Sep 19, 2011
Joe Dressner Died. He had a Brain Tumor. Joe was one of America's most important importers, exposing the wine trade to a selection of wines that were almost as interesting he was. Joe and I had a number of run-ins over the years. He didn't appreciate my (wine) politics…and said so. We discussed this disagreement in a number of locales across the web. However, at this blog I had the opportunity to highlight Joe, his work and his thoughts. I…
Sep 16, 2011
Hello, my name is Tom Wark and I'm a binge drinker. I think I'm also a binge candy eater. It's also likely that I'm a binge golfer, but I can't find any support groups or studies to confirm these latter two problems. Binge drinking is, according to the Center for Desease Control: "a pattern of drinking that brings a person’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 grams percent or above. This typically happens when men consume 5 or more drinks,…
Sep 1, 2011
You look at the news out the Mosel ("Hailstorms Decimate Mosel") and you must be reminded once again that if you make wine or grow grapes in California, your life is pretty darned good, relative to so many other wine growing regions. The hail storms in the Mosel were reported to consist of tennis and golf ball sized specimens. Grape crops and vines were reportedly destroyed. This kind of thing simply is not common in California. Nor does California usually…
Aug 23, 2011
The California Department of Alcohol Beverage Control has finally brought to light the dirty little secret behind underage drinking in Sonoma Valley: SONOMA VALLEY MINORS ARE USING THE HIGH-END WINERY TASTING ROOMS TO GET THEIR DRINK ON. A recent decoy operation meant to the expose and stop the growing craze among Sonoma Valley minors of hanging out in winery tasting rooms and getting their drunk on before marauding over to the next boutique winery was directed and paid for by…
Aug 18, 2011
A recent analysis of the direct wine shipping market concludes that American wineries must prepare to increase their direct shipping capabilities in order to accommodate what will be an unanticipated yet staggering increase in the direct sales and shipments of wine. The coming increase in direct shipped wine will, according to the recent analysis, marginalize most if not all sales via the three tier system. The source of the new analysis of the direct shipping market is Joseph Cryan of…