I couldn’t argue with most of them, Carole Meredith for sure has to be on such a list, she may have done more for wine than anyone else on that list! Draper too has to be on there, never pretentious, always humble, lots of integrity, and I was really glad to see Mawby as well. I was positively shocked a few years ago when I tried a wine from Michigan and it was not only drinkable, it was good! And I’m from Michigan. All I remember was sweet apple wine and Cold Duck.
Nor do I have a problem with executives - Chat. St. Michelle has done a lot for the WA wine industry in general. Zraly and Asimov? I don’t know. No problem with Eric but he seems like such a lightweight compared to the others. Zraly may be OK, I don’t know, but I’ve looked thru some of his books from the 1970s and I wonder why nobody questioned some of his statements. I think they could have done better.
But this is a “most admired” list right? Not who contributed most. And again, for the most part, the majority of the people have made substantial contributions.
I had no idea what ‘VWM’ was, and had to peel back the url above to figure it out.
Since it is a domestic Vineyard and Winery Management association, i’m guessing as much as you and I as North American consumers might hold them in regard, they don’t really consider those three as part of the ‘North American Wine Industry’ although I understand that Schildknecht is reviewing Oregon wine now so that could change I suppose.
Vineyard and Winery Management is predominantly a trade magazine that started in Watkins Glen, NY in 1975 (the company also operates an annual wine trade conference) its focus is all of North America, so you are likely correct about why they wouldn’t include certain people in their list.
My question: why get so worked up over such things as a list of people that a trade magazine admires?