Michael Steinberger

Michael Steinberger is an American author and journalist, and was the wine columnist of the internet magazine Slate from 2002 to 2011.^[1] He has been described as "one of the greatest wine writers on the planet",^[2] and to possess a "blessedly trustworthy voice and palate".^[3] Steinberger has himself stated his palate is Euro-centric, having been cultivated on French wine, with the wine from Bordeaux and Burgundy being his "touchstones".^[4]

Career

Steinberger has previously worked as a Hong Kong correspondent for Maclean's.^[5] He has also contributed to publications such as The New York Times,^[6][7] Saveur, Financial Times,^[8] The Economist, Food & Wine,^[9] New York Magazine, Wine Spectator,^[10] The World of Fine Wine,^[11] and Sommelier Journal.^[12] Steinberger's Slate column that had run since June, 2002 was terminated as a result of layoffs by Slate parent company The Washington Post Company in August, 2011.^[1][13]

Steinberger's book Au Revoir to All That was published in June, 2009.

Controversy

One of Steinberger's articles published by Slate in 2002, "Grape Rot: The New Wine Spectator's Distinct Aroma of Fishiness",^[14] led to a harsh response by Wine Spectator executive editor Tom Matthews. Steinberger's articles were no longer published in Wine Spectator after the article, and Matthews demanded a retraction of the article, while recommending that Slate "no longer accept Steinberger's unprofessional and potentially libelous contributions".

An article that revealed Steinberger's distaste for the Sauvignon blanc grape, "White Lies: Why Sauvignon Blanc is Overrated",^[15] was widely met with surprise by the wine writers' community.^[16][17]

In a Slate article titled "Change We Can Taste", written concerning an interview with White House food and beverage operations usher Daniel Shanks published on Bloomberg.com,^[18] Steinberger called for a new "wine policy" for the Obama presidency.^[19] Coining the term "Shafer-gate", in reference to the serving of bottles of "extravagant" 2003 Shafer Hillside Select, costing around $250 a bottle, at a November 2008 emergency economic summit, the article described the Bush era tactics of "shock and awe" in terms of wine policy, achieved with what Steinberger calls "fruit bombs"; he wrote that the White House wine service had been "hostage to a profoundly misguided strategy", and pointed to Obama's opportunity "to act swiftly and boldly on the wine front".^[19] When the article was described by Decanter.com to have "slammed the White House wine policy",^[20] its contents were quoted and reiterated without any element of satire.

See also

• List of wine personalities

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Colman, Tyler, drvino.com (August25, 2011). The budgetary ax cuts Slate’s wine column
2. ^ Colman, Tyler, drvino.com (February 14, 2008). "Great wine, great writing: the 1947 Cheval Blanc and Mike Steinberger". http://www.drvino.com/2008/02/14/great-wine-great-writing-the-1947-cheval-blanc-and-mike-steinberger/. 
3. ^ Feiring, Alison, alicefeiring.com (April 8, 2008). "Michael Steinberger on the Future (of wine writing)". http://www.alicefeiring.com/winebitch/000414.html. 
4. ^ Steinberger, Mike, The Washington Post (June 19, 2008). Discussions: Fine Wines, and Wines That Are Fine
5. ^ Booklounge.ca Author spotlight: Michael Steinberger
6. ^ Steinberger, Michael, The New York Times (October 22, 2006). "Drinking Deeply". http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/22/books/review/Steinberger.t.html. 
7. ^ Steinberger, Michael, The New York Times (November 4, 2007). "What Would Bacchus Do?". http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/books/review/Steinberger-t.html. 
8. ^ Steinberger, Mike, Financial Times (August 8, 2003). "New voice on the grapevine". http://www.ft.com/cms/s/92d94ba6-24e4-11d8-81c6-08209b00dd01,id=030808004410.html. 
9. ^ Steinberger, Michael, Food & Wine (February 2007). "Become a Wine Expert in 28 Days". http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/become-a-wine-expert-in-28-days. 
10. ^ Steinberger, Michael, Wine Spectator (October 15, 2002). "Triumph at Taillevent". https://wwws.winespectator.com/Wine/Archives/Show_Article/0,1275,3875,00.html. 
11. ^ Steinberger, Mike, The World of Fine Wine (March 2008). "Everyone a Critic. The Future of Wine Writing" (PDF). http://www.finewinemag.com/docs/SteinbergerWineWriting.pdf. 
12. ^ Steinberger, Mike, Sommelier Journal (February 2009). "The Ultimate Service of a Sommelier May Be Through Education". http://www.sommelierjournal.com/articles/article.aspx?year=2009&month=02&articlenum=74. 
13. ^ Hagey, Keach, Politico.com (August 24, 2011). Slate lays off four, including Jack Shafer
14. ^ Steinberger, Mike, Slate (December 26, 2002). "Grape Rot: The New Wine Spectator's Distinct Aroma of Fishiness; Wine Spectator defends its Honor". http://www.slate.com/id/2075720/. 
15. ^ Steinberger, Mike, Slate (April 18, 2006). "White Lies: Why Sauvignon Blanc is Overrated". http://www.slate.com/id/2139871/. 
16. ^ Asimov, Eric, The New York Times: The Pour (July 22, 2008). "Easygoing Califonians". http://thepour.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/22/easygoing-californians/. 
17. ^ Yarrow, Alder, Vinography.com (April 22, 2006). "Why Slander a Grape?". http://www.vinography.com/archives/2006/04/why_slander_a_grape.html. 
18. ^ McCoy, Elin, Bloomberg.com (September 18, 2008). White House Wine Jeeves Picks Bottles for 'Presence'
19. ^ ^{a b} Steinberger, Mike, Slate (January 14, 2009). "Change We Can Taste". http://www.slate.com/id/2208229/pagenum/all. 
20. ^ Shaw, Lucy, Decanter.com (January 28, 2009). "Obama urged to change White House wine policy". http://www.decanter.com/news/275955.html. 

External links

• Mike Steinberger's Wine Diarist

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