Sep 6, 2011
I spent a decent amount of time Labor Day thinking about whether Sam Kim is an unethical wine critic, whether he gives all wine writers a bad name and whether or not his brand of pay-for-review wine criticism ought to have gotten him ostracized from from a Wine Writers association. In the end, I came to the conclusion that Mr. Kim, rather than being the scourge to wine criticism many of his colleagues believe him to be, is instead the…
Sep 2, 2011
A story in the NY Times today on the sorry state of the Gravenstein apple market in Sonoma County provided a reminder of the primary force that moves the wine industry. If you like seeing more Pinot on the market, don't thank the movie Sideways. If you worry over the proliferation of big, high pH fruit bombs, don't blame Robert Parker's palate or Jim Laube's preferences. If are trouble by the higher alcohol in wine these days, don't blame new…
Aug 15, 2011
In crafting the FERMENTATION Reader Survey, I gave those taking the survey the chance to say and write in anything respondents wanted to about this Blog. Many readers had something to say. I thought it only fair that I take the time to respond to a few of these comments. After all, readers took the time to to write the comments. AND BY THE WAY, THE READER SURVEY IS STILL UP AND RUNNING FOR ANOTHER DAY. PLEASE TAKE THIS 2…
Aug 15, 2011
———————————————————————————— When I entered the wine business in 1990 at the PR firm of Gracelyn and Associations, Gerald Asher was an "A" Writer. It was the term we gave to those writers and journalists that carried weight or an audience. As the wine writer for the esteemed Gourmet Magazine, Mr. Asher carried both. More important than anything else when I joined the fraternity of flacks was to learn as much as I could about the wine writing world. Not…
Aug 5, 2011
Trying to make a compelling philosophical case against using 100 points to rate a wine is like trying to make a case against answering the question: Do I or do I not like this wine? Yet within the world of wine media, we are talking about the 100 Point system…again. Why? You know why? Because people who are affected by published scores don’t like the fact that people seem to follow the people who give out 100 Point scores. At…