It’s right about now that summer fatigue begins to set in and take hold. We’ve “tolerated” hot, humid weather now for over two months and we are ready for something a bit cooler. It’s’ not like we have much…
Many consumers would probably like to enjoy and understand wine. People who make wine seemed bent on making understanding as difficult as possible. There are all kinds of bottle shapes. Labels are not easily deciphered. Smelling and tasting seem…
Sometimes a festival, no matter how much fun they are to attend, is just a lot of drudge work for organizers. I am sorry to break your fairy tale impressions of how these massive and involved events unfold, but…
The recent annual gathering of Tales of the Cocktail is finished, and the last hedonist has returned home. We are left with fine memories and new ideas. It happens this way every year, and when the final ice cube…
All is not well in Wine Land. At the national level, consumption is statistically flat. Little or no sales growth. Prices are on the ascension, most not reverting to lower levels noted when the costs went up even when…
Easy construction? Obtainable ingredients? Speed to build? The portable party we know as summer presents its own set of challenges when it comes to creating a drink that satisfies. This time of year, tackling a build-your-own-cocktail project with too many…
Occasionally, I show evidence of a less-than-cordial personality streak. Yes, it’s true and I admit it. It can come out at times when I should be more respectful and gracious. One of those times can come whenever I meet…
Looks like the corner, finally, has been turned. And not a moment too soon. We went through a period of ego and self-congratulations in the Cocktail World of the early 1990’s and into the new century where crazy drink…
Prior to the birth of the current cocktail era, which made a first appearance around 1985, no city on the planet could claim the birth of more styles of cocktails than New Orleans. Even now, those classic cocktails invented…
We know what we like. Basically, we are all born with a penchant for stuff we like and a disdain for stuff we don’t. Those in-bred preferences pretty much stay with us all of our breathing days. There are changes…
When you think about all of the wines and spirits you have enjoyed over the span of your life, there actually have been darn few that stick out in the memory bank. Something may still live on because of…
The axiom we have all heard since we were 10 years old, or thereabouts, is that learning is a lifetime experience. It never ends. Those of us who have been present for the dawn and unfolding of the Digital Age…
How many festivals and new restaurants can you attend and patronize?
A look ahead to St. Patrick's Day
Please indulge me for just a bit today. I want to stretch beyond my usual editorial boundaries for this effort. Then afterwards I will bring thoughts to bear that are about adult beverages. To note that New Orleans is not…
If you are fortunate enough to live within a 100-mile radius of Jackson Square, you, no doubt, have multiple opportunities just about every day to enjoy a cherished and delicious Carnival custom, King Cake. The usual is still the…
There are a lot of folks out there, and you may be among them, who claim not to like cognac. And there may be a lot of reasons for why these folks (again, maybe you) don’t care for the…
Most places around the world have thrown in the towel. Christmas and New Year’s are now both in the rear-view mirror. But here, we did our best to give those two seasons their due, and now we go into…
Right after the holiday season, with the pressures and chaos of the day melting away, there is an attempt to return to normalcy, or what passes for normalcy in an abnormal place. For many of us, and you really…
If there is one constant in life, it’s change. Okay, so that’s trite and pithy, but it’s also true – which makes it no less trite and pithy. Still, there are so many aspects of life that are no…
In a city like ours, celebrating 300 years of existence, “new” does not hold the allure for us like it does to citizens of, say, Dallas or Houston or Los Angeles. We tend to be more deliberate and not-so-quick…
Just Completed... The New Orleans International Wine Awards and Consumer Tasting. During a day-long evaluation, a dozen professional wine judges from all over America pondered the qualities of more than 550 entries from all over the wine world. Discussion…
The logical topic for today is pretty obvious. But by this time, you are likely either fully planned for Halloween, are well into your celebrations and costuming, or have decided to just go about your routine, well tired of…
There’s an old expression we hear too little of these days. No, it’s not “It is what it is,” which has become trite and way overly used. I would prefer to focus on the expression, “A rising tide raises…
In New Orleans, when the subject is wine and spirits, it is very difficult to leave Tim McNally out of the discussion. He is considered one of the “go to” resources in the Crescent City for counsel and information about adult beverages and their place in the fabric of life in this great city.
Tim is the Wine and Spirits Editor, columnist and feature writer for New Orleans Magazine; the Wine and Spirits Editor and weekly columnist, Happy Hour, for www.MyNewOrleans.com; creator and editor of his own website, www.winetalknola.com; all in addition to his daily hosting duties on the radio program, The Dine, Wine and Spirits Show, on the air at WGSO – 990AM, every weekday, 3- 5 p.m, and streamed live on www.wgso.com.
Over the years, Tim has proved to be an informed interviewer, putting his guests at ease, and covering tactile and technical information so that even a novice can understand difficult agricultural and production concepts. Tim speaks with winemakers, wine and spirit ambassadors, distillers, authors, people who stage events and festivals, and takes questions from listeners and readers, all seamlessly blended together in a program that is unique in America.
Tim’s love of wine actually came about many years ago from his then wife-to-be, Brenda Maitland, a noted journalist in her own right, and together they have traveled to the major wine producing areas in the US and Europe, seeking first-hand information about beverages that give us all so much pleasure.
They were instrumental in the founding of the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience, a major national and international well-regarded festival of its type. They both continue to be involved with the planning and staging of this multi-venue, five-day event now over twenty years old.
Tim is also considered one of the foremost professional wine judges in the US, being invited to judge more than 11 wine competitions each year, including the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition (the largest competition of American wines in the world, with more than 6,000 entries), the Riverside, CA International Wine Competition, San Francisco International Wine Competition, Atlantic Seaboard Wine Competition, Indiana International Wine Competition, Sandestin, Florida Wine Festival Competition, the State of Michigan Wine Competition, the U.S. National Wine Competition, and the National Wine Competition of Portugal.
Tim is a guest lecturer to many local wine and dine organizations, and speaks each year to the senior class in the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management at Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama.
Staying abreast of the news of the wine and spirits world is a passion for Tim, and he is committed to sharing what he knows with his listeners and readers. “Doing something I love, with products that I truly enjoy, created by interesting people, coupling the experience with culinary excellence, and doing it all in the greatest city in America,” are the words Tim lives by.
It’s a good gig.
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