Devil's Advocate: A Defence of Restaurant Mark-Ups and ProWein Hotel Prices

Robert Joseph often likes to defend (or at least, explain) the apparently indefensible. Here, as thousands of professionals consider the high cost of attending ProWein, he offers a reasonable explanation for those high hotel prices.

Reading time: 2m 30s

Devil’s Advocate: Why Franciacorta's 134 Subzones May Make Commercial Sense

Franciacorta is the latest region to break itself up into subzones. At first glance, this seems too complicated — but Robert Joseph suggests there may be method behind the madness.

Reading time: 4m 15s

Devil's Advocate: What's Happening to Oak? Have we Passed Peak Barrique?

Robert Joseph takes an offbeat look at the changing way that oak is viewed by the wine industry.

Reading time: 4m

Devil’s Advocate: Time to Rethink the Drink?

When a host says 'can I get you a drink?', they're rarely offering No-Lo wines or sparkling tea. Robert Joseph suggests that, despite not containing any alcohol, these are ‘drinks' too – and deserve rather more recognition than they're currently given.

Reading time: 3m

Devil's Advocate: The Wine Industry Has to Stop Being Tribal

Robert Joseph suggests that, if the wine industry is to combat the threat of Neo-Prohibitionism, it needs to work together  with producers of other forms of alcohol, to create a strategy, acknowledge some of its own failings, and to understand where its foes are coming from.

Reading time: 4m

Devil's Advocate: Why I'm Looking Forward to ´Wine Goes Tech`

On the eve of ProWein, Robert Joseph will be joining a number of illustrious speakers to discuss the way technology is changing the wine industry.

Reading time: 3m

Devil's Advocate: Is There Still a New World or Old World When It Comes to Wine?

The Court of Master Sommeliers has dropped the terms ‘New World’ and ‘Old World’. Robert Joseph considers the issue.

Reading time: 4m

Devil’s Advocate: Need to Know

Robert Joseph questions the accepted wisdom that wine education is the answer to declining consumption.

Reading time: 2m 45s

Devil’s Advocate: Could Prohibition Make a Comeback?

As the US celebrates 90 years since the repeal of Prohibition, Robert Joseph looks back at the history of liquor bans globally and wonders if they are really a thing of the past.

Reading time: 4m