I am often torn as I scrutinize wine competition results in an attempt to determine the winery of the year. As director of five such events, it's my call. Do I give it to the winery that racked up the most medals? Or do I look for a winery that ...

I met Gary Farrell for the first time more than 20 years ago. He was a modest man making very good wine under difficult conditions in California's Russian River Valley.

The difficult conditions were self-imposed, for Farrell specialized in pinot...

GUIMARAES, Portugal -- I was merely one in a sea of more than 300 judges as the director of the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles delivered his remarks to open the world's largest wine competition in this northern Portugal city.

The Concours this ...

Over a recent weekend, I conducted my annual wine-tasting fundraiser for the La Jolla Symphony. Each year, this year being the 11th, I choose a theme that might provide an educational component as well as have entertainment value.

This year's ...

There is a line of argument among critics of the use of scores in wine reviews that scores often don't do justice to wines of modest ambition that are nevertheless delicious when consumed under the right circumstances.

I frequently call these ...

These are the best of times for the vignerons of Burgundy and Bordeaux, arguably the world's most important -- certainly the most famous -- vineyard lands.

Over the course of the past three weeks, I've had the rare opportunity to immerse myself ...