We hiked Masada before sunrise. From the Roman Ramp, you can see how the Jews were able to hold the city for six months: the climb is steep and narrow, the climbers are exposed to the elements and (though it wasn’t the case this Monday) to projectile fire from the battlements above. My traveling companions […]
Peace is an odd concept. I’m not sure who came up with it, when, or how, but it’s strange that something unheard of in nature should be coveted so strongly by so many. There is no peace for the rabbit; there is no peace for the wolf. Why should there be peace for us? On […]
This week concluded the first chapter of my adult life, or the last chapter of my youth. Or neither. I’m starting to think there are no chapters. You just do shit, and then you go somewhere else and do different shit. But that doesn’t make for a good story, and since writing stories is my […]
Over 1000 kilometers from mainland Portugal, the island of Madeira enjoys summer temperatures around 22°C and winters around 16°C (and I’m American so none of those numbers mean anything to me). This is a hot climate for wine, and while a few weirdos are out there planting Vitis whatever-the-American-species-is*, most winemakers on the island are […]
Pico is an island in the Azores archipelago famed for its fortified wines and named for its volcano—at 7713 feet, the tallest in Portugal, and the tallest island mountain in the Atlantic (there are taller ones underwater). “Lajido” is the name of the solidified lava into which the vines on Pico are planted; it’s also the […]
Ramisco (pronounce the “R” like an “H”) is a picky varietal: it only likes sandy soils, it demands to be planted deep, and it requires lots of aging to open up. There are only 10 hectares of Ramisco remaining on this planet; there was more planted not long ago, but Colares, the Lisboa appellation that […]
Before this trip, I loathed Vinho Verde. I also didn’t know what it was, because I’d never really tried one. Most Vinho Verde on the New York City market (I won’t name names) is diluted, barely alcoholic lemon-lime seltzer, which might have seen a grape once and retails for under $10. But, if it’s not Gazela or […]
“I’m a crazy guy, ah?” Luis Pato asks Kat and me. He waits for us to nod, then continues: “I make a pink. There was an error. The bottles start to explode! I have to optimize my process!” There is a mad twinkle in his eyes, a blissful grin that suggests that nothing better could […]
“Is that a 1934 Port in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?” If there were other Americans around, I would’ve cracked that joke at least ten times, but it was just Fernando Van Zeller and I, and I didn’t think the cliché was fit for nobility. Besides, the Barão de Vilar (one […]
Pressed against the plaza wall at Quinta Nova, an unremarkable row of tiny, gnarled vines clutches tightly, almost arthritically, to the hillside. The eye passes over them easily, favoring the grander views of the mighty river valley and its slopes, wrought into terraces over the course of lifetimes by unfathomable human effort. But these crippled […]
