While I do not claim to possess special powers of prognostication, I think global wine culture and industry are at some crossroads and not all choices before us will lead to optimal outcomes. It is my belief that a commentator should be less of an ambassador of an industry or spokesperson for the preferences of the masses and more a thinker who challenges beliefs, warns of consequences and points to less obvious options. This has been the more real role of soothsayers in ancient times. Like that Cynic Diogenes, who carried a lit lantern in daytime through the streets of ancient Greece in search of an honest man, I embark on a search for truth in wine. Much like a soothsayer, this blog is not the embodiment of truth, but rather a channel for it.