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.

Corrupting the Wine Market With Spin

One of the greatest joys of working in wine public relations has been the remarkably collegial, helpful and generally encouraging attitude of my peers. In the 20 some odd years I've worked in this area of the wine industry I can't recall a single instance in which I was disappointed with my personal interaction with other wine PR folks. And I can't count the number of times other PR people have helped me in significant ways.

Still, there is something of a negative connotation associated with the idea of being a Public Relations Professional, PR Guy, Flack, Hired Gun. Honestly, I really don't care. You can call me and my peers anything you want, but we'll keep smiling and doing our work of corrupting the market with spin.

It's those smiles I'm looking forward to seeing tonight as the newly reformed Academy of Wine Communicators gather for an event at the CIA at Greystone in Napa Valley. If you work in Wine PR in any capacity, I suggest you attend. At the very least you'll discover that you really do have a network of peers who take their work seriously and are likely to help you do a better job at your own.

The AWC first formed I'm guessing about a decade or so ago. But it didn't get very far if I recall. The new incarnation is being driven by Michael Wangbickler of Balzac Communications, one the oldest and most respected Wine PR firms in America. Michael appears to me to be enthusiastic in all things he does. I suspect that character trait will be on view as he guides the AWC down the road.

The American wine publicist needs all the help we can get. This is not an easy job if your client or employer is a winery. Consider that there are more than 5,000 wineries in the United States alone. They all do the same thing: They ferment fruit juice, put it in a bottle, try to put an attractive label on it and try to sell it to consumers or retailers or restaurants. Trying to use smart public relations techniques to set your client's wines or employer's wines apart is not easy.

Interestingly, you'd think that under such competitive circumstances you'd see PR flacks like me and my peers use some pretty gimmicky techniques. But you don't. Occasionally you see a funeral for corks or something like this. But it's generally straight ahead, traditional PR using the new and old tools of the trade and forming relationships with writers to whom we try to pitch compelling story ideas.

It's not surprising, I hope, that frustration can often results from the attempt to be fresh and unique and different and compelling in your PR campaigns and techniques. This is why I think the Academy of Wine Communicators is a good idea. Having a vibrant and active resource of peers to gather with and bounce ideas off of and to learn from seems to be a critical aspect of one's professional development.

Again, if you work in or around wine PR, I suggest you look into the Academy of Wine Communicators.

Wine PR? What Exactly Do You Do?

For nearly 20 years, when I tell people "I work in wine PR", I often get the same response: "So what exactly do you do?"

Sometimes this questions sets me back on my heels because from day-to-day my responsibilities to my clients change, the things I'm asked to do change, and I'm not always sure, on any given day, exactly what I'll be doing. In other words, while there are some vague boundaries to the realm of "PR", it's not always so well defined.

For this reason, I thought I'd point readers to at least one view of what Wine PR is all about. In this case it's a job description for a "Director of Public Relations" now open with Constellation Wines U.S. The job listing is over at winejobs.com and is a pretty thorough, top-down explanation of what is expected from a PR pro working for a large firm. What's interesting about the job description (which does not list salary possibilities) is that if you scan it with a small winery's needs in mind it actually translates. That is, what Constellation expects of the person filling their Director of PR position is what would generally be expected of the person doing PR for a small or medium sized winery.

Now, while I have worked with large wine organizations over the years, it has not been my preferred sort of client. Things tend to move a bit more slowly than with small and medium-sized wineries and the layers of bureaucracy tend to be more imposing. Still, this kind of position doesn't open up that often. We are looking at one of the most influential, powerful and vibrant wine companies in the world seeking out a PR pro for the position that sits just below their VP of Public Relations.I would suspect they will receive MANY resumes.

One thing very interesting about the Constellation job posting is that there is no mention of Social Media. Among the Constellation-owned brands is Robert Mondavi Winery. They have a Facebook page. It possesses 2 fans. Perhaps the area of Social Media is part of the job postings note that candidates responsibilities would include: "Execute focused public relations and communications plans, ideas and programs that support the strategic messages of each estate for multiple wine brands."

Either way, for those of you who have asked, "What do you do", this job posting is a good start toward an answer.

On Reporters & Sources

In case anyone is wondering, THIS IS HOW IT'S DONE.

The topic of journalists and reporters issuing corrections isn't often discussed. Generally, these kinds of discussions take place via email or on page 20. So, it was with great pleasure that I saw one of America's best wine reporters come out with a straight up correction and make it nice and visible too. In This Story, Lew Perdue of Wine Industry Insight made his correction regarding a story he posted on New Vine Logistics front and center. But he also delivered some interesting commentary to boot. I want to quote it:

We regret these errors and incompleteness.

Reporting is an error-fraught process made unusually difficult by deadlines and people who would rather not volunteer information. But as I learned as a much younger reporter covering Washington D.C. and Richard Nixon’s legacy, stonewalling is never an excuse for failing to dig.

The best a reporter can do in this environment is dig, press sources and corroborate and confirm. We’re always aware that sources can be misinformed, can deliberately mislead, or have just a part of a story, even those who corroborate what others say.

And we are always grateful to those in the know who come forth with information, or can tell us where we’re wrong or going astray.

Good reporting is a partnership between the reporter and those with information.

We say “thank you” to all our partners and accept all mistakes as our own.

Besides letting us know he is conscientious, Lew reminds us that even in the more gentile business of wine, there is an inherent, but usually friendly, adversarial position drawn between the reporter and those people and companies they report on. But the real take away line in Lew's commentary is this: "Good Reporting is a partnership between the reporter and those with information."

He's right.

But it leads me also to think again about how the person with information should approach inquiries by a reporter. There is a fundamental bottom line when it comes to interacting with a real reporter looking to report real news: "Do I or my client benefit from the information I know and that the reporter wants becoming public?"

That's the first question anyone interacting with a reporter must ask first. And there are really only three answers: Yes, No, and It Doesn't Matter. If the answer is "yes" or "it doesn't matter" then I believe you should give the reporter what they want. "It Doesn't Matter" is rarely the answer to the question, however. And even if the strict answer is "YES, I or my company do benefit," one must then answer the corollary: "What will be the impact on friends and colleagues of providing this information?" The answer to this question is NEVER "It doesn't matter" for the simple reason that the greatest equity any person has is their friendships and colleagues. Although providing the information to a reporter might benefit me or my company or client, it might put friends and colleagues in awkward or disadvantaged positions.

Answering the original question is more complicated than it seems. And this is why Lew and other good reporters are "always grateful to those in the know who come forth with information."

The best thing any person, be they a PR representative or a principle in a company, can do is make a point of developing honest and forthright relationships with the media so that when they are in a situation where they can help the reporter, they can look them in the face and tell them "I won't comment right now" and know that the reporter understands their position and respects it.

The Precious Nature of Socializing

Has anyone noticed that the solemnity of an important gathering of friends is not marked by the rubbing together of soap then a licking of those soaps?

Has anyone noticed that no religion uses wet towels to represent salvation and the diminution of sin?

Has anyone noticed that no community gathers strength and identity through the embrace of radishes grown in its vicinity?

Has anyone noticed that men don't pursue women through the act of watering and dining them?

Isn't it true that wine, far more than anything else, is used to express the precious nature of community and socializing? Why is this true? Why don't radishes or wet towels or bars of soap serve this purpose? I haven't an answer to this question, but rather I have had the opportunity to reflect on the fact that wine is dynamically ingrained into the human experience of socializing.

I came to this line of thought as I pondered the potential impact of social networks and social networking tools on the human species. At first glance it seems that socializing is an ingrained part of the human species, even its most common expression. But, more true than this is the fact that periods of quiet loneliness are a far more common element of the human experience than is social interaction. Surely we all spend far more time interacting with ourselves than interacting with others. And it is certainly true that in the past, technology has provided no means at all for socializing on the large and grand scales that current technology allows.

Perhaps the rituals that have arisen around gatherings and communal activity and perhaps the symbols, such as wine, that have been employed to celebrate gatherings of more than one, have in fact been in response to the uniqueness, preciousness and rarity that is the movement out of self and into the many.

If this is true, what does the current rush to embrace a 24/7 mode of socializing via Facebook, Twitter and other tools mean for human culture and even human evolution?

What does the future hold for wine-as-symbol when the preciousness of gatherings that it celebrates is no longer so precious? Again, for this I have no answer, but I suspect the answer is just now brewing.

Wine Blog Readers and the Wine Media

Over the past month or so I've been thinking quite a bit about the "Wine Media". I put that term in quotes for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it occurs to me that the "Wine Media" is today something very different than it was 20 years ago when I first began to pay close attention to it.

Another person is paying attention to the "Wine Media" and is investigating a part of it. Tracy Rickman is a post graduate student who is trying to get inside the heads of those people who consume that part of the wine media that are called "Blogs".

Ms. Rickman is, in fact, surveying readers of wine blogs. She needs a good, large sample of wine blog readers in order to give significance to her study.

PLEASE TAKE HER SURVEY BY CLICKING HERE.

I think I understand why individuals consume wine-related media. I don't think the reasons are any different today than they were 20 years ago or any different than why people might take the time to consumer book or movie or food or technology-related information: They want to learn about something they have an interest in and reading this material strikes them as a better use of time than doing a number of other things, including reading other types of subject matter.

But to be candid, what really interests me is the disposition of those who participate as members of the wine media. I have a feeling that there is a significant difference between different kinds of members of that fraternity. I further think that a significant difference among the way they work and report will be understood by looking at demographic information about them such as age and gender.

But I can't be sure. That's why I've hatched plans to investigate this question.

In the mean time PLEASE TAKE THE SURVEY OF WINE BLOG READERS!

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.

Humor, Wine & The Internet

If anyone wants to know why I've always loved the Internet, all you have to do is look at these three quotes, all published in various places on the Internet yesterday. This medium is always  source of great humor and fascination for me.

“'The updated information paints a portrait of an effective system that operates in every corner of the country and contributes mightily to the American economy,'said WSWA President and CEO Craig Wolf."

The head of the Wine & Spirit Wholesalers Association on Wine & Spirits Daily refers to a study showing that alcohol wholesalers make an impact on the American economy and are everywhere. Kinda hard not to if your business model, outdated as it is, remains mandated by the states, regardless of its necessity. What next? An announcement by the National Association of Stop Sign Producers (AASSP) "that all across this great land stop sign makers create products that everyone continues to pay attention to"? The only thing the WSWA's Craig Wolf needs to do now is deliver up a new definition of "effective".

•

"This is not science. This is hippie, dippy, wacky commune back to the Earth zeitgeist. It reminds me of stoned university students wanting to go back to the 13th century and dance around the maypole during the full moon and then sacrifice an animal at midnight to please the gods."

Stu Smith of Smith-Madrone Winery commenting in a most colorful way at Peg Melnik's Blog at the Press Democrat on how he views Biodynamic Farming. I'll say this for Stu, who has made wonderful wines for years without dancing around a maypole—he sure has a way with words. I'm positive there is a tune around which we can wrap the lyrics "hippie-dippy-wacky" and make a fortune.

•

"looking at that Bloggers Conference, it does look like a big and free sloppy kiss and then some from the California wine industry...with much more than minimal hospitality offered...love to see some transparency from the bloggers(how many of them are paying for travel,car rental,hotels and meals?)...or should I say blobbers since they are the source of much of the misinformation,distortion,and egegious falsehoods spread with reckless abandon on the internet..."

Robert Parker Jr, commenting on the Wine Bloggers Conference and bloggers in general at the eRobert Parker bulletin board..I'll give Robert Parker this: He's got one of the greatest palates in the history of wine and has has about as much impact on the American wine culture of any human being in our history. However, it appears he also harbors an unctuous and massive conspiratorial streak.

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.

Erica Steiner And Critical Buzz

It's always interesting to follow those folks who you worked with in your past to see where they ended up and what they pursued. But it's a pleasure to see them go on to do wonderful things. The problem is that it's not always easy to track old colleagues and old friends. This, of course, is why Facebook is such a wonderful tool and why you so often see written on the Walls of  Facebook users something like, "I can't believe we reconnected here on Facebook", or something to that effect.

I recently reconnected, via Facebook, with a woman who worked for me at Wark Communications for a short time and was pleased to discover she has gone on to do remarkable things.

Erica Steiner is an artist. I don't know if she was always an artist, but I do know she was always an excellent writer, a person who wore her heart on her sleeve and someone capable of thinking both deeply and emotionally. I'm not so surprises she turned to artistic pursuits, but I am happy she did.

It turns out that Erica comes from a former Sonoma County wine family. So in that respect, it turns out she is actually doing much the same thing as her family did from the 1970s to the 1990s: Creating artistic objects that fill an emotional need in people. It turns out also that the marketing requirements that drove her family's wine business are very similar to the marketing requirements of an artist.

Fine wine, art, perfume, jewelry...these are the things we acquire to fill that higher need for self actualization and, hence, they are products quite different from houses, tomatoes, mattresses, gym memberships and automobiles, which fulfill more base need. And so they are marketed different too.

As Erica recently explained it to me recently in a Facebook chat session late one night, "the same kind of critical buzz necessary for a winery to get launched is necessary for artists too. The right review in the right publication or the right art patron purchasing your work will launch you to a new level."

It turns out that even when we see a piece of art or hear of a particular wine or put our nose close to an aroma strip at the perfume counter of Macy's and realize we like these things, that they speak to us and who we think we are and that they help us define ourselves, we still often need a third party endorsement in order to acquire them so that we can have them in our lives. Not quite so with Tomatoes and gym memberships.

Erica's works primarily in oils and gold leaf on canvas and it turns out her works touch me. If I dug down deep I suppose I could find the words to explain why they do. While some of my attraction to her art surely has to do with the fact that I know the artist, there really must  be more to it since I've known other "artists" who's works made me question why art ought to have such a broad definition to include what they produced. Suffice to say, Erica's works fall well into the center of the definition of art rather than wavering on the edge of the definition's outer reaches. It's downright beautiful and evocative and tethered to familiar themes, artistic genre and craft movements to which I am also attracted.

So, down the road I'll need to acquire an "Erica Steiner" or two to have close to me in my home, to brighten my sense of self, and to remind me of this lovely woman who I worked with for a short time and never stopped liking, even though it took Facebook to reconnect with her. But I also hope that, just as her family's wines were eventually lauded by all the important wine critics and launched into the pantheon of great American wines, she too will get that important critical push over the edge that helps those who need a third party endorsement to confirm their suspicions about her talent and gives them the impetus to bring an authentic "Erica Steiner" into their home and life.