Jan 3, 2011
Wine writing, as a craft, is fairly well scrutinized by those looking for the best of the best. In fact a variety of awards are given out each year to wine writers and journalists who are judged to be the better of the world wide lot. Although it delivers but two awards focused on wine writing (Best Wine Book and Best Writing on Beer, Spirits and Wine) The James Beard Awards do come with a certain amount of prestige. Much…
Dec 1, 2010
Some Assessments of my wine reading in 2010 and a look forward to 2011. FAVORITE WINE BOOKS OF 2010 New Connoissuers' Guide to California Wine and WineriesBy Charles OlkenAn outstanding guide to California's wine industry by a long time veteran observer. Required reading. Reading Between the WinesBy Terry TheiseA provocative narrative of the importers experience and opinions on the world of wine. Matt Kramer on Wine: A Matchless Collection of Columns, Essays, Observations By America's Most Original and Lucid Wine…
Nov 23, 2010
Take a close look at this chart. It comes from the recently released 2010 American Wine Writer Survey and outlines some differences between those that have been writing about wine for 5 years or less and those writing about wine for 20 years or more. The first thing to take note of is the use of social media tools like blogs, Facebook and Twitter. The less time someone has been writing about wine, the more likely they are to use…
Nov 9, 2010
Allow me to quote Charles Olken from the preface of his newest book "The New Connoissuers' Guidebook to California Wine & Wineries": "It is now three decades since my first book, The Connoissuers' Handbook of California Wine, appeared in print." Olken, through numerous editions of that original Handbook, and through his newsletter, The Connosseurs' Guide To California Wine (born in 1974), has been regulatory and habitually chronicling the California wine landscape longer than anyone I know. He understands its evolution,…
Nov 3, 2010
I had the chance to meet with two pretty impressive wine minds this morning and an interesting topic emerged: How will the wine media in America portray the 2010 harvest/vintage in California/Napa/Sonoma? Will they take the proper perspective, talk to numerous vintners and growers, take account of the different pace of ripenng for different varieties and give a balanced perspective? Or will they undertake to paint with a brush so broad that upon speaking with one grower who described a…