Mar 27, 2007
The man accussed of setting fire to a warehouse filled with great wine and causing well over $250,000,000 in damage pled not guilty yesterday in a Sacramento courtroom It appears that Mark Anderson is using a public defender rather than a private defense attorney. Hmmm? He has until April 6 to post a $500,000 bond. This whole episode still makes me sick. But on another point, a semantic one, I found it interesting how the Associated Press story on Anderson…
Mar 27, 2007
Mike Dunne of the Sacramento Bee has written a wonderful article on the Authentication Controversy swirling about the world of rare wine. The controversy came to the surface when a gentleman who paid $500,000 for wine thought to once to have been in the collection of Thomas Jefferson claims the wines are fake. He filed a lawsuit in Federal Court in New York claiming fraud. It’s a pretty fascinating and complex story which can be found at Bloomberg HERE, while…
Mar 23, 2007
Honesty. It’s perhaps the most important virtue any person can possess. I’ve argued for some time that while American Viticultural Areas can have meaning related to the character of the wine inside them, their primary value is as a marketing tool. The Paso Robles wine folk have seen fit to be quite honest about this assessment in looking to pass a new labeling law. American Viticultural Areas are lines on a map that are approved in Washington,D.C. The area inside…
Mar 20, 2007
It’s a big year for Tyler Colman of the Dr. Vino Wine Blog. First he takes home Best Overall Wine Blog and Best Writing on a Wine Blog at the American Wine Blog Awards and now he finds his blog nominated in the "Best Website Focusing on Food, Beverage, Restaurant or Nutrition" at the prestigious James Beard Awards." (PDF) A couple other nominations really pleased me. Wine & Spirits Magazine once again had one of its authors nominated. This time…
Mar 20, 2007
I’m not sure how much satisfaction will be gained by those who lost wine in the 2005 Vallejo warehouse fire that destroyed millions of dollars of old and new wine as a result of the news that a Sausalito, California man has been charged with arson in the case. Nonetheless, if Mark Anderson is guilty as charged and if he is forced to pay for his deeds that will be some measure of justice. It just won’t bring back wineries’…