By the Bottle features the Wine Curmudgeon

Who knew I liked pink wine made with the catawba grape from Missouri? Or that my definition of a classic wine has nothing to with the traditional definition?

The Wine Curmudgeon rarely talks about himself – the idea is to write about wine, not me. Does my life really matter, as long as you know enough to understand how I decide what I like?

So what am I doing on this week’s edition of Alfonso Cevola’s By the Bottle series? That’s because By the Bottle features an email interview with some of the most important, knowledgeable, and interesting people in the wine business. The list includes Eric Asimov of the New York Times and Esther Mobley of the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as influential retailers, winemakers, importers, sommeliers, and the like.

Because, as Alfonso once so accurately noted, I write about wine – I’m not a wine writer in the traditional sense. Which is why I told him I didn’t think I was a good fit for the feature. Who would care what I thought, and especially among his readers?

He was having none of that: “What I have been looking for are people with their own unique perspective, which you have in spades.”

So enjoy this week’s edition of By the Bottle, in which you find out who in the wine business I admire, who I would have to the house for dinner, how much wine I pour down the sink, and the many ways I’m not a traditional wine writer. Plus, there’s a plug for local wine and a story about a Missouri wine made with catawba, which is about as non-traditional a wine grape as possible.