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Michael Cervin is a professional writer focusing on wine, food, and travel. Notable publications include Decanter (London), Fine Wine & Liquor (China), Wine Enthusiast, Wine & Spirits, The Tasting Panel, Sommelier Journal, Food & Beverage World, Skywest, Westways and over 80 others. He is the restaurant critic, and contributing travel writer for the Santa Barbara News-Press. As a wine and food judge he has been invited to the Best of Vinho Verde Awards in Portugal, the Taste of Rum Festival in Puerto Rico, the Monterey Wine Competition, the Central Coast Wine Competition, the Paso Robles Winemakers Cook-Off, the El Dorado County Fair Wine Competition and many others.

He is the author of three national travel books including California Wine Country, published by Moon. His blog on all things wine, spirits and beer can be found at www.BoozehoundZ.blogspot.com. He lives in Santa Barbara with his wife. To see more of his work visit www.michaelcervin.com. Follow his other blogs: www.Exploracation.blogspot.com, and www.CervinsCentralCoast.blogspot.com

Michael Cervin Thinks:

A fair restaurant corkage fee is: 

$10

A tell-tale sign of a wine snob is: 

A loudmouth who wears too much cologne, brags about how much a bottle costs, disregards other people's opinion and chews mint gum while drinking cabernet.

The wine region I most want to visit: 

Any place they make the stuff!

My "wish list" of wines I want to acquire soon: 

My wish list is what I'm currently drinking. Wine evolves and changes and each vintage is something new, so, even if you acquired a case of something, it will be different in six months.

My biggest wine pet peeve: 

It's an expensive hobby! It's loaded with calories and I've ruined a lot of shirts, one pair of pants and have stained my couch.

My favorite wine quote: 

Wine is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.

My dream wine to one day taste or own: 

Screaming Eagle, Petrus, and eventually my own wine.

The best wines I have ever tasted: 

Geeze, far too many to count. But what started it off for me was an Eberle Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, from Eberle Winery in Paso Robles.

The people with whom I most often enjoy wine: 

My wife and most of my friends. My cats prefer beer.

The last wine I had that I absolutely loved: 

Every week I'm fortunate to have fantastic wines at a variety of price points. Recent greats have been the 2006 Savant from Justin Winery in Paso Robles, and Inniskillen Vidal Blanc Ice Wine from Canada.

What I think of the movie Sideways: 

The movie was filmed in my back yard, Santa Barbara. I love the fact that the film has generated so much interest in this region, and encouraged so many people to try wine.

My thoughts on the 100 point rating scale made famous by Robert Parker and emulated by seemingly everyone: 

I admire what Parker has been able to do and frankly, I'd love to have his job. Any rating scale is merely a tool of one person's taste. Take it or leave it.

My wine travels have taken me to the following wine regions: 

All of California (including Temecula and the oft over looked Sierra Foothills), Oregon, Mexico, Germany, Virginia, France, the Okanagan Valley in B.C., Nova Scotia, Spain, Portugal, New Jersey, New Mexico, Idaho, Burgundy, Switzerland and Pennsylvania.

Contributions

Title Categories Publishedsort icon
Q&A with Amelia Ceja, Owner of Ceja Vineyards, Sonoma Amelia Ceja, Best of Sonoma, Ceja Vineyards, Napa Valley, Sonoma, Wine Producers, Growers, & Labels, Napa Valley, California, Sonoma County 05/23/2012
Q&A with Ann Noble, Inventor of the Aroma Wheel Ann Noble, Aroma Wheel, UC Davis, University of California, University of Massachusetts, Wine Producers, Growers, & Labels 05/14/2012
Q&A with Rob McMillan, Executive VP and Founder, Wine Division, Silicon Valley Bank Rob McMillan, Saint Helena, Silicon Valley Bank, Wine Industry Report, Wine Producers, Growers, & Labels 04/23/2012
Q&A with Joe Hart, Owner and Winemaker at Hart Winery in Temecula Hart Winery, Joe Hart, Joe Travis, Nancy Hart, Wine Producers, Growers, & Labels, California 04/10/2012
Q&A with Tim Hanni, Master of Wine Institute of Masters of Wine, Sonoma State University, Tim Hanni, Wine Business Institute, Wine Producers, Growers, & Labels 04/10/2012
Q&A with Ben Howkins, Founding Partner for Royal Tokaji Wines, Hungary Ben Howkins, Catherine the Great, Eugenie Napoleon, Hugh Johnson, Peter Vinding-Diers, Queen Victoria, Royal Tokaji Wine Company, Thomas Jefferson, Voltaire, Wine Producers, Growers, & Labels 03/31/2012
Sonoma State University's Dr. Robert Eyler Discusses the Economics of the Wine Industry Dr. Robert Eyler, Frank Howard Allen Research Scholar of Economics, Sonoma State University, Wine Business, Wine Producers, Growers, & Labels 03/29/2012
Q&A with Allen Meadows of Burghound.com Allen Meadows, Burghound.com, Wine Producers, Growers, & Labels, Burgundy, France, Wine Books & Authors 03/25/2012
Q&A with Jean-Charles Boisset, of Boisset Family Estates Boisset Family Estates, Jean-Charles Boisset, Wine Producers, Growers, & Labels, Burgundy, France 03/09/2012
Q&A with Bruce Nicholson, Senior Winemaker at Inniskillin Bruce Nicholson, Drinks International, Icewine, Inniskillin, Wine Producers, Growers, & Labels 02/27/2012

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Comments

Thank you for the article on Lynfred Winery! You are a gem. Cheers, Christina Anderson-Heller of Lynfred Winery

Thanks for the article encouraging unsophisticated Americans toward Riesling and drinking an affordable German beer instead.  Who said wine snobs didn't have a sense of humor?

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