There is virtual universal agreement about two major elements of this discussion: 1) Levi Dalton’s podcast is very informative and very high quality, and 2) Levi’s response to criticism of one episode, in the context of assent to point 1 was ill-tempered. I’m amazed that the thread has gone on (and I am extending it of course0, given the triviality of the issues people are fighting over. Unlike Dennis Borczon, I find almost nothing here to react to (though, of course, I have now reacted three times). It speaks to how easily we are trolled.
Not much of it out there, but $250 and it’s yours ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
if it were a great wine that the winery sent bottles to your door, on demand, for free, would it be charitable to tell them how their wine could be better? Especially if you never made wine in your life? Now that might be viewed by the winemaker as rude/unnecessary.
Wait, you can only review (and thereby critique) a wine you buy? If I go to free tasting and taste, it is rude/unnecessary/uncharitable to publish a tasting note? That makes no sense. Just like it makes no sense to claim that one can only critique podcast (or any other cultural productions) only if you pay for them. Does that mean I can write a book review somewhere if I buy a book, but not if I check the book out from the library. Of course not.
And I’ll mention again, the critique from the OP was very gentle. This thread would have gone nowhere if Levi had not reacted the way he did.
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I think that’s the gist of Burgundy v Parker. Turned out okay for both, I think.
Must have been 12 or 13 years ago, I had a while to spare before my last appointment that day, so I passed by the Cantina Comunale de la Morra, mostly because I knew the guy who normally manned the shop most of the time from before, basically just to have a chat and maybe pick up a bottle or two. About half an hour into it, he brought up Accomasso. Just couldn’t believe an aficionado like me had never even heard of him, I felt a bit humbled 
. A local legend, he said, you simply have to try this. Offered me some Rocche in the low 30s (EUR). I thanked him, picked up two bottles, more out of courtesy than anything, and just got on with it.
Several years later, I finally got around to opening one of those bottles. First thing next morning, that’s me trying to corral in some stranded bottles of Accomasso from the only EU retailer that seemed to have any to sell at that point, at, gosh, twice the price .
All she wrote
Great wine.
![[rofl.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/a/a7452fcd8e675af869f8da01174474a545b03944.gif "rofl"){kind=small}
A fan here as well…albeit with very limited experience. When I visited Piedmont in 2017 I had him on my list of producers to try and visit (can’t recall where I came across his name as I’d never heard of him before or tried the wines). Then discovered he didn’t speak English, so knew it would not likely have been an ideal tasting experience for either him or us. However, I drank a few bottles of his wines with dinner while visiting and was blown away.
I didn’t have much room to bring any back and hadn’t considered shipping, but his bottles were not that hard to find in the local wine shops, but the pricing was in the upper 90s to low 100s (EUR) (never went to Cantina Comunale de la Morra). Naively figured I could source some back in the US at reasonable prices. Couldn’t have been more wrong as even though they do make it to the US - the quantities are very small and as others have noted the pricing is always $225+.
In the mornings before tastings, I would ride my bike around to the different communes. I would slow down when ascending/descending the road to La Morra to see if I could catch a glimpse of him outside the winery, but never did.
Back on topic for the thread, I really enjoyed the Accomasso episode (my first IDTT podcast) and hope that I’ll be fortunate enough to drink a few of his wines again.
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A tasting is by definition an attempt to sell the product. Of course it is ok to critique. A podcast is more like a gift. Would you hammer someone who gives you a 750 to take home and enjoy? With no expectation of purchase other than exposure to some advertising?
It certainly did! Burgundy got the last laugh in that exchange for sure. Somehow I think they secretly take it as a point of pride that they were the only major region that essentially were able to defy Parker criticisms and not only thrive, but triumph in the end. Bet they love it that prized Burgs sell for more than first growths and all those 100 point scores.
Great story and cherished bottles, I am sure!
It’s nice that people like him are documented, even if 95% of wine drinkers might never be able to try the wines.
Several years ago, I declined to join some friends on an outing due to feeling jet lagged. I come to hear a few hours later that they returned from tasting with Giovanni Canonica 
.
That’s the thing Dennis. Nobody is ‘hammering’ the podcast. I don’t think there’s a single person here who has said anything negative about the actual content, and in fact, it’s been the complete opposite (glowing reviews).
Now the reactions to Levi’s tone and responses here and on social media, that’s a different story…
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Truly 
Honestly, anyone on this site bitching about someone’s tone on this site needs a frying pan to the forehead.
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Again, context.
Read the posts.
People have just voiced their surprise on discovering that the amazing, congenial long form interviewer on a podcast we all love talks to winemakers one way & has a TOTALLY different response to a harmless comment about a specific episode (and as revealed by other posts has similar responses to people in previous threads).
When I first read his comments I just said to myself “oh dang…didn’t expect that.”
But, Levi is not my friend & I’m sure I’ll never meet him but I listen to his podcast because it’s the best resource out there for wine education in that style. I had some pretty good professors in college who I didn’t like because of their personality but I didn’t drop out of their class. I’m not going to stop listening to his podcasts because he’s rude on message boards; but, I can still be shocked that he is and will probably think about it in the back of my head listening to the show.
Back in 2017, Accomasso was available in the $80-125 range. The inflation is mostly within the last 18-24 months.
I read the thread. I have read so many threads over the year where people (even me) take poorly thought out pot shots and expect them to be received graciously, without complaint.
It’s ridiculous. I am trying to be better. I will still fail too often, but threads like this, where someone decided to not roll over and say “ thank you sir, can I have another” and then get hassled for it, just piss me off.
I really have enjoyed these most recent podcasts and the background he’s been giving before diving into the interviews. there is so much of a library to pull from with good info from previous podcasts, im really glad to see it get used in such a relevant way.
unfortunate about the responses though. I think what Levi is doing is important work and I have learned more about wine from his podcast than any other resource about wine, hands down. however, I disagree that supporting a sarcastic New Yorker is quite the same as continuing to buy Pergole Torte.
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I hear ya David and I’m totally with you on trying to do better. I’m typically a very positive/look at the bright side kind of person…but the reason I even chimed in is because I’ve seen these types of responses multiple times from Levi (as have others in the thread) on social media. And they’ve all been completely unprovoked, harmless comments/questions that sparked the aggressive replies.
To add some context, one of those was from a question that Buzz asked on Instagram. I mean come on…have you ever seen Buzz say anything that has been remotely negative or ill-willed?!?
Regardless, I’ve said my peace here and will go back to enjoying my 2013 Keller Von Der Fels (you’d dig it the most David)
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