Postmodern Winemaking

Wine and Music: Mysterious Resonances

Submitted by Clark Smith on Sun, 11/04/2007 - 12:00am

I confess I’ve been holding out on my readers about an intriguing area of research Susie and I have been pursuing lately, that of the relationship of wine and music. My wife, Dr. Susan Mayer-Smith, a French-trained clinical psychologist who holds two music degrees and was awarded first chair flautist for the Chicago Symphony at age 19, has been working with me to explore the GrapeCraft core notion that wine is liquid music.

2007 Harvest Challenges

Submitted by Clark Smith on Sun, 10/21/2007 - 1:37pm

I hope a winemaker blogger can be forgiven some inactivity this time of year. As the 2007 harvest winds down, I thought a short note would be helpful to other winemakers struggling with harvest decisions.

To Screwcap or Not to Screwcap?

Submitted by Clark Smith on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 8:36am

Clark,

My wife and I had to wonder why you, who leverages science so well in your wines, opt for corks instead of screwcaps. I'm sorry to say we wondered this because we got a corked bottle of Faux Chablis, but it did lead to an interesting topic.Hope you're well,
Derrick

Dear Derrick:

Bummer! I owe you a bottle.

Project 23

Submitted by Clark Smith on Fri, 09/14/2007 - 12:00am

Mr. Smith,

Your article spurred me to thinking and after talking to a few winemakers in the Central Coast (which I write bout) I decided to propose a collaborative experiment. I would appreciate your thoughts on the idea.

-Arthur
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Dear Arthur:

Some Like It Hot

Submitted by Clark Smith on Mon, 09/10/2007 - 12:00am

This week's blog is posted at Appellation America.

Comments on Two Erudite Pieces on Terroir

Submitted by Clark Smith on Wed, 07/04/2007 - 12:48pm

The Unsung Hero of Uruguayan Tannat

Submitted by Clark Smith on Sun, 06/24/2007 - 1:10am

Enough Is Enough

Submitted by Clark Smith on Fri, 06/08/2007 - 12:00am

Matt Kramer is a nice guy. At least that’s what I’m told from my winemaker friends to whom he’s granted an audience. I get the impression he and I see eye to eye on many current issues in wine production: the pre-eminence of distinctive terroir expression, the importance of living soil, the need for balance rather than impact, concern about centrist tendencies that turn wine into a shallow commodity. In sum, the fight for the soul of wine.

Throwing out the Terroir Baby with the Stale Goods Bathwater

Submitted by Clark Smith on Mon, 06/04/2007 - 7:46pm

So many wine media pundits speak of their love of Old World wine styles over the standard California offerings, which tend to overblown styles which please up front but lack minerality and length in the finish; muscular and fruit forward but without balance, interest and depth, brawny and generous yet dull and shallow; long on impact but short-lived. And I agree.

A Call To Artnership: Artists Cannot Control Context By Themselves

Submitted by Clark Smith on Tue, 05/22/2007 - 12:00am

Here's a note from Derrick Schneider whose excellent blog An Obsession With Food minces many dicey issues.

Clark,

One of my site's readers asked the question below (he sent in a similar note as a letter to Art of Eating), and I wondered about your opinion on the subject.

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