BIG NEWS, folks!
As some of you have seen already, we’ve officially announced that I am on the editorial staff at Cristaldi & Co., joining my longtime bruthah-from-anothah-muthah Jonathan Cristaldi as a contributor and wine reviewer on his new genre-disrupting platform.
I am very excited to officially pair up with JC, with whom I have been working behind the scenes on various wine marketing and media projects for the better part of a decade.
At Cristaldi & Co., I’ll be contributing regular reviews and tasting notes spotlighting both under-the-radar gems and established favorites; authoring cross-regional features covering diverse wines—from every corner of the wine-growing globe (wait, globes do not have corners… ok, whatever); and hopefully doing it all with engaging content that mixes educational insight with entertaining delivery.
What does this mean for 1WineDude.com?
No More Minis
Well, for starters, it is the death knell for the Mini-Reviews here on 1WD. These began on Twitter 10 billion years ago when it was actually cool, then got rounded up here, then became a way for me to include wine samples that for whatever reasons could not be used in feature articles. They had a great run, but after almost two decades it’s time to put them out to pasture. Those wines that are not part of 1WD featured articles will now be reviewed on Cristaldi & Co. exclusively.
Wine samples sent to me are fair game for C&Co
For you wine industry and PR types: this means that any wines that you submit (or have already submitted) to me as samples may end up being reviewed in features here on 1WD, or as part of my contributions to Cristaldi & Co. (or in some cases, both). If for some bizarre reason that scenario bothers you, contact me and we can work something out to try to make you happy. A side note: I will not be reviewing any Napa Valley wines for Cristaldi & Co. (those reviews will still appear here on 1WD).
DISCOUNT CODE!
To see Cristaldi & Co. reviews, you will need to pony up for a paid subscription. I’ve got you covered, though: use THEDUDEREVIEWS20 at checkout and get 20% off the normal price for whichever subscription tier you choose!
bUt C&Co uSeS pOiNt sCoReS yOu aRe sUcH a sElL oUt!!!
Folks, it is what it is—sometimes, when you take a job, there are aspects of that job that you do not love, but you recognize why they need to be done. In this case, that means me doing something (using the 100 point scale to rate wines) that I personally find distasteful. Having said that, utilizing points is not something technically “new” to me; for years, I have had to utilize them during dozens of wine competitions across the globe. In those scenarios, they were part of the job. This scenario is no different. As always, point scores will NOT be used here for any wines that I review on 1WD.
Thanks again to all of you for being an integral part of this wild journey with me!!
Cheers – and Happy New Year!