Ah, San Francisco… sourdough, trolley cars, wine competitions…

If you’re so inclined, you can now browse the medal-winning results from the 2016 San Fransisco International Wine Competition in which I was fortunate enough to have taken part once again (for more details, see the 2014 and 2015 results write-ups).

Judging in that event has become one of my favorite weekends of the year, thanks in no small part to the competition’s excellent staff, its professional organization, the ever-increasing quality of its wine submissions, and (primarily) the caliber and dispositions of the other judges. The judges list (present company excluded) reads like a Who’s Who compendium of the people who totally rock the judging circuit in the wine biz.

Over the past few years, wine competitions in the U.S. have taken hits from their share of critical salvos. I’m happy to report that fire seems to have abated a bit. I suppose that, at this point, I could be considered a veteran of the American wine competition judging scene, and while I understand that competition circumstances are likely to encourage some inconsistency in results, I’m confident that the best competitions (in which SFIWC should undoubtedly be included) take great pains to maximize the professionalism involved, and give each wine the fairest shake possible.

Some of the SFIWC’s Usual Suspects…

As to the usefulness of such competitions, I’m like a broken record on that topic for the last few years: differentiation is important, and wine competition medals potentially differentiate you from the competition. Interestingly, I’m actually quoted on the same topic in the SFIWC 2016 results press release:

“Wine is an extremely competitive product, and being judged by industry tastemakers and receiving a top award here at the San Francisco Wine Competition can help a wine stand out amongst its peers,” says wine writer, blogger and competition judge Joe Roberts.

Which begs the question: did I really use the word “amongst?” I must have, because Jarvis Communications’s Sam Dependahl was using a voice recorded when he asked me for a quote about it. Dang it!…

Read the rest of this stuff »

There was so much that I didn’t want to like about Sonoma’s storied Williams Selyem.

• The too-cool-for-school exclusivity of their mailing list.
• The imposing fortress-like facade of their “barrel-evoking” tasting room and its “wall of bottles.”
• The fact that they used terms like “barrel-evoking.”
• That current owners John and Kathe Dyson were former mailing list members (how cute!).
• That the label typeface they use was so old that it had to be recreated from scratch when their printing went digital.
• The way that their wines get collectors all google-eyed, shooting prices up on the secondary market.
• The friggin’ goats.

The problem with trying to be a Williams Selyem hater, though, is that when it comes to their affable, knowledgeable staff, and their consistently excellent wines, there’s just not enough bad there to hate…

Read the rest of this stuff »

Duh? Who doesn’t?!??

I was recently a guest on the We Like Drinking podcast (episode 66), hosted by wine blogger Jeff Eckles and beer brewer Jim Myers. Which, in a few moments, will have me talking about expensive Cabernet, Michael Fassbender, and new American Viticultural Areas. Just maybe not in that order.

Anyway…

You can listen to the NSFW proceedings here, during which you will quickly learn why the podcast is so aptly-titled. I had a great time rapping with the guys and sharing opinions on wine, politics, the Synek Kickstarter campaign, and the shocking news that Cuba is apparently running out of beer.

As so often happens  on the occasions when people ask me questions, we went way over our allotted time, but I’m not going to say that it wasn’t entertaining!

I feel compelled to give at least a quick mention to very interesting (and very expensive) wine that I chose from the sample pool to drink during my podcast appearance, in the off-chance that you find yourself in a situation in which it’s being offered (the short take is that you probably won’t want to turn it down)…

Read the rest of this stuff »