Posts made by Joe Czerwinski:

Published December 10, 2012

Less than a month after a Wall Street Journal article reported that wine critic and former Wine Enthusiast Magazine columnist Robert M. Parker Jr. had decided against various offers for The Wine Advocate, his subscription-supported newsletter, it appears he has sold a “substantial interest” of the company after all.

Parker remains in place as one of the publication’s reviewers and, according to several reports, will be the company’s chairman. The new investor-owners are said to be from Singapore, where the newly announced editor in chief, Lisa Perrotti-Brown, MW, is based.

In the midst of all the WA changes, perhaps the reports having the biggest repercussions were that the newsletter would cease print publication—being made available to subscribers as a PDF—that it would accept advertising for nonwine products and that it would produce wine tasting events.

Those changes would mean that WA was no longer a newsletter, no longer supported only by subscribers and not beholden to any commercial wine interests. It would become a digital magazine, plain and simple. Sure, it wouldn’t accept wine advertising, but if it had commercial relationships with the wineries, importers or retailers that support its tasting events, it could no longer legitimately claim independence from the wine trade.

For decades, it was this veneer of independence that made WA different, which made it special and worth supporting for many readers, even through some hefty subscription-rate increases. It was this same independence that led readers to accept that the wines reviewed in its pages need not always be tasted blind.

If WA were on its way to becoming just another wine magazine—albeit the one with the world’s best-known wine critic behind it—it would be interesting to see how this affected its content. Relieved from the burden of ink and printing costs, would there be illustrated articles, or would the content continue to be heavily reliant on wine reviews? Would the wines be tasted blind, as they are by all of the world’s other major wine magazines?

But wait. It seems all of this speculation is much ado about nothing.

In a series of tweets this morning, Parker wrote that the print edition of WA will continue and that it “will never take on ads,” while at the same time leaving room for some luxury advertising on the Web site and online forums.

As someone whose nascent interest in wine was encouraged by Parker’s writing back in the late 1980s—it made a mouthwatering antidote to the staidness of the British writers of the time—I’m glad to hear that WA will be continuing without the major shake up that most media outlets have reported.

Yes, there are some changes, but they appear to be small and incremental—and largely positive. Providing a PDF option for subscribers is a useful option; having Perrotti-Brown as an editor should improve the quality of the content; and making the newsletter’s contributors regular employees will go a long way to avoiding any appearances of impropriety going forward.

If and when the publication does evolve further from its homegrown, Nader-esque roots, I hope that the new one will be a worthy successor.

That's me, digging into the Pinot Noir class. Senior Judge Cameron Douglas, MS, and Associate Judge Emma Jenkins, MW, are in the background.

For years, I’ve resisted commenting on wine shows. I’ve read some of the online bashing, about how medals are given away like candy on Halloween; about how some show judges don’t know much about wine; and about how, since shows typically charge an entry fee, the awards they bestow are essentially worthless. I’m sure there are more complaints, but that’s not the point.

The real reason I’ve not written at any length on wine shows is that I typically don’t get to participate in show judging. But last month, I was invited to be the America’s international judge at the Air New Zealand Wine Awards. Run by New Zealand Winegrowers–the country’s national wine body–it is New Zealand’s Super Bowl of wine shows.

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During summer’s hottest months, it’s tempting to stick to whites and rosés. Even the most insipid examples can be chilled to within a few degrees of freezing and provide simple icy refreshment.

But many reds are fated to be left slumbering in the cellar, waiting for cool temperatures to return, and rightfully so. The mere idea of trying to keep a bottle of 1982 Grand-Puy-Lacoste from getting too warm at a picnic or from having its sediment stirred up while bringing it to the beach is daunting. The thought of a big, beefy, alcoholic red at the end of a long day becomes unappealing when the mercury is over 80°F or so and the humidity is hanging thick in the air.

Still, there’s no need to let the hot, humid weather completely dampen your enthusiasm for red wines. For inveterate–or even just occasional–red-wine drinkers, here are a few suggestions that will allow you to scratch that itch while keeping your cool.

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The second (and last) full day of Hospice du Rhône led off with a seminar on Roussillon, moderated by writer Patrick Comiskey. His messianic introduction was followed by some terrific wines that were evidently new to many of the attendees–there was a healthy buzz in the room immediately afterwards, and it spilled all the way over into the beginning of lunch some 90 minutes later.

Interestingly, two of the wineries represented on the panel had roots in the nothern Rhône: Domaine Le Roc des Anges (Marjorie Gallet) and Domaine Madeloc (Pierre Gaillard and his daughter Elise). Also showing wines and describing their unique terroirs were Jean-Roger Clavet of Domaine Thunevin-Calvet and Hervé Bizeul of Domaine Clos des Fées.

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Seminar two's wines

Hospice du Rhône is dedicated to advancing the cause of wines made from the Rhône varieties, and this annual event, now in its 19th year, brings together hundreds of Rhône wine lovers at the Mid-State Fairgrounds in Paso Robles, California. The event kicked off Friday night, with the Rhône n Bowl tournament, but kicked into high gear today, with two seminars, a rosé-themed lunch, four hours of afternoon tasting and an evening soirée filled with big bottles.

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Recently, I received a voice mail from an irate importer, in which he said he was “fairly disappointed” with the reviews his wines had received from me. It seems the same wines have been well reviewed in their home market, and my ratings were “out of whack with what [Critic X] has given them.” Furthermore, he demanded that we not publish the reviews. Oh, and I should call him back immediately.

So I did some homework–I looked up what I had rated the wines, and checked out what another major U.S. wine publication had written–and called him back.

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Researching my recent story on Australia’s Alternative Varieties for the May 2011 issue got me thinking about some of the other unexpected vinous treasures I’ve recently encountered. These range from discovering d’Arenberg‘s unique Sagrantino-Cinsault blend from McLaren Vale to, well, read on.

For starters, how about more examples of unique varieties–this time from Bodegas Valdemar, in Spain’s Rioja region. The family company owns approximately 300 hectares of vineyards, which has allowed it to cultivate small parcels of such oddities as Tempranillo Blanco and Maturana Tinta.

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You might have forgotten it in the hubbub over Valentine’s Day, or never even known about it (shame on you!), but Wednesday, February 16th, is Syrah Day or #SyrahDay. That said, I’m sure the organizers at Hospice du Rhône won’t mind if folks call it Shiraz Day in certain parts of the world. The idea behind these sorts of events is to get a large number of people cyberbuzzing about a topic and hopefully increase knowledge and engagement levels on a larger scale than if there were no particular focus.

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Public ownership of wineries is a relatively recent phenomenon–and one whose time is coming to an inglorious end. Recent press reports are that three huge multinational alcohol beverage corporations are shedding all or parts of their wine operations. Brown-Forman, Constellation Brands and Foster’s Group all seem to be at least somewhat disillusioned with the wine sector.

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Demonstrators protest at the site of a new bridge over Germany's Mosel River.

The wine business has almost always had a complicated relationship with the natural environment. There is little natural about vineyards–nonnative species, terraforming, soil amendments, artificial drainage and/or irrigation systems, metal, plastic or treated-wood stakes and metal wires–all lead to a profoundly altered environment. Not to mention the various chemical treatments used in viticulture, even in certified organic and biodynamic vineyards.

Yet in the past couple of decades, wineries and vineyards have become more aware of environmental issues and made great strides in reducing chemical inputs, providing nesting boxes for native predators (as at Shafer Vineyards) and restoring native and riparian habitats (see the tremendous efforts by the Rutherford Dust Society to protect fish spawning grounds in the Napa River).

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