Sips & Stories
Stories, insights and tasting notes from a life lived with wine.
The World’s Most Expensive Kosher Wine?
April 16, 2026
1 min
Kosher wine can be a misunderstood category. Some view it as more pure as it undergoes Rabbinical...
Two Divine Hotel Perspectives on Istanbul
March 20, 2026
2 min
Istanbul is a stunner of a city almost any time of the year. While the traffic has...
Best Weekend Wine Getaways in Thrace, Near Istanbul
March 20, 2026
2 min
The Turks have long been making good wines. It is just a shame their government is not...
The Best Salt in the World?
March 20, 2026
1 min
Forgive me. I know I not supposed to use question marks in my titles, or even in...
The World’s Best Salt
February 4, 2026
1 min
When you love to cook, and eat, you always appreciate salt. It can make, or break, a...
Istanbul’s Perfect Business Hotel
February 4, 2026
1 min
A view from one of the rooms at the Raffles. While a location on the...
Why is SOMM Such a Dull Film?
April 21, 2014
1 min
There has been such a dearth of good movies and television shows about wine for the past...
Not Your Usual Wines For Valentine’s Day
February 11, 2014
1 min
Bubbles are wonderful all year long so there’s no need to just enjoy them on Valentine’s Day....
Does What Grows Together Go Together?
May 13, 2012
1 min
How important are grass-roots food and wine pairings? Many wine producers, and restaurant operators, believe they are...
Save Miquel: how I came to embrace cork
September 28, 2008
1 min
So I just got back from the cork forest in Portugal. It made a big impression on...
