I got more info on this, and it’s really not pretty.
The female victims found out about this the same we all did…in the paper.
And there are two more people who they haven’t announced what is going to happen with them either.
One step forward, two steps back.
Wow, it doesn’t get any bigger than Fred Dame. Just because you know a lot about wine does not mean you are a balanced human being. Tragic, but all too common in any industry where people are famous and powerful and exploit that power. Very sad indeed but perhaps a much needed corrective action that will hopefully lead to a change in the restaurant culture.
Can we get this emblazoned on the masthead of WineBerzerkers?
Ouch . . .
Trivia question: Where did Fred Dame rise to fame??
He was the original Somm at the Sardine Factory in Monterey & developed a terrific wine list there. This was before
restaurant Somms were generally regarded as rock stars. This is where I first met him back in the '70’s and we chatted
quite a bit about wine & he started bringing out glasses of different wines & wanted my opinions on them.
A few yrs ago, he was a Guest Somm at SantaFe Wine&Chile Fiesta and was serving on a Seminar panel on
Calif Rhone wines. He gave a lame answer to one of my questions & I proceeded to tell him it was all described
in Patrick Comisky’s book on American Rhones. I was shocked that he had never heard of the book. So much for
the authority of our wine authorities.
Tom
I think it is worth a suspension. I have had Victor on my ignore for many years unfortunately it does not work when someone reposts his post.
Did I misunderstand something? I thought Victor wasn’t making a joke but was actually describing (at least in part) what happened and why these people were expelled from the organization.
Glad we can get some of these toxic #)$J)(!#!'s out of the industry and bring more awareness. 22 known women is a huge number and leads me to believe sadly Fred had many enablers around him. This makes them all just as bad as him.
I thought this news story broke about a year ago? I went to a Daou tasting here in Chicago about a year ago. Fred Dame led the event, and the very next day he was in the news for alleged sexual harassment.
Edit: https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3111142#p3111142
That experience is why I posted this last year.
My point was only awareness-raising, not humor or acceptance.
Sorry for any offense.
I don’t want to say which one, but one of the 6 on the list harassed someone I know years ago (circa 2003/2004), and it wasn’t innocent. It was a quid pro quo situation, and it was at a trade show in a large crowd. The man had no shame.
Well at least the ‘Court’ got their half case 10% discount for their purge!
Yeah that’s what I thought and therefore I was confused why people kept chastising you.
Between the cheating scandal from a few years ago and now this it would make a fascinating set of topics for a Somm 4 film. From the first film to now it would almost create bookends for the rise and then dramatic fall of the Court.
Although given how entrenched the Somm filmmakers seemed to be with the Court (and even Dame him self given how prominently he featured in the films) I wonder if that’s possible for them to do.
At least two people were not expelled because they resigned.
Jason Wise (the man behind the Somm films) has a Podcast and he has rightly chastised those who have participated in this abhorrent behavior. BTW, there is a Somm 4 film already in the works, though I’m not sure what the angle of the film will be.
I thought some of the folks involved with Somm had resigned in protest from the Court because of the problems.
Agreed.
It is sad / depressing but I knew one of the 6 who were expelled. It was about 15 years ago but I have quite a lot dealings and interaction with him. He seemed like a nice guy; just goes to show that you can never really know someone. I had no idea that any of this crap was going down. I am totally appalled by the whole thing.
But…did he grab your codpiece??
Your awareness raising is a blind link to a NY Times story? Very on brand.
Maybe you didn’t mean any offense but I perceive you to be smart enough to know there was an innuendo to your post that could (or would) be taken as an attempt at humor due to your track record of attempting to find humor in very dry, sarcastic tone.
I’ve never met you in real life and while we’ve disagreed on various topics and posts I suspect over noodles and wine we might have a grand time discussing the value in 90’s California Cabernet and the lessons learned from the 2000’s financial crisis. But, I have to say from a “what people post on the internet”perspective you can appear to be one of the most tone deaf people I’ve ever come across in my life.