Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog

Will Dedicated Wine Lovers Support Quality?

The best source of independent, web-only wine writing will no longer be free beginning July 6th.

That's right, Appellation America recently and quietly announced it would be transitioning to a subscription format on that date. Though this move will significantly reduce its readership, it undoubtedly will have a much more active and dedicated readership and one that demonstrates real appreciation for outstanding content.

And yet the bottom line is that the work of Appellation America, including its features, tastings and database of wineries, will no longer be available to anyone and everyone.

The move by Appellation America introduces an important question: Will the most dedicated wine lovers and wine industry folks, those who have always devoured and craved and praised high quality wine reporting and prose, put their money where their mouth is?

The cost to subscribe to Appellation America, according to its announcement, will be $49.95 for an annual subscription—or, $4.16 per month.

But let's layout what we are talking about here. Appellation America is the most significant and serious vessel for wine journalism to emerge this decade. From its beginning it offered the somewhat unique argument that the wines of Texas, Missouri, New York and Michigan were equally important and deserving of attention as those of California. It made the positive case that "place" is more important to the consumer than brand, varietal or winemaker. And it backed all this up by going out and assembling one of the most impressive collections of wine writers ever placed under one masthead.

If there was ever an online wine publication that was worthy of $49.95 per year, I suspect it is this one.

Yet, I also suspect that 96% of those of you reading this won't break out your credit cards on July 6th.

Why?

Sure the economy is tough. But many people will happily walk into Starbucks and pay their $4.00 for a super duper coffee drink on a daily basis, even in the bad economy. The fact is, I think, that the availability of free content is more persuasive to people than is the quality of content. And this is so, I think, whether we are in a boom or bust economy. It's also an ugly truth.

I personally can't afford to not have access to the Appellation America content because my ability to do my job as a member of the wine industry and as a wine publicist and my need to continually educate myself and my need to have real intellectual stimulation depends on having access to great ideas and great coverage of my industry.

The State of Wine Blogging—5 Years In.

I count 2004 as the birth year of wine blogs. Given that only slightly arbitrary date, the wine industry finds itself with only five years under it's belt of dealing with this somewhat chaotic, but impactful form of communication. And on the eve of the second North American Wine Bloggers Conference I have some questions and thoughts about wine blogs.

1. HAS OR WILL THE WINE BLOG TAKE DOWN PRINT MEDIA AS THE PRIMARY FORM OF WINE INFORMATION FOR CONSUMERS AND THE INDUSTRY?
To this point the traditional wine media is not in jeopardy of being replaced by wine blogs as the go-to source of information. While there must be upwards of 800 wine blogs out there, the readers still tend to be early adopting, internet-savvy folks and industry members. More importantly, no single wine blog has emerged as a go-to, important voice in the world of wine for either consumers or the wine trade that is read in very large numbers. This must happen, in my opinion, before blogs can emerge as a dominant source of information. One voice must lead the way, attracting readers, who then give credence to the format, thereby creating confidence in the format and leading readers to others.

Why this important wine blogging voice hasn't emerged is likely a simple thing: The groundbreaking, informed, well-marketed voice is hard to find in the wine industry. As I look out across the wine blogosphere right now, I don't see any contenders for that position. This does not bode well for the advancement of the format.

2. WHERE ARE THE HARD FIGURES ON THE READERSHIP OF WINE BLOGS?
Many wine bloggers understand that there is potential for generating advertising revenue from their blogs. I believe too that blogs with ads give confidence to readers. However, to generate serious advertising revenue it is critical that readership figures for the various blogs are available. They are not currently available. This fact has slowed down the development of the format and the lack of figures will continue to slow down its development as a serious format.

3. DO WINE BLOGS CARRY ANY INFLUENCE?
Not yet. At least not much. How do I know this? For one, it's very difficult to find any shelf talkers that actually carry quotes from wine bloggers. This might be a case of laziness and a lack of creativity on the part of marketers who have not figured out how to use the various reviews of wines by wine bloggers. But, I think it is more likely that marketers simple don't believe there is enough weight carried by any particular wine blogger to justify replacing a review of 85 points or more by a mainstream publication or a food pairing suggestion on the shelf talker.

4. ARE ETHICS AN IMPORTANT ISSUE FOR THE WINE BLOGOSPHERE?
No. I've met a number of wine bloggers. Few if any are prone to make unethical choices. They certainly aren't any more prone to make journalistically unethical choices than traditional media. Yet, wine bloggers talk a lot about this issue. Why? It's because ethics are primarily something that professionals think deeply about. That tells us something about the aspirations of the wine blogging community.

5. SHOULD WINERIES AND WINE COMPANIES CARE ABOUT OR INTERACT WITH WINE BLOGGERS THE WAY THEY CARE ABOUT OR INTERACT WITH TRADITIONAL WINE MEDIA?
Not if they can't figure out a way to successfully use the work and words of wine bloggers as a third party endorsement for their brand, product or service that makes their brand, products or service more valuable and profitable.

The New Wine Review

A WINE REVIEW

65% 2006 Mayo Family Winery Estate Bottled "Reserve Chardonnay—Sonoma Valley
35% 2006 Chateau Souverain Chardonnay—Alexander Valley

This blend of two Sonoma County Chardonnays combines to produce a striking, clear and brilliant deep straw color in the glass. The blend's aromas are dominated by stone fruit, including white peach and apricot, followed by distinct butterscotch and vanilla notes derived from oak aging. There is a rich, full bodied attack on the palate that leads into slight hints of citrus, but dominated again by peach and apricot flavors. The palate also detects attractive hints of sage. The finish is medium long. Though I'd like to see a bit more acid dance on the tongue, this blend works well and would be a lovely accompaniment to a goat cheese laced spinach salad with candied pecans. By bringing the Mayo Chard down to 60% and replacing the 5% with the winery's 2006 Ricci Vineyard Zinfandel (Russian River Valley), the new, slightly heftier blend would work well with grilled prawns with red pepper flakes. (blended and tasted June 22, 200)

Just how much control of brands will wine drinkers take over as the means to reach out to consumers (followers and friends) via social media expands? At what point to brand owners throw up their hands and hope this (see above) doesn't happen?

From a moral, ethical and practical standpoint there is absolutely nothing wrong with this kind of review. Yes, these products were produced with the idea that they would be consumed individually. But there is no requirement they be consumed that way and if you think about it, we alter the taste of wine when we pair it with different foods, when we age it and when we serve it at different temperatures. In each case we've individualized and taken control of the wine's character—to a degree. And of course, what real wine lover has never taken it upon themselves to make a little table blend with the remaining bits of wines on the table?

Of course what we have here is a legitimate mashup. It's the same sort that we see produced in the area of recorded music, web applications where data from different sources is combined, and video where a final product is created from various video sources. These mashups are very common now and almost always produced by aficionados of a medium who are not professionals. When completed it amounts to the creation of something entirely new built on scavenged materials.

The mashup, and this review of a blend of more than one wine, might drive home the point that once a product or idea is introduced into a world where it can be manipulated and observed and critiqued by millions and within seconds, a great deal of control of its meaning is lost. Who knows what will happen to it? Who knows what will be said about it. Who knows what will be made of it.

If you are the brand or product owner, you have very little to say on the matter until you are forced to react to the consequences of diminished brand and product control. But, we do have that "very little" that can be said. And that very little can be pretty powerful if it is said to the right people and through the right venues. And it is here, in this "very little" electronic passageway that a brand owner's most important interaction with social media tools is also most powerful.

The U.S. Open of Wine?

This week the U.S. Open, America's most important golf tournament, will have the attention of sports writers, Tiger-watchers and golf lovers the world over. It's a big tournament and it always has been. Despite the existence of the Fed Ex cup, which is suppose to produce something like the final results for best golfer of the year, I think it's safe to say that winning the U.S. Open produces the greatest prestige for a golfer. Folks will be glued to their TV this weekend watching the U.S. Open.

So, where is the competition that would produce America's #1 wine?

There are many wine competitions across the country that judge single varieties, wines of a particular region, that associate themselves with state fairs, and those that have specific sorts of wine people doing the judging. But in my 20 years of working in the wine industry, there has never been any wine competition anywhere that was acknowledged as the most prestigious.

In a way, I think this circumstance is odd. Given that a competitive tasting between French and American wines back in the 1970s put American wine on the map, you'd think this alone would have provided the impetus to create something like a national competition that would be like the U.S. Open, America's most prestigious judging. But it didn't. It helped lead to a proliferation of competitions, none of which became the most important.

Wine Competitions are somewhat controversial within the industry. There are many philosophies as to how they ought to be run and what their results mean. For one, many of the most famous artisan wineries don't submit their wines for judging for the simple reason that they have nothing to gain and everything to lose be permitting the possibility that other much less expensive and lesser appreciated wines will wind up besting them. If I make a Syrah that consistently sells  out on release and I get $60 for it, why would I even consider putting it in a competition where a $30 Syrah might best it?

There is also the inherent difficulty for the judges. Judging 200+ chardonnays in a sitting is a very difficult thing to do. At some point, many judges simply start reacting to the most expansive, biggest, palate smacking wines that come in front of them. Is that positive?

Still, I think that  if it could be created, a national championship of wine would be a fun thing. I'm not sure it would be a good thing for the American wine consumer or the American wine industry, but it would be exciting if it could be organized and appreciated as a sort of national championship.

On the other hand, it wouldn't make for great TV.

An Open Letter to Robert Parker, Jr.

Recently at the eRobertparker forum, Mr. Parker himself suggested that he could have no impact in changing laws concerning consumer access to wine. He wrote: "I would have a better chance of raising the dead from their graves than changing a totally corrupt system where the beer and liquor distributors have their respective politicians right where they want them...in their pockets....and then factor in 50 separate states....yeah....totally disgusting and about as anti-wine consumer as it gets....but let's not ignore history....those with the deepest pockets buy the legislation that protects their interests....always has worked like that...and always will."

I respectively disagree.
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Dear Mr. Parker:

Even wine drinkers need heroes.

You, above all, should know this as you are perhaps the greatest hero to wine drinkers for your constant advocacy on their behalf. And for your efforts you have rightfully gained fame and recognition along with the respect and power that comes with dedication to an idea.

But for all the work and effort you've put in to being the eyes, ears and palate of the American wine drinker, let me respectfully suggest that your work is not done.

Even after the narrow victory in 2005 at the Supreme Court in the Granholm v. Heald ruling, many wine drinkers are stymied by onerous conditions placed on their ability to obtain wine. They are limited in the amount of wine they can obtain by direct shipment. Some states place highly restrictive conditions on wineries who want to ship wine to adult wine lovers, making it more profitable to simply not do so. Most states still make it illegal for wine lovers to have wine shipped to them from out-of-state wine retailers, meaning that the vast majority of Austrian, Australian, French, Italian, New Zealand, German and Spanish wines that show up in the pages of the Wine Advocate are impossible to obtain since these wines are not distributed in the states where the wine lovers live and they may not seek them from outside their borders.

The effort to free wine lovers and the wine industry from the grip of ancient and archaic laws that empower and protect only the shrinking wholesaler tier of the industry continues. Free the Grapes remains to fight on behalf of wineries. The California Wine Institute deploys talented lobbyists across the country. Specialty Wine Retailers Association looks to change the landscape for retailer-to-consumer shipping.

But where is the true voice of wine consumers? This is where you come it. This is where you must come in.

In some states, wine lovers have organized. In Michigan "Wine Consumers Across Michigan" fought wholesalers. In Illinois the "Illinois Wine Consumer Coalition" has formed. In your home state of Maryland "Marylanders for Better Beer & Wine Laws" fought the good fight in opening up the state for fair access to wine—and lost.  But these are shoestring organizations that fight for funding and attention. They and wine consumers in every state need a powerful, respected, educated and respected voice to speak on their behalf.

You should be that voice. You, with the recognition, respect and reputation for consumer advocacy that you have earned can do wonders to shine the light on the corrupt system that leaves free trade in wine wanting, punishes consumers for the sake of politicians retaining campaign contributions, and leaves a small shrinking clique of oligarchs controlling which of the now hundreds of thousands of wines Americans may taste and buy.

The power of your voice is needed in the halls of government where positive wine legislation often fails for want of exposure and gravitas among the laws' supporters. Your pen is needed in the editorial pages of the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek and Time. Your presence is needed on the sets of "Good Morning America", CNN, FoxNews and the "Daily Show With Jon Stewart". In all these places your voice and your advocacy on behalf of wine lovers is needed to finally draw widespread attention to a corrupt system and frustrated wine lovers and consumers that have been controlled and conspired against.

You, Mr. Parker, can and should be the hero to wine lovers that steps up and changes the debate, that alters the debate, that gives impetus to a new chapter in the slow moving story of wine drinkers rights and the false system that governs those rights.

The vast majority of the wine industry will get behind your effort. More importantly, your effort to raise this issue will inspire wine drinkers across the country to follow your lead, speak out more loudly and work for change. They will follow your lead and commit coin to the effort. They will follow you to rallies and write letters at your urging. It is true that small groups of dedicated people can move mountains. This is how it has always worked and how it will always will work.

It's time for a hero to step up, Mr. Parker. And you are the right person for the job.

Sincerely,

Tom Wark

Notes From the Fermentation Bookmarks File

TIDBITS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE


IT'S ABOUT TIME, TISH
 To me it seems a long time coming since his penchant for wit, excellent writing, his wine journalism background and is general deep knowledge of the wine industry makes him an excellent candidate for blogger status. Long time coming or not, it is very welcome news that W.R. Tish has finally launched a blog: THE WINE SKEWER: Bite Sized Comedy and Commentary from a Recovering Wine Critic.

Known to his mother as William R. Tisherman, Tish is a former editor of Wine Enthusiast Magazine who lives on the East Coast. For many years he has been in great demand as a wine educator and writer. He has also been long time observer of the wine scene, the emerging wine blogging community and a vocal critic of the 100 Point Scale, among other things.

The Wine Skewer is already a great read. I recommend it highly.

JUDD'S ENORMOUS WINE SHOW
Judd's Enormous Wine Show is, I think, the only comedic wine show on the Internet, assuming that you view Gary Vaynerchuk's Wine Library TV is a serious wine show (I personally do). Judd's Enormous Wine Show is the work of Judd Finkelstein and Rudy McClain of Judd's Hill Winery in Napa Valley. This is self and industry mocking stuff that puts the winery at odds (shall we say) with the general tone that emanates from Napa Valley's wine industry. It will take more than excellent production standards, toddlers being consulted on new wine packaging and the deep humor of Judd & Co. to turn around Napa's elitist image. But I'm looking forward to eating up more of Judd's Enormous Wine Show.

THANK GOD FOR SMART PEOPLE
The American Association of Wine Economists is a unique organization. When It formed a few years back I was excited because it suggested we'd see some in depth analysis of significant issues. And we have seen such things. But the utility of this group of number crunchers was truly driven home when I received an email announcing their current set of working papers. Along side a paper titled, "When Does Price Affect Taste? Results From A Wine Experiment," there was this engaging title: "Can People Distinguish Pate From Dog Food?"

For as long as I can recall, this issue has burdened the American wine industry as well as the canine culinary industry and we've been waiting for a set of smart people to determine whether or not the production of Pate is even necessary given the proliferation of different styles and flavors of dog food on our grocery store shelves. Finally, smart people have weighed in. The conclusion? "In a double-blind test, subjects were presented with five unlabeled blended meat products, one of which was the prepared dog food. After ranking the samples on the basis of taste, subjects were challenged to identify which of the five was dog food. Although 72% of subjects ranked the dog food as the worst of the five samples in terms of taste (Newell and MacFarlane multiple comparison, P<0.05), subjects were not better than random at correctly identifying the dog food."

This is great news. However, we still need good study that detail whether or not Dogs can tell the difference between Pate and Dog Food. I'm sure the Economists over at the AAWE are on the case.

20 Things Every Wine Lover Should Do

20 Things Every Wine Lover Should Do

1. Get Friendly with a Great Wine Merchant
Not any merchant. A great wine merchant. One who has experience matching wine to palate and one who can recommend wines they personally don't like. Cultivate this friendship. Get to know them on a first name basis. Give them your cell number. Trust them. Most important, get friendly with a great win merchant who is unlikely to skip town for a better gig. You're looking for a life long confident and friend.

2. Walk Through a Truly Great Vineyard
Not a Will-Be-Great vineyard, not a pretty vineyard and not a trendy vineyard, but rather walk though an historic and demonstrably great vineyard. Stroll the rows and maybe make off with some wood, but most important get yourself dirty with greatness.

3. Learn How to Give a Good Toast
If you are a wine lover, you will certainly find yourself around a table with others and be given the opportunity to say something of merit or consequence or something to mark the occasion with wine in hand. Not knowing how to give a toast is an opportunity lost that you should regret if the occasion finds you unprepared.

4. Own a Pair of Spectacular Wine Glasses
These are the glasses you keep clean and set aside when you want to mark an occasion with a good friend over wine. They don't need to be the best glasses in the world but they should be special and their appearance in your hands should at least communicate to your guest that the occasion is special, that your friend is special or that you and your friend are about to drink a special wine.

5. Attend a Commercial Wine Auction in Person
Not on-line. Not a charity auction. And certainly not a silent auction. Every wine lover should find themselves in the sales room on an auction house, near the side or inside aisle with paddle in hand if only to see what the contained and channeled desire for wine looks like of people's faces.

6. Be the Highest Bidder at a Commercial Wine Auction
This is different than number five. It's the next step. It's the act of embracing and channeling your wine desires and combining it with your competitive and acquisitional streak. Hear the hammer go down and the auctioneer calling your number will be a rush the first time. But it's also addictive. So be careful.

7. Organize Your Wine Collection
If you can't go right to the wine you want to drink or pour for friends, then you haven't been indulging your inner wine lover nearly enough. Spend time with your wines. Put them in an order. Know that order. Be able to reach straight for the 2000 Cabs or the d'Yquem you've been saving. Wine lovers don't pull bottles, push them back, over and over, searching for that one bottle. They know where it is, immediately.

8. Do Blind Tastings and Test Yourself
Tasting wines blind and testing your ability to identify wines is humbling. If you are like most wine lovers, you won't do well at it. But, it's OK to be humbled because it sets a baseline and if you regularly test yourself you will get better and distinguishing a Syrah from a Merlot or a Viognier from a Sauvignon Blanc while tasting blind.

9. Send it Back
Don't drink it. Just because you ordered it doesn't mean you have to drink it if it's spoiled or off. Send it back. Tell the waiter why you are sending it back. Tell them what you detect in the wine that is off. But send it back. And if the waiter wants to argue with you, don't engage them. Let them say their piece then request they either open a new bottle for you. And that's that.

10. Visit Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne and Alsace
The French can be annoying as hell. But they live in the homeland of wine. Every wine lover should make the pilgrimage. They should visit the vineyards. Drink the wines where they are made. Taste at the Chateau or in the garage. And do so across the country. Champagne to Alsace to Burgundy to Bordeaux (maybe with a stop in the Southern Rhone) seem to me to be the right circuit.

11. Study
I'm not talking about drinking. I'm talking about studying your passion. For heaven's sake learn how to pronounce the names of different producers, regions and varieties. Know the layout of regions. Know which varieties can be grown in different regions. Delve into some history. At the very least do this because eventually, as the group's well known wine lover, you are going to be called on to explain something. Explain it well and accurately.

12. Keep Sparkling and White Wine Chilled—Always
No true wine lover can go to their refrigerator and not find a bottle of Sparkling Wine or white wine chilled and ready to go. There should be no waiting. And if you are a wine lover the sparkling or white will rotate fairly regularly because wine lovers don't just drink red and they don't just drink Sparkling wine on "occasions".

13. Be Ready To Open a Bottle—Always
This means keeping a basic corkscrew not just in your house, but in your car, in your traveling toiletry bag and even a little cheap corkscrew in the pocket of your suits.

14. Learn To Ignore the Wine When Appropriate
Be a Wine Lover, not a Wine Geek. Don't be the person that has to extol the virtues or point to the flaws in a wine or talk and talk and talk about wine when in the company of folks who aren't quite as dedicated to wine as you. It's impossible to do these things and not come off looking like a pompous ass who doesn't care about the comfort level of others.

15. Make an Investment
It doesn't need to be a big one, but it should be an investment in a few bottles you can be pretty sure will increase in value over time. The reason is not to augment your financial portfolio but simply to have a wine or two or five that will help you mark and quantify the meaning of time as it relates to your passion. Plus, it's just fun to watch something you can hold, and even consume, increase in value over time.

16. Drink The Classics
It's not use being a lover of anything without experiencing the classics or benchmarks. For wine lovers that means seeking out and tasting the Bordeaux First Growths, the true California Cult Cabs, d'Yquem, DRC, etc. Real art lovers need to know what all the fuss is over the Monet or Pollock. Music lovers need to experience a live performance of "Mass in B Minor" or "Symphony #5". Wine lovers need to know the truth of the classic wines.

17. Make Love in a Vineyard
It's dirty, but wine lovers got to do it. In fact, choose the right vineyard. This might be the one you occasion upon while driving late at night. It might be the vineyard that produces your favorite wine. I recommend a starry night with a half moon and a partner who is willing to indulge the quirks that come with being a wine lover.

18. Find a Wine Critic You Can Trust
Read around. Find the wine critic that reviews many wines and who recommends wines you enjoy. You can't taste everything and having that one go-to critic who has the palate to match yours is an indispensable tool that wine lovers must possess.

19. Learn to Make the Classic Champagne Cocktails
Wine lovers know that wine is also an ingredient, particularly when it comes to cocktails. Learn to make the Kir Royal, the Bellini, the Mimosa, the Death in the Afternoon. And learn to do it with good Sparkling Wine. Like any recipe, the sparkling wine-based cocktail is only as good as the quality of its ingredients. That means learning how to get the best out of a fresh, white peach and a bottle of Champagne.

20. Find Friends with whom You Can Release Your Inner Wine Geek
Real wine lovers do it together. Finding that set of friends who speak your language, who encourage dipping the tip of your nose in a glass, who can tell tall wine tales, who will argue with you over the amount of residual sugar in a wine, who will mock you for paying so much for a certain wine and who will share happily in your wine lovership are indispensable.

Wet Paint & Wine

It's important for me to note that I endorse THIS in no way. THIS only minimizes the serious nature of wine and wine drinking. In fact, THIS purports to be humor, but in reality THIS is just another blow to the industry when the industry needs nothing like THIS.

Is THIS really what people want to read?

Only a few years ago THIS sort of thing would never fly. THIS would have been condemned. THIS really is harmful to a serious pasttime.

Again, I don't recommend you read THIS.

It's THIS I'm talking about.

The Bitch in the Black Dress

You can usually see her coming a mile away, leaving a wake of gawkers behind her. All gussied up in that sleekly cut black dress. Strutting and strolling like she knows her name and embraces it with delight.

She's the one that knocks you off your feet; stops you in your tracks with her dimensions, attitude, grace and come-hither look that seems to be tattooed across her brow and body.

There are certain wines that embody the nature of The Bitch in Black, a very specific wine description that was passed on to me some time ago by a friend who used it when the wine that just passed his lips was so compelling, so head and shoulders above the rest, so seemingly untouchable by nearby bottles and such that it forced him follow the bottled where ever it was carried. He would stand with glass in hand and announce, "Damn, this is The Bitch in Black," then roll his eyes back in to his head and find any way to get his glass full. Then he'd go on to explain the analogy to anyone who would listen as he pursued more of the wine.

A little crass, yes. A little demeaning to women in black, yes. But, since I heard the term and its explanation, it has ceased to reference the opposite sex, in any form of dress, for me.

Well, the Bitch in the Black dress returned late yesterday afternoon when I opened a bottle of 2006 Santa Barbara Syrah. This wine strutted its way past any CA Syrah I think I have ever tasted. I can't name the name of the producer only because I don't review wines here for a number of good reasons. That said, this is the first time in a very long time that the girl returned to my world in all her glory.

Funny thing is, the way my friend originally described the Bitch in the Black Dress really doesn't make me want to spend time with her. I really just want to watch her. I want to watch her effect on people, for entertainments sake. But this wine....This 2006 Santa Barbara Syrah, I want to spend time with. LOTS of time.

So, I need a new term don't I! I need a term that describes that woman that knocks me back on my heels, stuns me, and makes me want to spend as much time with her as possible. This girl is creamy like wet velvet when you rub up against her. She a complex soul that has the kind of depth that doesn't seem to have a floor. She's accessible, but you know the she's gonna get a lot better if you just pay a little attention to her and spend time with let her and let her develop and cultivate herself on her own terms. This is danger in its best form.

I need to find a new term. I need to find more of this wine and I need to spend more time with this girl.

46 On the Occasion of my 46th

In honor of the 46th anniversary of my birth, I present 46 things I want:

1. A time machine
2. A full vertical collection of all Stony Hill Chardonnays
3. A wine cellar with a couch in it
4. A doubling in Fermentation's readership
5. A national policy on wine direct shipment laws
6. A fig tree
7. A 1963 Warres port
8. A marching band playing happy birthday using wine glasses and spoons.
9. A new collection of heavy bottomed tumbler glasses
10. One week in Burgundy
11. One week in Mexico
12. Massive coverage of the winners of the American Wine Blog Awards
13. To Try a 100 year old Cognac
14. A seat with my name on it at the Campbell Apartment
15. Bliss
16. To see a regular wine column in the New Yorker
17. 10 acres and a long winding road.
18. A champagne dinner for two, in July, at night, in the middle of a vineyard
19. A new hound puppy.
20. A new hound puppy that can be trained to mix drinks.
21. To host a dinner party with Alice Feiring, Robert Parker, Randall Grahm, Steive Heimoff and Dan Berger
22. Making a living by just blogging (a good living)
23. A two hour televised debate on the utility of the 3-tier system
24. A gift of the URL: fermentation.com
25. The same linens they use at the Waldorf
26. A box of Butera Lonsdales
27. A couple cases of Roederer Estate
28. A huge turnout for the next Wine Bloggers Conference
29. Dinner with Gore Vidal—before it's too late.
30. An office with 4 TV screens built into the wall
31. My own wine brand to market and sell—"Fermentati"
32. The elimination of all ants within 1 mile of my home
33. A meal cooked for me by Michele Anna Jordan, Nancy Oakes and Elizabeth Falkner
34. A small, compact, antique bar that opens to reveal countless bourbons for my home
35. A regular byline in a print publication
36. A way to peruse 200 more blogs than I already do each day, but in the same amount of time
37. X-Ray Vision (to inspect older wines—get your minds out of the gutter‚
38. To attend the Wine Writers Symposium in 2010
39. To find my tickets to the April McCoy Tyner concert.
40. A massage
41. Enough Dry Rose to fill a tub
42. A cocktail named after me
43. Self Distribution in every state in the country
44. To sit in a barber chair and have my face shaved by a pro
45. My own tuxedo (42-short)
46. 46 more years.