Opening Up

Posted on Mar 17, 2013 in Art and Wine, Blog, Featured, Marketing innovations, Shaping Taste, Wine, Wine Shaman, Wine Tasting | 0 comments Wine lovers talk about how a wine opens up once its let out of the bottle. When we pour wine into our glass and swirl, we’re helping the wine open up.  It softens and release its many volatile components into the air, and our nose.  A lot more happens, of course, as the wine in our glass opens up. We may open up too while the wine does. And for those of us who are patient and lucky enough...
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Visual Taste:Opus One

Posted on Feb 9, 2013 in Art and Wine, Blog, Featured, Shaping Taste, Wine, Wine Shaman, Wine Tasting | 3 comments As a wine photographer I often receive a thimble-full of wine, not enough to  taste  Yet I do get to taste with my eyes and recently explored (with the microscope) several vintages of Opus One and wondered longingly if the images reflected the true nature of the wine. The four vintage wines captured were 2001, 2005, 2008, and the not yet released 2009.   All except the 2009 (too early to...
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Visual Taste-soft red

Posted on Aug 7, 2012 in Art and Wine, Blog, Featured, Wine Shaman, Wine Tasting | 0 comments The situation: I was going to a book signing and needed to bring two different decent wines, one that was a soft red, one an angular white.  They also had to be inexpensive since I needed a few bottles. The guy at Trader Joe’s recommended  this 2008 Babble for the soft red, cost around $6.00.  It was beyond my expectations and desires -  it was soft and  round, no hard edges, a...
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A jewel of a wine

Posted on Jul 21, 2012 in Art and Wine, Blog, Come to your senses, Featured, Wine Shaman, Wine Tasting | 2 comments When I open a bottle of wine to photograph I always wonder what will it look like. Will it look like how I experienced it – smooth or harsh, as example. And then there are times when a winery gives me samples to photograph and I have had no tasting experience of the wine, then what? Are these less biased pictures? As a scientist in the lab I knew well that we influence our results. Sure,...
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Spirit of the Vine

Posted on Jun 19, 2012 in Art and Wine, Blog, Featured, Reflections, Wine Shaman | 0 comments I live with a large portrait of this lively spirit found in a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. It was the winemaker’s favorite wine, not mine. However its hidden beauty and expression have brought light into my home for almost three decades. It was the 2nd wine I photographed after becoming artist-in-residence for Sterling Vineyards.  For a medical scientist that was a way cool...
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Visual Tastes: Mouth-embracing wines

Posted on May 18, 2012 in Art and Wine, Blog, Cellular Intelligence, Featured, Wine Tasting | 0 comments After photographing thousands of wines with my trusted microscope, I have seen distinct patterns that SEEM to reflect the unique experience of the wine.  Why not explore whether the inner visions of a wine help people to learn more and have some fun while tasting. Learning intuitively… Today’s post is about a few wines that wrap themselves softly around the tongue. The 2007...
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