Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog
Tom Wark creates a solid, knowledge imparting wine blog with Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog. As usual, I was expecting to see numerous posts describing the nose and myriad taste descriptions of this or that wine. And while this is often helpful for those who may not have much experience tasting and identifying great wines, it can be rather redundant. I was refreshed to see thoughtful articles that were pleasingly well-written. Anyone can write a blog but the real key is conveying passion in grammatically correct and interesting text; Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog accomplishes this.
Another element of a blog worth reading is appearance. It’s important to have substance but if that substance is surrounded by annoying visuals or difficult to read fonts and formats, the substance can be lost completely. I have personally ceased reading many blogs because I couldn’t stand looking at the page any longer. Moreover, filling the text with cheesy puns and eye-rolling anecdotes is also a clear sign to me that I don’t want to continue reading. I recently stumbled upon a blog, for which I wrote a review, where the author used a sort of mascot and in each post attributed human characteristics to the doll. Needless to say, it became highly annoying and I abandoned the remaining threads.
Mr. Wark thankfully steers clear of these frustrating tendencies. His text is easy to read and more specifically the purple/blue lettering on the dark tan background is kind to the eyes. Additionally, the color scheme provides a professional feel and I appreciate his minimal variation of fonts and formats. He uses tasteful yet eye-catching pictures next to each new post and, to my relief, lets the visuals speak for themselves. The other features you would expect to find on a serious blog such as additional links, archives, sponsors, and news are neatly set off to the sides so as not to disrupt the linear flow of the main body.
After gaining a general feel for the site I began reading and to reiterate, Tom Wark’s writing is a pleasure to read. His articles are thorough and thoughtful. He seems to put forth the effort to research and present his topics in a logical and analytical manner. The wide range of topics guarantees never a dull reading moment. He speculates on legislature affecting wine shipping, ruminates over California wineries and wine tasting, compares and contrasts wine cost and quality, intrigues with events linking wine and celebrities, and informs with a cornucopia of information.
As I continue to read, I develop curiosities such as what are his opinions of wine storage, in-home wine coolers, and fermentation for that matter. I actually had to pull myself away from the posts because they are so effortless to read and yet immensely interesting. Review aside, I will be back to Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog to continue my wine education and for my own personal improvement and delight.