Writing
Wine and gardens.
Education and argument. Written over about a decade of paying close attention. Teasers here — full text in the Family section.
Written for the Kruckeberg Botanic Garden newsletter, Shoreline, Washington.
Introduction
On the Kruckebergs, a missed conversation, and learning to know someone through their plants
Erythronium
On fawn lilies, patience, and plants that prefer an audience other than us
Corylopsis
On winterhazels, plants on wheels, and the upside-down world of winter bloomers
Kalmiopsis leachiana
On Bigfoot country, the botanizing Leaches and their donkeys, and a small plant with a long story
Polystichum munitum
On sword ferns, an eponymous hybrid, and learning to see what is everywhere
Stewartia monodelpha
On the summer camellia, the island of Yakushima, and a special envoy from across the water
Written for DeLaurenti Food & Wine, Pike Place Market, Seattle. 2015–2018.
Beaujolais
On Gamay, goblet pruning, and a man making great wine for little to no reward in the Bas Beaujolais
Why Wine
On olfactory memory, reverie, and the real reason anyone devotes their life to fermented grape juice
Northern Rhône / Ageability
On Syrah, the art of buying wine you cannot yet drink, and the difference between old and tired
Spring is Springing
On the perfect wines for post-Lenten season, a three-liter box of rosé, and adult Easter baskets
Prickly Wine
On a Catalonian word, a Muscat that isn't sweet, and the proper use of limited sun in Seattle
Napa Gamay
On Valdiguié, the importance of keeping your eyes open, and the first tasting note
Corton-Charlemagne
On Burgundy in the rain, an impish count descended from Charlemagne, and the wine that justifies the trip
Sulphur
On the most talked-about and least understood element in winemaking — from Sicilian kilns to your headache
Cheap Wine
On industrial winemaking, additives, and what is actually in the bottle
Orange Wine
On 8,000 years of skin contact, the people of the Caucasus, and a thing that is apparently in Vogue
The Wines of the Valtellina
On mountain Barolo, da Vinci's cellar notes, and the joy of Robert Parker giving something sixty points
Sour Beer
On becoming bored with wine, Lambic, and the natural history of fermented things
Food & Wine Pairing, Part 1
On trusting yourself, specific anosmia, and why the stakes for this game are as low as they can possibly be
Food & Wine Pairing, Part 2
The great secrets revealed, including Champagne and French fries, and the man in Paris who sets the table when he eats alone
Croatia
On the man who made the wine that won the Judgement of Paris, and how to get there from Zagreb
Biodynamics
On Rudolph Steiner, evil gnomes, cow horns buried in winter, and why none of this is as crazy as it sounds
Natural Wine
On hippie juice, terroir, and a bottle of Sicilian rosé that had no business being delicious
Alto Piemonte
On mountain Nebbiolo, an overlooked corner of northern Italy, and a winery named NOAH
Vermouth
On aromatized wine, a pharmacist who invented Chinato to combat malaria, and M.F.K. Fisher's favorite lunch
Champagne
On grower Champagne, one AOC for 34,000 hectares, and why the most interesting bottles have initials you've never heard of
Thanksgiving
On the noble bird, the indignity of dry turkey, brining as revelation, and raccoons