No viticultural region in America has demonstrated as much progress in quality and potential for greatness as... the Santa Barbara region, where the Burgundian varietals Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are planted in its cooler climates.

I'm an anti-industrial kind of guy.

I've always followed the rule that anything worth doing is worth doing excessively.

No sane man can afford to dispense with debilitating pleasures; no ascetic can be considered reliably sane.

From a wine critic's perspective, there are far too many innocuous, over-oaked, over-acidified, or over-cropped wines emerging from California. While those sins would not be a problem if the wines sold for under $20, many are in fact $75-$150. That's appalling.

Part of life is to live it, and enjoy it, and seize the moments that you find particularly pleasing.

My personal philosophy is, you can be sure of nothing.