Picking up Posner's question... who is Jonathan Newman?

WINE TALK
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Dan Posner posted in the recent thread about Flora Springs Wild Boar cab by asking, “Who is Jonathan Newman”? Yacov Barselah commented that Newman’s score of 93 for the wine was “pretty hysterical”.

As yet unanswered, the question remains… who is Jonathan Newman? (insert thunder and sinister orchestral music here).

I ask because I see some TNs by Newman here and there and have no way of calibrating them.

Apparently he ran the Pennsylvania PCLB for a while. Now the PCLB is yet again something else I have no idea about, except that it’s some bizarre system that Pennsylvania folks have to deal with, and that Bob Hudak wants to get his money back for some plonk he bought there some time ago. [basic-smile.gif]

Anyway, does anyone have some thoughts or comments on Newman’s notes and scores? The notes themselves seem written well enough. Regarding points, I generally think Parker scores anywhere from one to three points too high, and Tanzer’s points seem about right to me; so that’s my rough calibration on the infamous point scale. And yes, subtract 5 from Bruce L. [basic-smile.gif]

Thanks!

PS: For some reason I don’t see how to do things like make a link to a specific post, or even do that trick in which you can create text that then serves as a hyperlink… Maybe someone can PM me on that.

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Not unless he is the postman from Seinfeld.

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He used to be the buyer for the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board and as such, had great influence because if he didn’t like something, it didn’t get into the state. Probably the single most important buyer in the country, except for maybe the Costco people. Luckily he had a decent palate but of course as only one guy, wouldn’t be able to please everyone or taste enough wines to satisfy everyone.

Now he’s in business.

http://www.newmanwineandspirits.com/about-us/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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he looks like he has some serious money on his board

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It goes a little deeper than this, but that’s the general gist. He was the Chairman of the PLCB, and most notably started the Chairman’s Selection, which essentially were some uber close outs, but mostly on California wines. There were some really good deals (a couple of years ago, 95, 96 and 97 Beringer PR Cab for $50 a bottle!), and some not so great, but you get the idea.

He was ultimately forced to resign b/c Rendell created a position above his so that someone could control Newman. Lots of stories as to what the real story was. Hard to really say.

He’s using his contacts to rep wines, and he is apparently scoring stuff now too.

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Gee, I thought this was going to be a question about the distinguished Second Circuit Judge.

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Anyone have any comments on his TNs and how they calibrate to other reviewers? Is he best in one area, such as California wines of any particular varietals? Or…?

[thankyou.gif]

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He is not a “reviewer.” He was a political appointee to the PLCB - his mother was a state supreme court judge (republican) and his father was a “famous” plastic surgeon (personalized license plate was Dr. Nose).

He tried his best to modernize the monopoly and tangled with the union and some others. Our wonderful governor appointed a bigger political hack to a new position of CEO of the PLCB. It was an appointment that didn’t need any approval. Newman wasn’t happy and voiced his opinion and later quit in “protest.” He did his best within the monopoly system to make it better for consumers.

He then started his own company selling the same types of wines he purchased for the state. One Delaware retailer purchased one of his specials and actually advertised it as a “Chairman’s Selection” and the PLCB threatened to sue.

As for what he is “reviewing,” I would be as suspect as anyone reviewing wines they are promoting - especially these limited production wines or wines sourced for the seller/reviewer.

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Disclaimer: I work with many wines from Jonathan’s portfolio.

I can’t comment on his notes, I haven’t seen any of them. Barnet if you can post a link I would be happy to comment.

I work with a lot of his Cali wines, many from Sonoma, and I think he is consistent in selecting good and sometime excellent quality juice to place in the $15-$20 retail segment. He is no pusher of plonk by any stretch of the imagination.

I will see him tomorrow, perhaps I can convince him to post here.

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I am Jonathan Newman and thought I would join your community forum and introduce myself. Mark told me about the website this afternoon as he was helping me get my car out of the mud in Central NJ (thanks!). I was appointed by Governor Tom Ridge as a Member of the Pa. LCB a decade ago. The privitization initiative had just failed and the Governor told me ramp up the business and try to make Pa. more customer friendly and profitable. A couple years later, I became Chairman of the Board and initiated about 20 marketing/sales initiatives including creating the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia wine festivals; instituting employee training on wine education; creating Premium Collection stores and updating many others, the Chairman’s Selection Wine program of over 500 hand picked wines like Phelp’s Insignia at $59.99 and Fisher Coach Insignia at $19.99;…, LCB stores in supermarkets; working with the Legislature and spearheading changes like Sunday and holiday sales, accessory sales and in store samplings; and stores in supermarkets to name a few. The business grew at a 7.5% sales rate during my tenure and we had record profits despite fierce competition from retailers in NJ., De. and Md. that crushed us on selection and pricing. I know many of you despise the PLCB and I am certainly not a supporter of the system but I tried my best to make Pa. more wine friendly given the limitations. I put my legal practice on the side and served 3 Governors and tried to improve the PLCB and make it more competitive. I am proud of my tenure and along the way was named Wine Enthusiast Man of the Year and received the Guild of Sommelier’s Distinguished service Award, Marvin Shanken Market Watch Retail Leader and the American Wine Society Award of Merit. And then one day I was asked by the Governor to compromise my principles and told to create a new position for a Senator that had retired, of which hundreds of articles have been written by every newspaper in Pa., including:
LCB chairman quits over CEO selection" onclick=“window.open(this.href);return false;
About a year and a half ago, I started my own business which markets fine wines in seven states of which wines have been placed in over 400 retail stores and restaurants in seven states. Shortly after starting the business, the PLCB was not real happy with my going into private business and apparently my going public with the story surrounding the events leading to my resignation, and we had an interesting public exchange that wound up on the front page of the Delaware New Journal and nationally:
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080501/BUSINESS/805010346/1003” onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Since starting the business, I have tasted over 4,000 wines with my team and rejected over 95% of the wines that were presented. The criteria for selecting and writing tasting notes is all based on the QPR. So if a wine was an $85 bottle and is now selling for X like a single vineyard Cabernet from Flora Springs this will be much more appealing than the previous price especially given this challenging economy. I leave for Napa and Sonoma shortly and will be visiting 30 wineries and will update on this bulletin board.
Hope this was helpful,
Jonathan

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Jonathan - kudos for standing up for consumers (per Ted’s post)!

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Thank you for posting, Jonathan.

Jonathan deals with many “closeout brands” much like he was able to do with the PLCB.
I have been solicited for business from Jonathan’s employees, but each time I have looked at the website, I have elected not to do take an appt.

Thank you, Barnet, for starting this thread, as I forgot that I had asked.

Is the wine that received 93 points a wine that Jonathan sells? If so, then, for me, I toss it out with any ITB retailer’s scores as well.

No offense.

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Welcome aboard Jonathan and thank you for the full disclosure. Appreciated.

I suppose I can welcome Jeff Leve to WB here as well.

I’m looking forward to discussions with both fellows.

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Welcome Jonathan!

My understanding about the rating and marketing of some of your former PLCB “Chairman’s Selections” was that some wines were also special cuvees that were made specifically for the PA market based on your barrel sampling at wineries, and were not necessarily the same wines that went into other states. Could you please comment on whether that is true or false?

Thank you, and I hope you stick around here at WB!

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probably a dumb question but what’s JN’s affiliation with WTSO? Owner, hired gun [scratch.gif]

1 Like
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i agree with dan’s assessment above.

and i do appreciate JN posting here. maybe he can share some of reasons why PA handles fine wine so poorly and prices it in no relation to the market (see, 2006 chave for a funny price as a recent example).

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Thanks for posting mr ex-chairman.

I hope you can join the more vocal prisoners of the PLCB and help to at least allow open shipping of wine and perhaps privatization.

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Very cool that you posted Jonathan - and add my welcome. Stick around and post more often.

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Thanks so much Jonathan for your post. I read it with interest.

I also hope you’ll participate here. I’m a consumer and there’s no way I can go around tasting wines like critics do in their profession. Therefore I’m always interested in getting a sense of someone’s palate.

Is there a list printed somewhere of TNs you’ve written over time?

Thanks, and again, welcome.

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Since my post, Jonathan and I have traded messages. He tells me that his company no longer deals with “closeout” items and now operates like a traditional wholesaler.

I explained to him that his sales rep, who had contacted me twice, led me to believe otherwise.