Thank you for dropping by Furrowed Brow.

I live in the Greater Vancouver area of British Columbia, Canada and work in the city itself.  Professionally, you’ll find me engaged in the practice of law, but much of my free time is spent studying the subject of, writing about, and above all tasting, wine.  I have had the good fortune to travel extensively and have visited many great wine regions and estates.  I also like to cook which pairs well with my wine obsession.

I have some modest formal education on the subject having passed the WSET Advanced course.  More importantly, however, I have spent a lot of time learning about and tasting wine.  It’s a subject of which I never seem to tire (just ask my friends who will politely listen to my latest rave or rant for about 5 minutes and then move on to another topic without me).

You might notice that my headshot displays a generous amount of skin, the hairline having receded at a tender age.  Place an interesting wine in front of this bold visage, however, and that ample forehead will wrinkle in great concentration – the furrowed brow shows itself once more!

A few clues to my perspective:

I read them both, but favour Decanter over Wine Spectator;

Likewise, Jancis Robinson over Robert Parker, although each bring something to the table;

Speaking of the “table”, wine with a meal over wine alone, so call me a fan of Eric Asimov as well;

Old world rather than new, but that goes more to style than geography; and

Scoring is for sports. *

This blog comes from a pure passion for all things vino.  It’ll take me, and you should you decide to keep reading, wherever the wine does.  I am, by necessity, highly structured in my work.  I’ll do my best to keep this blog somewhat organized as well, but truthfully, it comes from a love of wine and in matters of the heart, I tend not to be quite so methodical.  If you need proof, here are a couple of pictures.  The first is my cellar in the basement which was built to hold approximately 700 bottles, a number which I figured I would never surpass. 

The second photo is the area immediately adjacent to the outside of the cellar and puts the lie to my calculations.  Forgive the mess, but I just don’t think one should get too fussed about appearances when it comes to wine appreciation.   Like most things in life, it’s what’s in the bottle that counts.

Now, shall we have a glass?  Bill

* For more information on my general take on wine, please see my Manifesto post.  For more information on my take on scoring, please see my Fun with Scoring post.