1) It is the darkest of times for wine writing. The general decline in the consumption of real journalistic reporting has resulted in immensely talented people being out of regular wine-writing-work. The black cloud enveloping the wine writing sphere is actually the dark cloak of the grim reaper; that silver lining you see is his…
Category: wine industry events
Perspectives On The Vintage Perspective Tasting 2011 (or “My Skirmish With Napa Valley Pinot Noir”)
Into the valley of Napa Rode the six hundred (ok, maybe a few less than that) Pinot to right of them, Pinot to left of them, Pinot in front of them Volley’d & thunder’d; Storm’d at with shot and shell… – with sincere apologies to Alfred, Lord Tennyson In case the title of today’s article…
Is There A New Pecking Order For Cult Napa Cabs? (Records Are Busted At Premiere Napa Valley 2011)
Is there a new pecking order for cult Napa Cabs? Well, the case could certainly be made after this past Saturday’s Premiere Napa Valley: the part-auction, part-networking-event, part-total-insanity in which small, selected barrels/lots from some of Napa’s most celebrated wine producers are auctioned off to collectors, buyers and importers, as special, once-in-a-lifetime future bottlings. The…
What The 2011 Class of the Vintners Hall of Fame Tells Us About the California Wine Industry
As most regular 1WD readers know, I’m not much for classic reporting-style articles. In fact, to me the choice between writing a “such-and-such took place on Monday and so-and-so was honored with a whozy-whatsit for their work on the whatcha-ma-jigger” piece or a “let me tell you what I think about X…” piece – namely,…