Welcome to Uncorked.

Uncorked is a weekly column covering wine and spirit-related topics in a somewhat unconventional way. The focus will be local, like much of the content on this site, with the content geared toward the great community of wine geeks in Milwaukee.

The approach will be a bit different than what you might be used to from the bevy of wine publications and blogs out there, but very in keeping with the fresh and honest presentation of news and events that is OnMilwaukee.com.

The goal is to engage readers as much as possible in discussions relating to great wines, great retail and restaurant wine selections and great local wine people.

Along the way, we'll cover the gamut of wine questions from the beginner to the pro, talk to some terrific wine makers from around the world and see just how much fun we can have.

If you can't relax and enjoy wine, why bother?

And what better way to do that than to shake things up a bit (not the wine, that's bad for it)? To do so, we are going to talk about your comments and encourage discussion -- anything wine-related is fair game. We are going to talk about how to handle, store, order, serve and pair wine. And we'll talk about who's taking great care of you in both retail and restaurant settings. If we decide someone isn't doing such a good job, maybe we can try to get them to join our crusade.

The goal is to see just how amazing we can make the wine scene in this town.

Believe it or not, Milwaukeeans have a pretty awesome reputation around the country. We may be small, we may be a little behind the coasts and we certainly may not have access to some of the cool stuff because of our size, but we definitely are eager and willing to learn and try just about anything. And, perhaps because of our natural Midwest charm, aren't as snooty as many in other cities.

As for my background, you can read the quick author bio if you like for the dry details. But let's just say that trying to get as many people excited about the magical libation that is vino is the product of more than years of tasting and two events that happened about halfway through my career.

Both have helped shape the focus of my wine passion, as well as my propensity for writing -- the combination of which will hopefully make great reading for you.

The first event was a brief departure from restaurant management to enroll in graduate studies in English literature at UWM, which fueled and honed my passion for writing.

The second, and more important, took place immediately before I took the introductory exam for the Court of Master Sommeliers. I was having dinner at Ristorante Bartolotta with my wife and, after taking a sip of a decanted bottle of 1990 Ceretto Bricco Asili Barbaresco, trilling it in my mouth several times and over-analyzing the heck out if as usual, my wife rolled her eyes at me, smiled sardonically and asked, "Can't you ever just enjoy wine for what it is?"

The significance of her statement hit me like a ton of bricks. From that moment, I dedicated myself to doing whatever it took to help people enjoy wine. No more minute dissection, no more pretense, only as much fun and enjoyable education as possible.

Analyzing a wine is good, but not at the expense of being able to enjoy it for what it is. Quality will always be the final mark of a good wine, but the beauty of taste is that it is entirely subjective. How can you fault someone for preferring one thing over another? If you like ice in your red wine or white zin with your steak -- you should be able to enjoy without criticism.

I think the key to understanding wine is to find out as much information as you can, taste as much wine as possible to not only find the great little gems that you like, but have an appreciation for what other people enjoy, where it comes from and why it's different.

Wine is history, culture, philosophy, poetry, passion, science and magic combined. It has the capacity to bring people together in a way that very little else on the planet can.

So buckle up; it's going to be a fun ride. There isn't really anything wine-related that we won't cover. Remember, I would love to have readers contribute their questions and comments for future column topics. Reader questions that we aren't able to cover in the column itself, I will address individually as much as possible.

Let's see how much fun we can have with wine in this great little town of ours. Wine is, after all, only as good as the people you drink it with. You find the companions -- I'll give you the rest.