Robin Garr

Chianti, pasta, and tomatoes, oh my! Chianti, pasta, and tomatoes, oh my! Could there be a wine pairing more perfect than Chianti with spaghetti in a thick, spicy tomato sauce?

Chianti, pasta, and tomatoes, oh my!
Could there be a wine pairing more perfect than Chianti with spaghetti in a thick, spicy tomato sauce? I can't think of a better match right now.

Read this week's #30SecondWineAdvisor:
bit.ly/chiantitom

Nothing says "gravitas" like a president wearing a gimme cap to announce an undeclared war. How do you think this will all work out?

Open what bottle? Tomorrow is Open That Bottle Night. Yay! It's time to enjoy that bottle you've been saving. But what if you don't have a special bottle like that?

Open what bottle?
Tomorrow is Open That Bottle Night. Yay! It's time to enjoy that bottle you've been saving. But what if you don't have a special bottle like that?

Read this week's #30SecondWineAdvisor on Substack:
bit.ly/openwhat

Microplastics in my wine!? Ultraprocessed foods! Forever chemicals! Microplastics! What's your favorite high-tech worry? Could there be microplastics in our wine!? Well, maybe.

Microplastics in my wine!?
Ultraprocessed foods! Forever chemicals! Microplastics! What's your favorite high-tech worry? Could there be microplastics in our wine!? Well, maybe.

Read this week's #30SecondWineAdvisor:
bit.ly/ohnomicro

Screw cap? So what? You grab an interesting-looking bottle at the wine shop and realize that it has a metal screw cap.

Screw cap? So what?
You grab an interesting-looking bottle at the wine shop and realize that it has a metal screw cap. Do you even care? Did you use to feel that way?
Read this week's #30SecondWineAdvisor:
bit.ly/screwcapwhat

Rethinking high-alcohol table wines If you want to make me crabby, talk about rising wine alcohol levels. Wait! Please don't. But now I'm rethinking my bad attitude. What's up with that?

Rethinking high-alcohol table wines
If you want to make me crabby, talk about rising wine alcohol levels. Wait! Please don't. But now I'm rethinking my bad attitude. What's up with that?

Read this week's #30SecondWineAdvisor on Substack:
bit.ly/hialcokay

Anatomy of a tasting note What do you look for in a wine tasting note? If you write wine notes, what is your purpose? What's your message? What story do you want to tell?

Anatomy of a tasting note
What do you look for in a wine tasting note? If you write wine notes, what is your purpose? What's your message? What story do you want to tell?

Read this week's #30SecondWineAdvisor:
bit.ly/TNanatomy

Monday is #GroundHogDay! In your own words, tell us how ready you are for this winter to be OVER!

Winter warmer: Spicy mulled wine A looming winter storm over much of the eastern U.S.

Winter warmer: Spicy mulled wine
A looming winter storm over much of the eastern U.S. raises a question I wouldn't usually ask: What if we made a warming winter drink out of red wine?

Read this week's #30SecondWineAdvisor:
bit.ly/warmingwine

Is it possible to make a tofu dish that will go well with red wine? Heck yeah! Behold, tofu steak, pressed and marinated in an umami-rich red-wine marinade, then sautéed with mushrooms on the side.

Want a drink? Show your ID. “100% ID for everyone,” perhaps the nation’s strictest alcoholic-beverage ID law, took effect in Utah on January 1.

Want a drink? Show your ID.
"100% ID for everyone," perhaps the nation's strictest alcoholic-beverage ID law, took effect in Utah on January 1. There are no exceptions.

Read this week's #30SecondWineAdvisor:
bit.ly/wineshowid

That, or someplace in Kenya ...

Can you locate Iran on a map? If you want to have an opinion about the place, it would be helpful to know where it is.

I just noticed Hieronymus Bosch's 1485 "Gluttony" (from his painting, The Seven Deadly. Sins), and it reminds me of someone familiar. Who could it be?

Tasting notes: Good, bad, or necessary? What is the point of a tasting note?

Tasting notes: Good, bad, or necessary?
What is the point of a tasting note? What kind of notes do you prefer to write and/or read? What are tasting notes for? Are they needed anymore?

Read this week's #30SecondWineAdvisor:
bit.ly/WTNwhat

Pam Bondi keeps using that word "Justice," but I'm not sure that word means what she thinks it means.

I'm not a lawyer, and she purportedly is. But am I wrong? Even when the defendant is not a pleasant person, should justice be dealt out as "full wrath," or something more like due process?

What country has the world's largest oil reserves? Just thinking out loud here ...

Ding Dão merrily Apologies for the holiday carol earworm, but I’m here in the new year to celebrate Dão, a Portuguese treat for flattened post-holiday wallets.

Ding Dão merrily
Apologies for the holiday carol earworm, but I'm here in the new year to celebrate Dão, a Portuguese treat for flattened post-holiday wallets.

Read this week's #30SecondWineAdvisor:
bit.ly/dingdao

I've never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure.'
-Clarence Darrow, often misattributed to Mark Twain

Happy popping New Year! Happy New Year! As we look forward with hope for a better year to come in 2026, many of us will pop the cork on a sparkling wine on New Year's Eve.

Happy popping New Year!
Happy New Year! As we look forward with hope for a better year to come in 2026, many of us will pop the cork on a sparkling wine on New Year's Eve.
Are you planning to celebrate with sparkling wine?

Read this week's #30SecondWineAdvisor:
bit.ly/popnewyear

While we celebrate Christmas, too many of our neighbors are living in fear. In the true spirit of the season, it's up to us to stand up, speak up, #resist.

José y María, imagined and drawn by Everett Patterson, offers another way to imagine the Christmas story,.
bit.ly/josemaria2024

Ho, ho, holiday! Merry Christmas to all who celebrate, and happy holidays to all!

Ho, ho, holiday!
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate, and happy holidays to all! Here's an early Wine Advisor with my holiday wishes and notes on a pair of tasty red wines.

Read this week's #30SecondWineAdvisor:
bit.ly/hohoholiday2...

Madeira: A revolutionary wine If you’ve been watching Ken Burns’s new series The American Revolution on PBS, you may have noticed that this Founding Father loved Madeira wine.

Madeira: A revolutionary wine
If you've been watching Ken Burns's new series The American Revolution on PBS, you may have noticed that this Founding Father loved Madeira wine.

Read this week's #30SecondWineAdvisor:
bit.ly/GWmadeira

The short answer is, "I do not know," sorry. But I'm afraid it's very unlikely. I think I would have heard about it, possibly from family members, if it happened.

The Little Drummer Boy - one of the best versions #drummerboy #Christmas #drummer ​⁠#fyp #foryou For King and Country performing the Little Drummer Boy at the CMA country Christmas 2019 #drummerboy #cma #forkingandcountry #fyp #foryou

Would you believe me if I told you there's a version of Little Drummer Boy so wild and demented that you would actually like it?
Crank your speakers up to high before playing For King and Country performing the Little Drummer Boy at the CMA country Christmas 2019.
bit.ly/wilddrumboy

Stocking-stuffers and an ancestral Malbec It’s a holiday time of year.

Stocking-stuffers and an ancestral Malbec
It's a holiday time of year. Hanukkah starts Monday. Christmas is under two weeks away. Are you checking to see who's been naughty or nice?
Today we look at a few stocking-stuffers for wine lovers.

Read this week's #30SecondWineAdvisor:
bit.ly/stuffsock

I have an idea! Sleepy Donald wants to control Venezuela, so let's have him and Maduro trade jobs! Don would get his wish, and we'd have a slightly less corrupt government!

American IQ Scores Drop In 4 Of 5 Measures - WorldHealth.net A Reverse Flynn Effect is taking place in the United States of America according to a recent study showing consistent negative slopes of IQ decline.

Suddenly, just like that, I'm starting to understand the rise of MAGA. 🤡

American IQ Scores Drop In 4 Of 5 Measures
A Reverse Flynn Effect is taking place in the United States of America according to a recent study showing consistent negative slopes of IQ decline.
bit.ly/48IleuM

Never judge a wine by its label? "Never buy a wine with an animal on the label." This old wisdom can avoid a lot of forgettable wines. But there's a problem: It's not always right.

Never judge a wine by its label?
"Never buy a wine with an animal on the label." This old wisdom can avoid a lot of forgettable wines. But there's a problem: It's not always right.

Read this week's #30SecondWineAdvisor:
bit.ly/critterlabel

Trump calls Somali immigrants ‘garbage’ as US reportedly targets Minnesota community US president’s xenophobic rant comes amid reports of ramped-up deportation efforts in Ilhan Omar’s district

Wilson, Jackson, Andrew Johnson, even Tricky Dick: The U.S. has had a few Presidential bigots. Does 47 take it to a new level?

Coverage from The Guardian: bit.ly/donbigot