Fine Wine

Want to know whether a wine at your local merchant is worth its $100 price tag? Go to the Wine Spectator and run a search on their database to get their rating. The Spectator is one of the most respected publications in the field, but your own taste must be the final judge.

Yes, I must confess to being a Vayniak. If you haven't seen Gary Vaynerchuk on WineLibrary TV (http://tv.winelibrary.com/), maybe you've caught him on Conan, Ellen, or Nightline. Each weekday he tastes wines on camera and evaluates them. Though he gives each wine a score, he cautions that we shouldn't listen to him, Robert Parker, or any critic. We should try different things and learn to trust our palate. Will he continue to be one of the Peeps, or will he become too busy with his book and TV gigs to keep serving his Vayner Nation on the Web? Time will tell, but as of this writing he has done nearly 500 shows, concluding each one with "Because you--with a little bit of me--we're changing the wine world. Whether they like it or not."

I've sold most of these boxes of wine at auction, but it's nice to look at them anyway. Note that I'm wearing an original Vayniak wristband.

For a perspective on making wine in an apartment, please read my magazine article "Living Room Winery."

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