Wine Person of the Decade!

With only 12 days to go, who is the wine person who most epitomizes this decade?

We’ve been discussing it on Twitter and on my site the past few days. If you have a compelling argument for someone, already mentioned or not, let’s hear your thoughts here!

Sadat X!

Yes, in light of new evidence, I withdraw my nomination of Terry Thiese and endorse Sadat X!

True dat!

Problem with Sadat X is that he’s only the very latter part of 2009. It’s hard to think of someone who encompassed an award that spans a whole decade, as a lot of change has happened in that decade in this industry. Jay Miller might deserve mention because of the Australian market pump and dump. Gary V will probably win it because for several years he’s been doing the video blog thing, and helping change the average drinking age, exposing young ‘cool’ folk to wine. Mark Squires has alienated huge numbers of wine lovers over that span of time, so he might be worthy of nomination, given the title of ‘Naughties’. Then, of course, you have Eric LeVine, who is the most deserving.

Yes, but Sadat X so changed the game that it ain’t even the same!

Send a case to this place!

I will say the same thing here that I said in the comments on Tyler’s blog (after a few folks suggested me). I am humbled at the mere suggestion that I might be considered. That said, the thing about CellarTracker is that it is explicitly NOT about me. I have been fortunate to bottle up the right combination of homegrown technology to attract a critical mass of users. At this point, while still young (yes 5 years old is still young), CellarTracker is a living, breathing thing unto itself that supersedes me, my code, my database etc. It has more to do with the contributions of the many engaged users than anything else. So a vote for me is actually a vote for the community.

Funny about Sadat X!

If anyone needs catching up on the Sadat oeuvre, head on over to Lyle’s blog for a compendium:

Rockss and Fruit: YES!!!! Sadat X of Brand Nubian reviews wine!! - Are you kidding me how awesome this is!! Finally my blog comes together!" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In my view the winner should probably be Gary Vaynerchuck. However having said that, if Gary’s father had owned a car dealership or been a preacher instead of owning a wine store I’m sure he’d be selling something completely different with exactly the same vigour and passion.

Based on the criteria of who “empitomizes the decade” I am surprised no one said Kosta Browne. They started in the beginning of the decade and sold at the end. Rode the Sideways craze and high scores and are representative of a style of wine that was popular for most of this decade.

His humility notwithstanding, I second (or third/fourth/fifth) the nomination of Eric LeVine. Who else has done more to develop the interface between wine and the internet than Eric? He has brought together a coalition of critics (Robinson, Meadows, Tanzer, Gilman and many others) and there’s more to come, no doubt! Tell me someone else who has had this kind of online impact?

If Time’s “Person of the Year” a few years ago was a mirror, meaning the development of single individuals’ influence on others via the internet (blogs, youtube, etc.), Eric is a shining example of maximizing the development of the internet for wine appreciation (not to mention tracking).

He gets my vote.

Looks to me like Eric’s avatar is about the same age as CT!!!

You guys have to be kidding. First off, I am a cellartracker user and a somewhat active forum member on CT and I absolutely respect what Eric has done, but wine person of the decade? I am sorry, there are others who are probably more deserving and more influential in the international wine community (and I ain’t referring to RP either!) …and I certainly do not endorse Kosta Browne either Besides Kosta Browne is NOT one person. A Ca. Pinot producer being wine person of the decade???

I vote for Serge

So many options to choose from. A decade is a long time… almost as long as I’ve been in this whole wine thing. But if I had to point to a single thing in that time that’s affected what I drink and enjoy more than anything else, it would have to be the opening of Chambers Street Wines circa 2000. So David and Jamie get my vote.

No, Alan, I wasn’t kidding.

By the way, I didn’t see your (serious) vote.

Who is yours (you indicate who you’re not voting for and you joke about Serge)?

What about Allen Meadows for leading the charge into the age of specialized critics. That set the stage for a wider range of tastes gaining strong voices in wine criticism. The growing importance of blogs and amateurs is the future, but the growth of authority of Burghound is a story that’s more characteristic of the whole decade.

How about Michael Brill at Crushpad? A compelling combination of community, winemaking, and the Internet. In a decade of the ultra-elite Napa Valley Reserve, Crushpad is about bringing the winemaking dream to a lot more people a lot more affordably.

Yep, that was me on my first day of the 1st grade at Fessenden. Age 5 turning 6 a few months later. Nice call on the age!

I said Kosta Browne because the question is who “epitomizes” the decade and even though there are three guys I really think Kosta Brown epitomizes the decade at least in the U.S.

If you ask me who is most deserving or most influential I would have very different answers.