As I have mentioned a few times since the start of 2022, I “celebrated” my tenth year of writing about wine back in January. And while I have written for a smattering of other sites over the course of those ten years, by far the bulk of my work has appeared here, at thedrunkencyclist.com.

Why?

Good question.

I guess if I really think about it, there are a few reasons why I have never pursued a more high-profile writing gig. First and foremost, I never really wanted to be limited in what I wanted to write or how I wanted to write it. I personally think that the bulk of wine writing today is staid, boring, even boilerplate, without much personal voice whatsoever. I think I have made it clear over the last decade that wine is personal in many ways (to the producer, the consumer, the wine writer) and that should be at the forefront of the discussion. Sure, it is great to know that it has “the essence of bayberry” but that, at least to me, is the least interesting facet of a wine.

Second, I have always felt at least a bit guilty accepting money for my wine writing. Don’t get me wrong, I think there are many, many wine writers out there who deserve to get paid, and hopefully paid well. I also believe, perhaps somewhat egotistically, that my writing (at least at times) is worthy of being compensated for financially (although maybe not that last sentence). But. There are many people out there (some who I would certainly consider friends) who have made writing about wine their livelihood and the number of paid wine writing “pie” is only getting smaller. Thus, since I am not one of those who rely on my writing to pay the rent, I always felt guilty about taking those gigs.

Today, however, in the Fort Bend Focus, appears my first ever wine column. I am certain that neither Eric Asimov nor Lettie Teague is going to take notice, nor are their respective editors at the Times or the Journal, but it is a bit of a different direction for me right now.

For the time being, I will only be contributing a column every other month, and I have absolutely no plans of ever stopping my regular publishing on this site, but I thought I would pass along the news, and it would be great if you would go check it out:

The Drunken Cyclist in the Fort Bend Focus