Christopher Null

A veteran journalist, the author of four books, a published poet, and an award-winning winemaker, Christopher Null has more than 25 years of experience writing about wine and spirits. He founded Drinkhacker in 2007. He also writes regularly about the science of booze for WIRED and is an occasional contributor to ADI's Distiller magazine. He has been a judge for both the American Distilling Institute Judging of Craft Spirits and Whiskies of the World spirits competitions and often works as a consultant, developing formal tasting notes for spirits brands around the world.

Sleeper Cocktail: The Casino

By Christopher Null | September 13, 2007 |

  Long one of my favorite drinks, you’ll be lucky if you visit a bar that can make a proper Casino. A full three of the ingredients are uncommon to rare in all but the swankiest of establishments… but if you find one on the specialty menu of that fancy restaurant you’re dining at, try…

Review: 2003 Ty Caton Merlot

By Christopher Null | September 12, 2007 |

  Sideways made Merlot unpopular, and it’s still fashionable to bash the grape and the wine it makes. And you know what? The bashers have a point. Merlot is one of the least interesting wines around. It’s the red wine equivalent of chenin blanc. And in fact, I have more chenin in my wine cellar…

Review: Pacifico Clara

By Christopher Null | September 10, 2007 |

Why would anyone drink a Corona when Pacifico is readily available? The reason you put a lime in Corona (and I’m not above drinking one in a pinch) is to mask the faint taste of muskiness. The reason you put a lime in Pacifico is to improve on what’s already just about perfect. Now I’m…

Review: 2005 Caymus Conundrum

By Christopher Null | September 9, 2007 |

It’s been years since I’ve tried Caymus’s flagship white wine, Conundrum. But when I encountered on the short wine list at San Francisco’s Ducca ($50, about double retail), I thought it might be perfect to go with our northern Italian meal. It was an excellent decision indeed. My last encounters with Conundrum were the 1995…

Classic Cocktail Recipe: The Sazerac

By Christopher Null | September 8, 2007 |

When people see my home bar their eyes tend to glaze over. I have everything you could want, which leaves people too overwhelmed to figure out what they really want to drink. When they ask me to surprise them, I make a Sazerac. Since it doesn’t require any fresh ingredients like lemon juice, the Sazerac…

Review: 2004 Donnafugata Tancredi

By Christopher Null | September 8, 2007 |

Let’s start things off with a review, the 2004 Donnafugata Tancredi, courtesy of the good folks at Folio Wine Partners, who sent six bottles of Donnafugata’s latest releases, which Folio is importing. I picked the hearty Italian Tancredi to go with buffalo burgers tonight… which turned out to be a good choice. Donnafugata is a…