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"1. Wine is my passion. 2. I have always followed the KISS (Keep It Simple) method of teaching and writing about wine. 3. There has never been and never will be a &amp;quot;wine expert.&amp;quot; With more than 6,500 different wines available to the American consumer, 60 wine producing countries and more than 35 billion bottles of wine made every year, I am overwhelmed with the amount of information, vintages, pricing, etc. and it&amp;#039;s not getting any easier! (Then I drink a great bottle of wine and everything becomes less stressful.)  4. I have been a wine collector for over 30 years and spend over $100,000 a year on wine. (Don&amp;#039;t tell my wife!) 5. I have planted grape vines (Riesling, Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc) three times in my life, 1974, 1981, and 1992 (all failures). My latest vineyard was planted in the Spring 2006. Fingers crossed! 6. I have several vintages of wine that I have made still left aging in my cellar. 7. Although I am primarily a red wine drinker, I will usually choose a Sauvignon Blanc or a Riesling over a Chardonnay with my first course. Exception: White Burgundy. 8. I prefer bigger style red wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah (Bordeaux, Napa, Rhone, etc.) and the reds of Tuscany with my Sunday Italian dinner. Bottom Line: There are no answers when it comes to tasting (actually smelling). I live by Mark Twain&amp;#039;s commentary: &amp;quot;There are no standards of taste in wine, cigars, poetry, prose, etc. Each man&amp;#039;s own taste is the standard, and a majority vote cannot decide for him or in any slightest degree affect the supremacy of his own standard.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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