Meet my latest crush, Tong Magazine

As if I don’t have enough unread wine magazine subscriptions stacked up on the floor (effectively acting as fortresses for my dust bunny army), I gave in to the WSET discount and signed up for this quarterly publication that is Flemish for “tongue”.

I love this magazine.

First off, there is no advertising. There are no wine reviews. There are no lifestyle articles. There is no discussion of hot new chefs. There is no editor telling me what they drank last week. There is no industry news. There are hardly any pictures.

The magazine is a themed journal with well-chosen topics that get back to the basics written by specialists in the field.

The Winter 2009 issue is dedicated to Champagne. The magazine is brief (48 pages), and contributors include two MWs, Champagne-expert Tom Stevenson, and several scientists. My favorite articles were focused on Champagne’s expansion progress, a look at the he trend of single-vineyard Champagne, the mechanics of autolysis, and the science behind CO2 formation (by a cross-disciplinary team of scientists). With no advertising, it’s not cheap (€100 for four issues annually), but there’s a discount if you’re a member of the WSET’s global campus.

This is only their fourth issue, and I’m tempted to buy the back issue on Terroir. Adding to anticipation, I don’t see anything telling me what the upcoming issues will cover, but there’s a free newsletter to sign up for (here) to hold me over in the mean time…