As the calendar page turns to 2026, we are looking at a wine world completely altered by a tasting that took place 50 years ago this year – the Judgment of Paris. In 1976, this low-key wine tasting in a Paris hotel upended the global wine hierarchy. Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant based in Paris, had the idea to pit top French wines against a handful of California upstarts. No one expected the Californians to win – not Spurrier, not the French judges, not even the Ca

By Jerry Kolins, MD, DipWEST, Certified Sommelier In a previous blog I confessed that the skill set needed to successfully complete a medical education and obtain the degree cannot match the expectations of the Court of Master Sommeliers (CMS). https://www.vinesociety.com/post/on-wine-medicine-and-the-obsession-with-grape-growing It is now time to share my experience in trying to enroll in a three-day course intended to provide further education and training needed to advance

By Jerry Kolins, MD, DipWSET, Certified Sommelier The Vine Society of Davison, North Carolina brought us the Greater Lake Norman Wine Summit on Friday, December 12, 2025. This symposium featured three master sommeliers, wine producers from around the world, and about 184 wine enthusiasts who yearned to learn. Let me say a few words about the term symposium. Many of us attended symposia in our professional life. Usually, these were events that consisted of didactic presentatio