John Brown’s grandparents, Saverio and Catarina Iaquinta, are seen at center above in this photo from the couple’s 50th wedding anniversary

A friend recently asked how I came to be such a fanatic about wine. Good question and I get it often, especially now that I have a wine blog and “WineBoy” weekly podcast. As a matter of fact, I did a little self analysis on that question years ago and I think I’ll share it with you right here and now.

When I was growing up in the 1950s and ‘60s, I had the privilege of being raised in a culture distinctly different from most of my contemporaries of that time, and light years away from how kids grow up today. Back in those times, my world almost exclusively revolved around home and family. My mother was Italian and my father was Irish, but since I was raised with my mother’s family, it was the Italian influence and ethnicity into which I was absorbed. My maternal grandparents were both immigrants who spoke heavily accented English and who provided their nine children and 23 grand children with the elements of Italian culture and values that have molded our extended families to this day. (more…)

We’ve reached Episode 4 in the WineBoy webcast series “The Five ‘S’ Words of Wine.’” In this one you finally get to — ‘S’ word! — sip. John Brown also serves up an affordable and classy Chardonay recommendation plus his signature off-the-wall, free association commentary. To view prior episodes:
Episode 3: ‘Sniff’
Episode 2: ‘Swirl’
Episode 1: ‘Sight’