‘The unexamined life is not worth living,’ said Socrates some 2400 years ago. The context: he spoke the words at his trial, just before he was sentenced to death. It’s…
Never read the reviews
As a book author, I get my work appraised by others in public. Book reviews are part of the territory, and in the past I’ve devoured them. Recently, I received…
It was a cold day: some thoughts on objectivity and wine
Neuroscience is interesting. But when it comes to perception, the temptation is to go too far, and fall into the subjectivity trap. It’s often claimed that the brain creates flavour….
Co-chairing at the International Wine Challenge
It’s Thursday. Day five of judging at the International Wine Challenge. This year, because of the Covid situation, we’ve had to change things a bit. Sadly we are missing the…
Seeing the big picture: don’t let the data deceive you
Data are useful. But don’t let them deceive you. I was thinking about data-driven approaches while having a conversation with Greg Sherwood on Thursday, when I popped into Handford Wines….
Recording my audiobook
A while back I got an interesting email. Audible, the leading audiobook company, had bought the rights to my latest book: The Goode Guide To Wine: A Manifesto Of Sorts….
Back in the saddle?
I’ve been travelling again, in a limited way. This last week, I was in Germany. I flew to Frankfurt, took a train to Wiesbaden, and tasted some of Germany’s finest…
Limiting options can be a spur to creativity
In my spheres of creativity, we think wrongly. Our assumption is that the more options we have open to us, the better the chance of us creating something interesting. But…
Is wine good for you?
There’s a lot of talk at the moment about ‘Clean Wine’. The marketing line? Commercial wines are full of additives and are bad for you, but this Clean Wine (which…