Stories

Travel, food and wine, life, health, and the occasional sermon on perspective. Here is the latest – the rest, with other categories, is below.

The Latest

Finally a real wine rating system

The thing I hate most about wine ratings is the thing that makes them what they are. Wine ratings are subjective. They are one person’s judgement of quality and don’t take into account what really matters – how much you drink, what you can afford, when to drink them,...

Photo Journal – Camino de Santiago

A look back at 2 months living and walking 800km on the Camino de Santiago from France through Spain.

My useless attempt at travel blogging – Todos Santos

Todos Santos is really cool. It has a great vibe, incredible food, good beaches and it would be easy to get lost there for a couple days or a couple years.

Notes On Failure – As We Start Pilgriming

I don’t want to fail at this. It’s funny, I think I have reached a place in my life, through experience as well as through elements of privilege (money and health, etc) where the outside world is not what challenges me any more. It’s all inside We’ve chosen our first...

The Retirement Road Less Traveled

We were talking to a friend the other day. She wants to retire, quit work and do other things. We talk at length of the ins and outs of life changes, what we want, what she wants, what it took for us, decisions, challenges, ups and downs, hopes and dreams. Options. We...

The Ins and Outs of Oak

Oak, to a winemaker, is like salt and pepper to the master chef. It’s not the main ingredient, but it matters more than you think. Used right, you get a product of exceptional flavor and quality. Used incorrectly and you are switching to beer. Of the top 100 wines in...

Walking Notes – Losing track of everything I think is true

A stream of consciousness project of turning on the speech-to-text feature on my phone and having it record whatever I say as I take my morning walk – with very little editing and even less proper punctuation.

Bye America – We hardly knew ya

America, in its form today, really isn’t that old and, thus, much easier to explain the sudden and rapid movement backwards. Technologically advanced, connected, “socially tolerant” and legally protected multi-cultural, multi-gender, multi-race America really has only come about in the last generation.

Wino Journal

Stories, logs, and blogs on moving on from a life of work and routine.

Two Mothers Two Lessons

Two Mothers Two Lessons

As long back as I can remember, my mother taught me to save. What allowance there was, was always separated out into tithing, saving and spending. Even the tooth fairy was not spared. That dollar under the pillow in return for extracted teeth got divided out, too....

The Last Day

The Last Day

The day arrived like any other day. Since we sold our home and car and moved downtown, we now woke at 6:30 with plenty of time to roll out of bed, brush my teeth, and still be online by 7am. But that day was different. That day was my last day. Even though I knew...

Adventure

Stories, logs, and blogs on our pilgrim journeys as we grab our backpacks (and a wine key) and walk through Spain, Italy, France, Scotland, and the great wine regions of the world – hopefully including New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and Argentina, to name a few.

Mostly useless observations and snap judgements on Croatia

Mostly useless observations and snap judgements on Croatia

Below is a running list of observations as we cruise through Croatia. Needless to say, these are not well thought out or researched, just shit that comes up. In no particular order, and keep checking back for more.   The country is clean (except the tagging and...

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More Stories

Airport executive clubs are the worst

Airport executive clubs are the worst

I guess I just don't get it. Why is access to airport executive clubs so coveted, everyone think they are so great, and rush to them the second they arrive at the airport? You see them sneaking in with their black carry-on bags and laptop messengers, flashing their...

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Minimalists’ guide to collecting wine

Minimalists’ guide to collecting wine

Sorry, but for a post about minimalism, this is going to be surprisingly long… I’ve been working on this minimalism thing for a while now. You know, simplify – own less and make sure your possessions don’t own you? It seemed easy and exciting at first, and has been a...

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Paris Café Culture

Paris Café Culture

A not-so wise man once said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop to look around for a while, you could miss it.” Nowhere is that advice more needed than here in America. Nowhere is that advice more honored than in Paris. Paris is a busy, bustling city of over...

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Finally a real wine rating system

Finally a real wine rating system

The thing I hate most about wine ratings is the thing that makes them what they are. Wine ratings are subjective. They are one person’s judgement of quality and don’t take into account what really matters – how much you drink, what you can afford, when to drink them,...

read more
How to throw a sensory wine tasting

How to throw a sensory wine tasting

The whole idea behind a sensory wine tasting is to explore sights, aromas, and flavors of wine beyond just the simple look, smell and sip of casual wine drinking. In sensory tastings, the goal is to actually compare and contrast what you experience in the wine with...

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The Basics Of Smelling Wine

The Basics Of Smelling Wine

Do you have cats? Have you ever smelled raw clay kitty litter? How about putting your face right down into a somewhat used litter box filled with clay kitty litter? Do it. Then take a big, deep whiff and register what you smell. Chances are, you smell clay, dust, cat...

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The Ins and Outs of Oak

The Ins and Outs of Oak

Oak, to a winemaker, is like salt and pepper to the master chef. It’s not the main ingredient, but it matters more than you think. Used right, you get a product of exceptional flavor and quality. Used incorrectly and you are switching to beer. Of the top 100 wines in...

read more
The Theory Of The Witness Wine

The Theory Of The Witness Wine

When my mother told me I would have to use math when I grew up, this is exactly what I was hoping she meant. The Math: A normal wine bottle contains 750ml of wine, or a little over 25 ounces. Our extraordinary math skills tell us that is equal to five glasses of wine,...

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Travel Blog – Oktoberfest and Munich

Travel Blog – Oktoberfest and Munich

The day started out like so many others in my past. I woke to the sound of the phone alarm clock sounding at 7am (still 11pm at home and in the heart of your hero, having been in country only a day or so now) and had to resist the urge to throw the damn thing...

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Cheers! Clink.