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In 2013, Food & Wine executive wine editor Ray Isle, one of our favorite wine writers, asked "emperor of wine" and Wine Advocate founder Robert Parker, Jr. to revisit and reflect on some of his more famous (infamous?) pronouncements on wine over the arc of his career.

Now in its fifth year, the 2015 Boulder Burgundy Festival — October 22-25 — is going to be bigger and better than ever.

Festival founder and Master Sommelier Brett Zimmerman is currently in the process of lining up panelists that will include leading U.S. sommeliers, wine writers, and Burgundy experts as well as a stellar group of Burgundy growers and winemakers who will be on hand to taste and talk about their wines.

Last week, I inadvertently accepted an invitation to a preview of an outdoor weekend "wine fest" here in Houston. I won't go into the details but by the time I realized what kind of wines were being poured, it was too late to decline politely.

The centerpiece wine in the tasting was a California red blend by a legacy Napa grape grower and winemaker and a celebrity tattoo artist.

Curious about the wine, I looked it up on the winemaker's site. Here's how the tasting notes and technical info read:

Last week's post "Can a sommelier be trusted?" turned out to be more polarizing that I imagined.

It was retweeted and shared on Facebook by numerous wine professionals, many of whom thanked me for writing it.

At the same time, a number of readers commented (on various social media platforms) that my notes on Sullivan's article were "ill tempered" (as one Twitter user wrote).

I'm just going to cut to the chase here.

Paul Sullivan's ridiculous "Wealth Matters" column ("Reading Restaurant Wine Lists, for Blockbusters and Values") for the New York Times this week really pissed me off.

In it he observes and asks: "At the end of the day, though, the sommelier is a salesman. Can he be trusted?"

Sweet Sauternes and rich foie gras. Oxidative Muscadet and briny raw oysters. Barnyard-scented Pinot Noir and fatty roast duck breast. Jammy Zinfandel and a juicy burger and crisp French fries. Plump Sangiovese with a bloody steak. Bone-dry Riesling and smoked salmon. Racy Champagne and oily fish roe.

The above are some of the world’s greatest and most famous wine pairings. But do they make you horny?

Last week here on the blog, we talked about different approaches to wine shopping, including budgeting and getting the best pricing whenever and wherever you shop. And most importantly, we talked about how your wine salesperson is your best bet for getting the most out of your wine shopping experience.

But once you've purchased your wine, it's also important to be mindful of how you transport and store the wine once you leave the store.

Wine shopping can be a daunting experience for a lot of people. Especially for folks who don't regularly drink wine, the thought of walking into a wine store and picking out a bottle — from literally hundreds on the shelf — can be overwhelming.