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I need to preface today’s announcement by saying I have no idea why I was picked as judge for the 2011 Georges Duboeuf Wine Book of the Year Award.  The (most) ironic thing about my selection is that I’ve yet to publish a wine book.  So… I’m as surprised as you are about the whole thing.

Anyway, here it is: I’ve been asked to be one of the four judges for the 2011 Georges Duboeuf Wine Book of the Year Award.  And I accepted, because being a judge for this just seems f*cking cool, doesn’t it?  Also, it’s a paying gig (god bless ‘em!).

If you’ve written a wine book this year, you can forget about hounding me incessantly and promising me signed Hines Ward jerseys in exchange for my vote: for one, I am (alas) not taking bribes; for another, I think I’d prefer a Troy Polamalu jersey now that I think about it; but most importantly, the deadline to enter books for consideration already passed.  In fact, the submissions were culled down to a short-list of finalists before I ever saw any books.  I’m poring over the seven books that made the finalist cut right now, and it’s stiff competition – there are some fantastic releases in the not-insignificantly-sized-and-weightier-than-expected pile of books sent to me to judge.

Before you ask, I’m holding off listing any of the books here just yet, becasue the finalists will be announced and notified in May, and the winner (c’mon, say it Charlie-Sheen-style! WINNER!!!) will be announced in May and presented with their award at Duboeuf’s annual Beaujolais Crus preview in New York on May 24, 2011.

For a sense of how well the award represents the best of wine publishing in any given year, past winners of the award include some downright fantastic tomes (several of which have been featured on these virtual pages in some way/shape/form): Randall Grahm’s Been Doon So Long, What To Drink With What You Eat by Andrew Dornenburg & Karen Page, Karen MacNeil’s The Wine Bible, Oldman’s Guide to Outsmarting Wine, and both Wine For Dummies and Champagne For Dummies.  That’s a pretty impressive list.

I’m looking forward to torturing the poor souls who authored these books and constantly reminding them of the power I will wield over their work learning some new things about the wine world from the finalists, and then gnashing my teeth Old Testament style as I agonize over which one to pick for the award.  A full write-up of my conclusions on each of the books, including my personal faves among them and details on how I voted, will be covered in gory detail right here after the awards are finalized and a winner is picked.  Also, I now have extra copies of some of these books… which means those posts will also feature some giveaway action… Stay tuned…!

Cheers!