Meg Maker
@megmaker.com
đ€ 821
đ„ 223
đ 508
Writer, editor, artist, adviser.
https://megmaker.com
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https://makerstable.com
So sorry to hear about your mother, I said. So sudden and so young. Did she work outside the home? Oh yes, they said. She had a big garden.
2 days ago
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Eight Italian varietal wines, made from native grapes, from Mt. Etna, Montepulciano, and Barolo. Such wines are, by nature, uniquely expressive of territorio, yet despite their far-flung distribution, the three red grapes evince strong kinship. My latest:
www.makerstable.com/p/notable-ea...
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Notable: Early October 2025
Thoughts and musings on eight notable wines from Etna, Barolo, and Montepulciano
https://www.makerstable.com/p/notable-early-october-2025
10 days ago
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My interview with wine writer and photographer Kevin Day about his new book.
www.makerstable.com/p/opening-a-...
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Opening a Book with Kevin Day
The writer and photographer discusses his new book, Opening a Bottle: Italy
https://www.makerstable.com/p/opening-a-book-with-kevin-day
17 days ago
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New on Notable â Wines for sweater weather
www.makerstable.com/p/notable-la...
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Notable: Late September 2025
Notes on a medley of memorable winesâwhite, pink, and redâfor early fall
https://www.makerstable.com/p/notable-late-september-2025
25 days ago
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Meg Maker
27 days ago
G.D. Vajra wines from Italy are fantastic.
@megmaker.com
what a great interview! If you are familiar with Vajra this is an interesting and educating read. If you aren't familiar you should be and this may help you get started.
add a skeleton here at some point
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Judy OâKane masterfully summarizes the inaugural Pinot Noir & Identity Symposium, including keynotes and paper sessions. She deftly encapsulates my own talk on the lexicons and motifs of wine writing about Pinot Noir. (My full paper is forthcoming in WFW 91.)
worldoffinewine.com/news-feature...
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On location: Burgundy and beyond
Judy OâKane reports from the profoundly thought-provoking Pinot Noir & Identity Symposium, held at St Cross College, University of Oxford.
https://worldoffinewine.com/news-features/pinot-noir-identity-symposium
27 days ago
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âFind a trusted person, someone who wonât break your heart, and ask them to read it. Donât offer a preamble or back story. Donât explain it. Just let them read it. Once theyâve finished, ask them to answer three questions:â
www.makerstable.com/p/ask-three-...
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Ask Three Questions
A technique to improve any piece of writing, at any stage of the effort
https://www.makerstable.com/p/ask-three-questions
about 1 month ago
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If you are contemplating a tour of New England to gape at fall foliage, get here soon. Peak will happen in the next two weeks, if not sooner. We are in severe drought and the trees are just so over it.
about 1 month ago
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Meg Maker
Eric Asimov
about 1 month ago
Around the winemaking world, there's a growing interest in the potential of hybrid grapes.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/d...
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Can Hybrid Grapes Solve the Climate Change Dilemma for Wine Makers?
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/dining/drinks/hybrid-grapes-wine.html?smid=bs-share
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Meg Maker
Pete Buttigieg
about 1 month ago
What's happening with Jimmy Kimmel is about politics and power.
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Notes on wines from Vinho Verde, Barolo, Veneto, and Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
www.makerstable.com/p/notable-ea...
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Notable: Early September, 2025
Welcome to Notable, a round-up of select wines from recent tasting
https://www.makerstable.com/p/notable-early-september-2025
about 2 months ago
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âFormal wine training wasnât seen as an urgent requirement for writers back then. Thatâs partly because it was almost entirely unavailable.â
www.makerstable.com/p/learn-wine...
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Wine Credentials Optional
Taking inspiration from an earlier generation of wine writers
https://www.makerstable.com/p/learn-wine-learn-writing
about 2 months ago
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I didnât meet Anthony Bourdain once. We didnât meet in Paris, in the Charles de Gaulle Airport. I was flying to Bordeaux and so was he. My latest:
www.makerstable.com/p/just-sit-a...
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Just Sit and Watch
A lesson in observation from a not-so-stranger.
https://www.makerstable.com/p/just-sit-and-watch
2 months ago
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âThe main thing is to get going, because the ideas come when the pen starts moving. Itâs a practical matter: The hand needs to write words, so the brain comes up with something for it to say.â
www.makerstable.com/p/get-it-in-...
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Get it in Writing
Longhand writing can fluidly generate your storyâs first draft
https://www.makerstable.com/p/get-it-in-writing
2 months ago
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makerstable.substack.com/p/pinot-noir...
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Pinot Noirâs Linguistic Tropes
The lexicon of Pinot noir is a case study in cliché
https://makerstable.substack.com/p/pinot-noirs-linguistic-tropes
3 months ago
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Font matters.
3 months ago
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Hundred Hills Winery is a young project in the rolling landscape southeast of Oxford. I visited on a sultry day in early July, striding the chalky rows before tasting wines in the cellar. My report:
www.makerstable.com/p/sparkling-...
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Sparkling Wines of Hundred Hills
Notes from my recent visit to this young project in the hills of Oxfordshire
https://www.makerstable.com/p/sparkling-wines-of-hundred-hills
3 months ago
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www.makerstable.com/p/london-bac...
#writing
#memoir
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London, Backward and Forward
Revisiting London with pen in hand
https://www.makerstable.com/p/london-backward-and-forward
3 months ago
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My local public radio stations, NHPR and VPR, just got more of my money.
#publicbroadcasting
3 months ago
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www.makerstable.com/p/amber-meet...
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Amber Meets Rosé
Two wines walk into a bar
https://www.makerstable.com/p/amber-meets-rose
3 months ago
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âIt was that phrase, âdutiful hagiography,â that reached out from the page and grabbed me by the collar. Because who among us has not read such a profile of a winemaker, or even of a particular wine itself, in the pages of a contemporary wine magazine?â
www.makerstable.com/p/no-saints-...
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No Saints Allowed
Good wine criticism demands a degree of detachment
https://www.makerstable.com/p/no-saints-allowed
4 months ago
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www.makerstable.com/p/malolactic...
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What is Malolactic Fermentation?
Malolactic affects wineâs texture and flavor, and letting it roll (or not) depends on tradition, fashion, chemistry, and more
https://www.makerstable.com/p/malolactic-fermentation-wine-science
4 months ago
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makerstable.substack.com/p/the-five-m...
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The Five Massican Wines of 2024
Tasting notes and visual impressions of Dan Petroskiâs latest releases: Annia, Gemina, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, and Hyde Chardonnay
https://makerstable.substack.com/p/the-five-massican-wines-of-2024
4 months ago
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A good piece of writing is a complicated machine. It has a shiny outer shell wrapped around complex inner mechanics. The shell is the surface narrative. It is the topic, and it is almost never the story.
www.makerstable.com/p/topic-and-...
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Topic and Story in Wine Writing
What is this about? And why does that matter?
https://www.makerstable.com/p/topic-and-story-in-wine-writing
4 months ago
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#nokings
4 months ago
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My latest essay:
www.makerstable.com/p/daily-evid...
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Daily Evidence
A writerâs journal records the data that invites larger stories
https://www.makerstable.com/p/daily-evidence
5 months ago
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reposted by
Meg Maker
American Association of Wine Economists AAWE
5 months ago
U.S. wine export markets have contracted substantially. In April, the year-over-year export value dropped by 41.4%, worsening the 28% decline recorded in March. The three main export destinations for U.S. wineâCanada (-93%), the UK (-29%), and China (-70%)âall reported significant decreases.
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âHere at Vajra, we work with science and consciousness. In Italian: scienza e coscienza. The root is about knowledge itself. You know the scienceâthe scienza, technical thingsâand coscienza says you judge with your heart.â
www.makerstable.com/p/an-afterno...
#wine
#barolo
#italianwine
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An Afternoon with Francesca Vaira of G.D. Vajra
Francesca poured her familyâs wines and shared the vision and philosophy that animate the work
https://www.makerstable.com/p/an-afternoon-with-francesca-vaira-of-g-d-vajra
5 months ago
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"The El Mordjene affair...wasnât really about hazelnut spreads. It was about nostalgia, memory, injustice, nationalism, globalization, decolonization, protectionism, racism, identity, immigration, invasionâthe same things that all arguments are about nowadays."
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
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How a Hazelnut Spread Became a Sticking Point in Franco-Algerian Relations
The wildly popular Nutella competitor El Mordjene has been banned by the European Union, a move some see as politically motivated.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/06/09/how-a-hazelnut-spread-became-a-sticking-point-in-franco-algerian-relations
5 months ago
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megmaker.substack.com/p/are-we-try...
#wine
#writing
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Are Wine Writers Trying Too Hard to Explain Wine?
Most wine writing leans into objective realities, but wineâs subjective truths are more compelling.
https://megmaker.substack.com/p/are-we-trying-too-hard-to-explain
5 months ago
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Evidently I'm someone who uses âexecrableâ in a dream and also someone who remembers using âexecrableâ in a dream.
5 months ago
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Iâm writing a piece thatâs really innovative, total crap, or both.
5 months ago
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âAn actor entering through the door, youâve got nothing, but if he enters through the window, youâve got a situation.â My latest:
megmaker.substack.com/p/start-in-t...
#writing
#amwriting
#writingcraft
#nonfiction
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Start in the Middle of the Action
Nonfiction writers can use the dramatic technique from stagecraft to create propulsion that drives a piece forward.
https://megmaker.substack.com/p/start-in-the-middle-of-the-action
5 months ago
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Iâm thrilled to learn I won 2nd Place in the 2025 World Food Photography Awards in the category Errazuriz Wine Photographer of the Year / Places. Many thanks to the judges and organizers for this honor! Find all winning images at
www.worldfoodphotographyawards.com/finalists-ga...
5 months ago
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Alternative title: âWhat happened when Thomas Keller and MacKenzie Chung Fegan broke the Fourth Wallâ
www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaur...
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This is what happened when Thomas Keller asked me to leave the French Laundry
Thomas Keller is a legendary chef. Chronicle critic MacKenzie Chung Fegan hadnât met him, until she went to the French Laundry and he asked her to leave.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/thomas-keller-french-laundry-20290670.php
5 months ago
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Most wine writing leans into objective realities, but wineâs subjective truths are arguably more compelling. My latest column.
www.circleofwinewriters.org/from-the-cha...
#wine
#writing
#winewriting
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From the Chair: Are we trying too hard to explain wine? - Circle of Wine Writers
Circle Chair Meg Maker questions the role of the reader in wine writing, and in doing so, reflects on the purpose of the writing itself. I recently published a long [âŠ]
https://www.circleofwinewriters.org/from-the-chair-are-we-trying-too-hard-to-explain-wine/
5 months ago
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Meg Maker
Alex Kirshner
5 months ago
this is a letter to the editor from a high school track runner who came in second to a trans girl in a race. her state house rep in maine started talking about it. so she wrote this:
www.pressherald.com/2025/05/14/r...
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âIn some ways, this... [birds chirping] In some ways, this approach is... [birds chirping] Mmm, some ways this â what does that say?â â Meg and the birds and Whisper Transcription
5 months ago
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I'm thrilled to announce that I've been selected as finalist in the World Food Photography Awards 2025. đž Winners will be announced next week. Fingers crossed!
#photography
#foodphotography
6 months ago
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Itâs a curious word, ânonfiction,â framed, as it is, in the negative: ânot fictive.â Perhaps we feel more comfortable with this inverted etymology because although creative nonfiction is truthful, itâs not The Truth. My latest essay:
megmaker.substack.com/p/the-contin...
#writing
#nonfiction
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The Continuum of Truth
Nonfiction writers navigate both objective and subjective realities
https://megmaker.substack.com/p/the-continuum-of-truth
6 months ago
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"What is voice?"
megmaker.substack.com/p/what-is-vo...
6 months ago
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âTalking is one kind of voice. Itâs literal voice, but itâs not literary voice.â
megmaker.substack.com/p/what-is-vo...
#writing
#amwriting
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What is Voice?
Itâs more than the way we speak
https://megmaker.substack.com/p/what-is-voice
6 months ago
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reposted by
Meg Maker
NPR
6 months ago
JUST IN: A federal judge in Vermont ordered the release of Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian student at Columbia University who was arrested at his US citizenship interview and ordered deported.
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Federal judge orders release of Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi
A federal judge in Vermont ordered the release of Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian student at Columbia University who was arrested at his US citizenship interview and ordered deported.
https://www.npr.org/2025/04/30/nx-s1-5382306/mohsen-madawi-released-ice-columbia-university-activist-judge
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Meg Maker
Tish
6 months ago
www.circleofwinewriters.org/from-the-cha...
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From the Chair: How should wine writers respond to a global trade war? - Circle of Wine Writers
Circle Chair Meg Maker reached out to members and others for insights about how wine and spirits communicators should address the current moment. What is the role and future of [âŠ]
https://www.circleofwinewriters.org/from-the-chair-responding-to-the-trade-war-as-communicators/
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I reached out to wine writers and economists for advice on handling the current moment. My latest column:
www.circleofwinewriters.org/from-the-cha...
#wine
#winewriting
#tradewar
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From the Chair: How should wine writers respond to a global trade war? - Circle of Wine Writers
Circle Chair Meg Maker reached out to members and others for insights about how wine and spirits communicators should address the current moment. What is the role and future of [âŠ]
https://www.circleofwinewriters.org/from-the-chair-responding-to-the-trade-war-as-communicators/
6 months ago
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Hummingbirds are nigh.
www.google.com/maps/d/viewe...
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Hummingbird Central: Spring Migration 2025 - Google My Maps
Interactive map provided by https://www.HummingbirdCentral.com of spring migration and first sightings of hummingbirds in the USA & Canada in 2025 as reported by website viewers.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1jCtnm5CrxzEdwqFAd8UEm_X1nFQJzuI&femb=1&ll=35.206707918366625%2C-90.4089297749075&z=4
6 months ago
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Meg Maker
6 months ago
Let this piece transport you to Tuscany! Best if you have a glass of wine, a little salumi, and some bread to accompany your reading! Ciao!
add a skeleton here at some point
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Sangiovese, the modern vinous king of Tuscany, is an alloyed grape, the offspring of a crossing of Ciliegiolo, which appeared here as early as the Middle Ages, and Calabrese di Montenuovo, introduced from the southern reaches of the Italian peninsula. Read more:
terroirreview.com/2025/04/23/t...
6 months ago
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Meg Maker
Alexander Chee
6 months ago
I wrote a pep talk? I started with how I actually feel powerful that an expensive computer program that ate all of my work and that of all writers is still not as good as all of us it stole from. Then I went a few places. Anyway, it's here.
mailchi.mp/e87ac78bc7b7...
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Alexander Chee: Let's Go
https://mailchi.mp/e87ac78bc7b7/alexander-chee-lets-go
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âđŒ Happy to learn Iâve been longlisted again in both writing categories in the 67 Pall Mall Global Wine Communicator Awards. đ Shortlists will be announced in July and winners in September. đ„ Many thanks to the judges and organizers for this honor.
#writing
#winewriting
#longform
#shortform
6 months ago
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