David Schildknecht leaves TWA

WINE TALK
1

Announced this morning. He is being replaced by someone called Stephan Reinhardt.

He did not report on areas of interest to me, but no one at TWA (or elsewhere for that matter) provided the depth of analysis he provided. I wonder where he will pop up now.

2

The only reviewer left at TWA that interests me is Neal Martin.

3

I am a big fan of David. I used to buy a lot of wine from him when he was at retail in the DC area (and even when he was at the Party Source). I hope that his leaving is because he has better opportunities. Any link to the story about him leaving?

4

According to Wikipedia, he “is a circuit judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, with chambers in Los Angeles, California.” [wow.gif]

I wonder if David will join Antonio at Vinous. It was be a natural complement. But David always had trouble getting his reviews in on time, so maybe he’ll go back to retail?

5

He posted on Ebob this morning, Howard. And Bob added a very lauditory post of his own, then introduced this Reinhardt person, who is apparently all that in Germany.

6

He is terribly insightful. But I can imagine that in the new regime there might be more of an emphasis on concision and timeliness, which were not his strong suits. Frankly, his write-ups usually make me want to scream they run on so long, unnecessarily.

7

That particular Reinhardt has been a thorn in my side for years.

David did say this:

I am looking forward to at once deepening my investigations into a few growing regions and to writing more broadly about wine.

Maybe he is going to work for/with Antonio. I have no idea

8

He might fit in better at Vinous since they don’t work on a 2-month deadline, but publish day by day as things are ready. He has weakness, but his reviews are worth paying attention to, and I’m not sure anything else is as important for a wine reviewer.

9

I pay for access to TWA just to read David’s stuff. Looks like I can spend that $ elsewhere now.

10

Stephan Reinhardt is in Germany regarded as one of the more promising wine journalists. He is the author of the book “The Finest Wines of Germany”. In my perception, Stephan Reinhardt only is knowledged in the wines of Germany and Austria, but not in the wines from the regions of France that David Schildknecht also covered. Expect to see much more coverage on dry Rieslings and Spätburgunder than on off-dry and sweet Rieslings from Stephan Reinhardt.

11

He was certainly in my area of interest as well. This leaves no good alternative in the big two mags for areas such as Alsace.

12

Maybe you can buy more Riesling. No, wait… I guess they’d have to make more.

13

Stephan Reinhardt is the perfect successor, period.

14

Curious who will take over Oregon coverage…

15

If David goes to Vinous and reviews burgundy I will defintely subscribe.

16

The WA continues it’s direction toward irrelevance.

17

Here’s a link to the press release:

http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/Robert-Parkers-Wine-Advocate-Welcomes-Notable-German-Reviewer-Stephan-Reinhardt-1909619.htm

Cheers

18

I liked David as a reviewer but I agree with John - he was a bit wordy.

As far as working for Vinous - how would Antonio pay him? Does he have any cash flow? Good for him if he does, but I don’t see it. Even with all the David fans here, that’s not enough to pay any salaries. AG is in crowded waters these days with little more or less impact than the next blogger, so it would seem like the money has to come from events, if they can keep generating interest, but there again, how many can you hold?

19

champagne.gif [dance-clap.gif] [worship.gif] [winner.gif] grouphug

20

I’ll miss David’s Beaujolais reviews.