Microorganism of the day: Schizosaccharomyces pombe
Schizosaccharomyces pombe WHAT: a yeast that divides by fission (division in half, rather than budding like most yeast, hence “Schizo”), ferments sugars (hence “saccharomyces” or “sugar-loving”), and...
View ArticleThe pleasures of being 27 and 2001 Dr. Frank Merlot
I’m enjoying the delicious pleasure this evening of a 2001 Dr. Frank merlot from an old favorite from my Finger Lakes days, Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars. Recent statistics showing that...
View ArticlePhenols in train-ing?
I recently received a fascinating email that occasioned my learning a few new and interesting things about phenols. To excerpt from the intial email: “…(the taster) commented on the consistent style of...
View ArticleWord of the Day: Delestage (and 2008 Folie a Deux Napa Valley Merlot)
Délestage – (‘dehl-luh-STAJ’) aka “rack and return” (though the French sounds much more refined and romantic, as usual.) Refers to the practice of repeatedly draining fermenting red wine off of its...
View ArticleLactose, Lactic acid, Lactase, or the Lac(k) Thereof (and why wine is still...
Some time ago, an inquisitive mind inquired of me as to whether being lactose intolerant could affect the sufferer’s tolerance of wine that has undergone malolactic fermentation. Fair question....
View ArticleWaiheke Island and why I’ll probably never be an entrepreneur
Before I arrived in Auckland on Saturday evening, I’d planned to spend Sunday at the art museum and wandering around town. I was there for a two-day “PhD Research Innovation and Commercialization...
View ArticleWhy thinking of wine as food solves the natural wine debate
Wine is a food. A surprising number of people are surprised when I say this. It seems obvious: wine is nourishment. Nourishment with specific effects, yes, but all foods have some kind of effect on us,...
View ArticleThe perfect Thanksgiving pairing (has everything and nothing to do with the...
My favorite Thanksgiving pairings are pinot noir with Burgundian leanings and sparkling brut rosé. (I’m not aiming for points on originality here). Since I’m a member of the...
View ArticleIn transition
This isn’t really the Wineoscope, at least not as it was or as it will be. This is an awkward in-between creature that exists only while I’m getting my act together around a new site. So, please accept...
View ArticleMonoculture vs. polyculture: When the obviously right choice isn’t
Diversity is a good thing, right? “Respect diversity” ranks right up there with “natural is better.” And both platitudes say that monocultures are bad and polycultures are good. Monocultures are the...
View ArticleResearch on reassembling: Root systems, soil structure, and wine quality
25 seconds of your time could help a PhD student in need. There’s a 3-question survey at the bottom of this post. Do me the favor of answering it when you’ve finished reading? Thanks! If your usual...
View ArticleHow to answer the question: is this good wine?
How do you decide whether something is good? Wine is a loaded subject, so let’s take a steak. If you’re looking for calories, steak is good: it has lots of them. If you’re looking for nutrients and...
View ArticleThe Synthetic Yeast Project: What it is, and why you should care
What it is: The world’s first project to build a whole genome of a eukaryotic organism, based on Saccharomyces cerivisiae, entirely out of bits of DNA stuck together by geneticists in labs. Now, to...
View ArticleEndings and beginnings
Endings: of my PhD, of my research project on wine-industry science communication, of my time in New Zealand. Beginnings: of a research fellow position at the University of Edinburgh, of new work on...
View ArticleICCWS2016: The delightful, shameful state of the English wine industry
Last week’s International Cool Climate Wine Symposium (ICCWS2016) in the classic English sunny seaside town of Brighton occasioned an array of largely worthwhile technical presentations about which...
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