Tag: wine

Aug 22 2008

When food magazine’s give awards…(the response)

Wine Spectator responds with their side of the story. (My post from yesterday)

The Executive Editor of Wine Spectator, claims in his forum post, that they did do research on the restaurant.  “On the Web site Chowhound, diners (now apparently fictitious) discussed their experiences at the non-existent restaurant in entries dated January 2008, to August 2008.”  Also, they called the number listed and got a voice mail left by a real person (however never spoke to a real person live).  He further goes on to explain the entire wine list was actually a pretty good list, that many of the wines on the “base” list actually scored pretty high, and that they judged the wine list as a whole.  He also points out that the Award of Excellence is their lowest tier of restaurant recognition, and even though they are a victim of fraud at the hands of Mr. Goldstien, it doesn’t take away anything from other legitimate winners of the Award.

I personally don’t buy the argument that Wine Spectator is just the victim of a malicious blogger looking to sell a few more copies of his book.  They are trying to be an authoritative voice on wine, and they fact checked by just using an user-run internet site?  We’re supposed to believe that they didn’t have a single contact in a major Italian city that could have verified the restaurant was real?  I’m still waiting for the next part of this story, the one where Wine Spectator sues Mr. Goldstien for libel.

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Aug 21 2008

When food magazine’s give awards…

What does it take to win the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence?  Apparently $250 according to this post by author Robin Goldstein.  The Award of Excellence is given to the world’s best wine restaurants, at least that is the idea.

While working on a paper about standards for wine awards, Mr. Goldstein submitted an application for Wine Spectator’s Award of Excellence.  His application was for a restaurant called “Osteria L’Intrepido.”  Along with the $250 fee, he submitted a menu of pedestrian nouvelle-italian cuisine, and a wine list.

While it is bad enough that a restuarant that doesn’t exist could win the award, it is even more telling when you actually look at the wine list, particularly the reserve selections.  The reserve selections were intentially chosen from some of the lowest scoring wines in Wine Spectator over the last few decades.  Below the cut, check out the reserve selections along with the scores and some excerpts from the Wine Spectator reviews.

Continue reading

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Feb 20 2008

Sketch 7

I’m really thinking hard about what I’m going to be doing after my contract ends in May.  I’m thinking about trying to do some schooling/training in wine making (aka oenology) and/or fermentation science (with an emphasis on brewing).  But I have to figure out where and how I’ll do that.

The skinny on schooling:
There are a couple community college programs I know about in oenology.  One is in Santa Maria, CA at Alan Hancock College.  The known pros so far: I’m already in California and technically a resident.  CC tuition is super inexpensive in Cali…$20/credit.  Also basically in the middle of one of the major central coast wine regions.  Would be good for eventually transferring to one of the BS programs at UC-Davis or Fresno State.  The cons:  Santa Maria is a small town.  I have no job, place to live, friends there.  Chemeketa CC in Salem, OR also has a wine making program.  Pros: in Oregon.  Good for transferring to Oregon State’s program.  Close to Oregon Wine Country.  Cons: Much more expensive ($70/credit).  In Salem, which I’m not too excited about the prospect of living there.

*update: I just found a program in Santa Rosa (which is a little north of San Fran). Pretty much the same pros and cons of the Santa Maria program. Only instead of central coast wine country, i’m close to Napa and Sonoma and in the Russian River wine country.

What I don’t know yet…is it enough to just go to one of the community college programs? Should I just take some targeted science classes at a community college and then try and apply to one of the BS programs?  Is there a CC program in WA that would help facilitate transferring to WSU’s program?  Should I just stick to beer and try and find a brewer to apprentice with in Portland?

Anyway, that is the main thing stewing in my head (at least when I get a few moments away from work).

I finally made it up for a brief visit to Griffith Observatory on Friday night.  By the time I got up there it was only open for twenty minutes, but it was still pretty cool.  The sprawl of LA is both impressive and depressing at the same time.  Saturday was largely a day of relaxation, running a few errands and trying to get my desktop computer working again (I didn’t succeed).  Then I went to Sub-Level with some friends later that night.  It was out in the middle of nowhere in an empty warehouse Sun Valley (ewe…i went to a party in the valley).  I was out until almost 6am Sunday morning.  I had lots of fun, but getting up at 10am for church and then working Sunday afternoon wasn’t as fun.  USC observed President’s Day, so I got an extra day of relaxation over the weekend.  Made a trip to Venice Beach and finally did some long overdue cleaning on my room.  It was a very nice weekend.

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