Charlie Leary

After earning his PhD in modern Chinese history from Cornell, Charlie became an organic farmer, artisan cheesemaker, and restaurateur in Louisiana. He went on to direct wine programs in Nova Scotia, Costa Rica, and the Dordogne. Random House released his Creole cuisine cookbook in 2004, and he later developed a wine & food column for the Halifax Chronicle-Herald. Now residing in Panama, he writes about wine and edits academic papers. Jane Anson’s Inside Bordeaux recently published two of his articles on wine history.

Articles by Charlie Leary

The Tale of the Angelo Petri

by Charlie Leary
In 1966, the US Senator and presidential candidate John McCain’s father, Admiral John S. McCain, Jr. spoke about wine in congressional testimony: Gallo’s “Thunderbird,” to be exact. Yes, that “fortified”...
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On Marginality

by Charlie Leary
In the early 1990s, I tried growing wine grapes in Louisiana, near the Mississippi border. As I recall, Ruby Cabernet, the cross developed in 1936, was among the selected varieties....
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The Tale of Two Château Palmers

by Charlie Leary
What would Major General Charles Palmer think of Château Palmer being turned into a public cinema in 2022? This is a different Chíateau Palmer from the one most wine lovers...
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