Home

Michael Cervin's picture
Add to Buddies

Michael Cervin

Michael Cervin writes about wine, food, art, architecture and travel for national and regional magazines including Decanter, Wine Enthusiast, Wine & Spirits, Skywest and many others. He currently writes four wine columns and is the restaurant critic for the Santa Barbara News-Press. He has judged at wine competitions such as the Monterey Wine Competition, The Central Coast Wine Challange, the Santa Barbara County Fair, the El Dorado County Fair and others. In addition to his extensive articles, he has had four of his plays produced in Los Angeles and his poetry has been read on National Public Radio. He lives in Santa Barbara with his wife. To see more of his work visit www.michaelcervin.com.

What I think...

A fair restaurant corkage fee is: 

$10

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, New Jersey, New Mexico, Idaho, and soon to be France.

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 "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.

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!

The people with whom I most often enjoy wine: 

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

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.

My dream wine to one day taste or own: 

Screaming Eagle, Petrus, and eventually my own wine.

My favorite wine quote: 

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

The last wine I had that I absolutely loved: 

Every week I'm fortunate to have fantastic wines at a variety of price points. Recently in New York I had Orin Swift's "The Prisoner."

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.

Contributions

TitleCategoriesPublishedsort icon
The Taste3 Conference: The Art of Wine, Food and Thought 09/15/2008
New Jersey Wine's Rise to Quality: Alba Vineyards 08/01/2008
Shenandoah Valley's Dillian Wines: Like Father, Like Son 07/07/2008
Santa Barbara County Wine: The State of the Grape 200806/03/2008
Of Purpose, Pigmy Goats and Pinot Noir: Flying Goat Cellars04/28/2008
90 Point Wines and No Chemistry: Re-Defining Koehler Winery04/06/2008
Dashe Cellars: Making Zinfandel in Oakland 03/02/2008
Sierra Foothills Twist: Spanish Varieties Shake Things Up01/31/2008
The Wines of Malibu. Yes, Malibu.12/29/2007
Wildcat Mountain: Carneros and Sonoma's Coolest Vineyard12/01/2007
more
12next ›last »

History

Blog: http://www.intowine.com/blog/6
Member For: 1 year 28 weeks

Information

First Name: Michael
Last Name: Cervin