with food and enjoy. The wine tastes like few other $15 bottles of Merlot–and I mean that as a compliment. It turned out to be a good deal.

So, if you’re looking for a particular wine here in the US, you might give WineAccess.com a shot. Perhaps they have it, and perhaps they ship to your state–perfect. If they don’t have the wine, you can always browse their other offerings.

Whenever you want to look at the inventory over at WineAccess.com, remember to visit this site and click on the little graphic in the right side bar. You get your wine, I get a few quarters thrown my way, and with that disclosure the FTC is as happy as we are.

Tweet and Taste Live–Michigan on March 8

Written on February 1, 2010 by William Wilson in Wine
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Michigan wines are largely unheard of outside of the Great Lakes region. Nevertheless, there are parts of Michigan that have great climates for grape growing. Michigan has grown wine grapes for decades, and is now coming into the forefront of up-and-coming wine regions.

On March 8, a group of wine bloggers and wine professionals will participate in Taste and Tweet Live. We will sample and discuss 3 Michigan wines from Black Star Winery. You can join us, if you wish. All the details can be found at the Taste and Tweet Live–Michigan site.

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