More Yucks from TastingPanel Magazine

WINE TALK
1

Got my latest TastingPanel magazine today, one of the lamest wine magazines around. It will be interesting if they can do anything w/ TheSommJournal or if they’ll run it into the ground.
I always, though, read thru the magazine for the yucks and all the pics of hot chicks and cool dudes, a category of folks I’d love to join someday in the future. But I did glean a few nuggests of information from this issue:

  1. There was a review of a ValleyOfTheMoon PinotBlanc (91 pts). This is a wnry I’d pretty much blown off since it was purchased by the Hecks/Korbel some yrs ago. It is now owned by DanZepponi & TonyStewart. Dan is the son of GinoZepponi, one of the founders of ZD Wnry. An aerospace engineer over in Sacramento who made some terrific wines in the early days of ZD, a guy I followed from the very start and liked immensely.

  2. Gallo has out an ApothicRed LmtdRelease Dark (89 pts, $14). Anybody tried this wine yet?? It’s interesting to me because it’s a blend of PetiteSirah/Teroldego, and CabSauvg. I had no idea that Gallo had Teroldego planted. Seems like a perfect waste to me.

  3. In every issue of TP that I can recall, they always have an interview w/ some Somm in some restaurant. This issue had WineSeller&Brasserie owner LoriParker, from down in SanDiego. A restaurant I’ve eaten several times over the (many) yrs and really liked. These articles always include some gushing/florid prose extolling the virtues of the Vinturi Wine Aerator. This one was a bit more over-the-top than most. I presume Vinturi must pay big $$‘s for these florid endorsements. Lori was particularly gushing in describing her praise for the first time she used the Vinturi. It particularly “opened it up” because it was in a customers cabin at a high altitude and we learn from Lori that “in high altitudes…the thin air tightens the wine”. Something I didn’t know and certain there’s a lot of good/high-level physics behind that statement. At 8,000’ altitude, guess I’d better buy me one of them-there Vinturis so I can finally, after 42 yrs, start to enjoy my wine here in LosAlamos.
    Tom

2

You forgot the best part: They sold TWO covers so they just went ahead and printed two covers, one with Jim Nantz and Peter Deutsch of Deutsch Family Wines and then another one right behind that one (on stiffer stock no less) featuring the importer of a Chinese Spirit line.

3

This fine publication shows up at my place of employment. I’m with Tom, I just look at it wishing for the hot chicks and wanting to be like the cool dudes. [barf1.gif] In almost every case, a recommendation from this industry produced shill-fest is a warning, not an endorsement to me. Akin to a 93 from Wilford Wong or that WTSO guy? [scratch.gif]

4

Yup…I noticed that Roberto. It didn’t occur to me that it may be part of their revenue stream. I just assumed that they
printed another cover to get in the SOMMJournal notice. The (thicker) 2’nd cover is a foldout.
Tom