Michael Steinberger is an American author and journalist, who served as the wine columnist of the internet magazine '' Slate'' from 2002 to 2011.Colman, Tyler, drvino.com (August 25, 2011)
The budgetary ax cuts Slate’s wine column
/ref> He has been described as "one of the greatest wine writers on the planet", and to possess a "blessedly trustworthy voice and

palate The palate () is the roof of the mouth in humans and other mammals. It separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity. A similar structure is found in crocodilians, but in most other tetrapods, the oral and nasal cavities are not truly separ ...

". Steinberger has himself stated his palate is Euro-centric, having been cultivated on

French wine French wine is produced all throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world, along with Italian, Spanish, and Amer ...

, with the wine from

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

and Burgundy being his "touchstones". Currently, Steinberger serves as a freelance writer, often involving topics regarding tennis, for publications including ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''.

Career

Steinberger has previously worked as a

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

correspondent for ''

Maclean's ''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian persp ...

''.Booklounge.c
Author spotlight: Michael Steinberger
/ref> He has also contributed to publications such as ''

'', ''

Saveur ''Saveur'' is an online gourmet, food, wine, and travel magazine that publishes essays about various world cuisines. The publication was co-founded by Dorothy Kalins, Michael Grossman, Christopher Hirsheimer, and Colman Andrews, who was also th ...

'', ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...

'', ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...

'', '' Food & Wine'', ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker' ...

'', ''

Wine Spectator ''Wine Spectator'' is an American lifestyle magazine that focuses on wine and wine culture, and gives out ratings to certain types of wine. It publishes 15 issues per year with content that includes news, articles, profiles, and general entertain ...

'', ''

The World of Fine Wine ''The World of Fine Wine'', abbreviated ''WFW'', is a British quarterly publication for a wealthy audience of wine enthusiasts and collectors. Originally published by Quarto Magazines Ltd, and now published by Progressive Media International, the ...

'', and ''

Sommelier Journal ''The SOMM Journal '' is a subscription-based magazine publication, founded in 2008 for sommeliers and others in the restaurant and wine business. The magazine summarized consumer, restaurant, and wine trends and news for wine professionals. His ...

''. 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 Graham Holdings Company (formerly The Washington Post Company) is a diversified American conglomerate holding company. Headquartered in Arlington County, Virginia, and incorporated in Delaware, it was formerly the owner of ''The Washington Post ...

in August, 2011. 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", 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", was widely met with surprise by the wine writers' community. In a ''Slate'' article titled "Change We Can Taste", written concerning an interview with

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

food and beverage operations usher Daniel Shanks published on ''

Bloomberg.com Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg Tele ...

'', Steinberger called for a new "wine policy" for the Obama presidency. 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 Shock and awe (technically known as rapid dominance) is a military strategy based on the use of overwhelming power and spectacular displays of force to paralyze the enemy's perception of the battlefield and destroy their will to fight. Though ...

" 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". When the article was described by '' Decanter.com'' to have "slammed the White House wine policy", its contents were quoted and reiterated without any element of

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

Personal life

Steinberger currently resides in Hockessin, Delaware with his wife and two kids.

References

External links

Mike Steinberger's Wine Diarist
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steinberger, Mike American male journalists Living people Wine critics 1967 births

Career

Controversy

Personal life

See also

References

External links