tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745003136564123305.post7138643330119529295..comments2024-03-22T00:35:12.415-07:00Comments on HoseMaster of Wine™: Have You Ever Meta-Winemaker to Watch?Ron Washam, HMWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11238869156614617705noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745003136564123305.post-70012382173890288562015-05-13T07:54:55.419-07:002015-05-13T07:54:55.419-07:00Mr. Lyons,
Thanks for joining me in my little corn...Mr. Lyons,<br />Thanks for joining me in my little corner of the wine world. Satire is an ugly mistress, and, as such, is hard to warm up to, especially when it's you she's chosen to snuggle with, but I'm pleased you are beginning to embrace my form of misanthropy. We're all just here to have some fun and laugh.<br /><br />I've been lucky enough to have Tim Atkin MW championing my foolishness, and that has raised my stature from obscure to inconsequential. Life is good.Ron Washam, HMWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11238869156614617705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745003136564123305.post-78302740304175930622015-05-12T13:25:59.539-07:002015-05-12T13:25:59.539-07:00Evening chaps,
Ron, I'm warming to you and thi...Evening chaps,<br />Ron, I'm warming to you and this was probably deserved. Some genuinely funny lines which made me laugh out loud. <br />Thomas, I have been writing a weekly wine column for 10 years now, five of those with the WSJ in London. You should tune in for the European view: http://on.wsj.com/1GIgC44<br />And it goes without saying, if you both ever come to London, you'll be sure of a very warm welcome.<br />Will LyonsAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01236723645174133272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745003136564123305.post-5180219824983914422015-02-25T18:15:31.864-08:002015-02-25T18:15:31.864-08:00“I hear there's a Santa Ynez winery planting N...“I hear there's a Santa Ynez winery planting Negrette. They're going to call the wine Pinot St. George and the Dragonette.”<br /><br />Have John and Steve Dragonette and Brandon Sparks-Gillis been apprised of this?<br /><br />(Has Stan Freberg?)<br /><br />"Like the woman in Fifty Shades, I stand corrected."<br /><br />Not having read the novel or seen the movie, this allusion is lost on me.<br /><br />(My detractors claim a lot of things are “lost on me.”)<br /><br />And thank you not linking me to the phrases “You're the Internet Tiger Woods” and “putz.” (Yet.)Bob Henryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09099196210297757292noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745003136564123305.post-8306921505390061402015-02-24T07:18:41.315-08:002015-02-24T07:18:41.315-08:00David,
Maybe wine publications should move to a Ro...David,<br />Maybe wine publications should move to a Rookie of the Year award instead of the annoying Winemakers to Watch. And Peter Mondavi is now over 100, so he's out as one of the 100 under 100. Damn, so close!<br /><br />All of those gimmicks are just that, column fillers. I don't mind most of them, but they're so disingenuously written, as though the wine writer doesn't have some personal agenda. They're Hollywood press releases, meant to glorify the writer as much as the subjects. So stupid.Ron Washam, HMWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11238869156614617705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745003136564123305.post-79253976727781809942015-02-24T04:08:02.883-08:002015-02-24T04:08:02.883-08:00We need to move away from this 30 under 30 kind of...We need to move away from this 30 under 30 kind of stuff. I'm to old. How about the 100 under 100?<br /><br />This way Peter Mondavi can be an up and comer. And I hear this Grgich guy is doing some crazy stuff with the under-appreciated varietals from Bordeaux in the valley just east of Sonoma.<br /><br />You can say you heard it here first!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06340119694154206371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745003136564123305.post-26291151116825390402015-02-23T18:06:56.302-08:002015-02-23T18:06:56.302-08:00David,
Pretty good idea, but I'm not really mu...David,<br />Pretty good idea, but I'm not really much of a movie, or wine blog, fan. I stopped going to movies a long time ago. I might see one or two films a year. I'm not bragging, just stating the facts. I did see "The Imitation Game," and liked it, though it's based on a true story in about the same way "Jurassic Park" is based on a true story. And, having spent too much time around Hollywood, I know that Keira Knightley was cast as a brilliant mathematician simply because she's the prettiest face they could find. So I'd be pretty much at a loss trying to write that piece. And my list of wine typers that are a snooze is far longer than yours--though I know I'm on many such lists myself.<br /><br />Thanks, David, you're always a provocative and funny common tater.Ron Washam, HMWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11238869156614617705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745003136564123305.post-50810440902434536392015-02-23T17:42:59.284-08:002015-02-23T17:42:59.284-08:00Ron, couldn't agree more at the stupidity and ...Ron, couldn't agree more at the stupidity and idiocy of Mr Lyon's column, but I got a great idea!! Why not match wine bloggers and wine writers that tear your ass off with boredom with their beyond dull, turgid, self-important reviews and scribblings, with movie directors who are guaranteed to tear your ass off with boredom and leave you either asleep or with a migraine by the second hour of their turgid, way too long, boring movies.. so here we go!! wine hacks: Will Lyons, Richard Jennings, Walder Y, Hawk Wakawakaka, Wine Doody, James Conaway and his damn novel Nose, Jay McInerney.. movie hacks: Alexander Payne, Jim Jarmusch, the Wachowskis, James Cameron, M Night Shyamalan.. have fun matching the turgid wine piece with the turgid movie!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745003136564123305.post-14319641295442090162015-02-23T17:27:05.194-08:002015-02-23T17:27:05.194-08:00Nick,
I tried to imagine the person interested in ...Nick,<br />I tried to imagine the person interested in wine who would find that piece thought-provoking or interesting or the least bit useful. Sure, it has some recommended wines, but in a context that is entirely idiotic. But I guess the editors of WSJ Europe know their audience better than I do. I'm sure it generated wonderful reactions.<br /><br />Karl,<br />No reason to be intimidated. Nobody reads this blog. Especially not the putzes at Decanter.Ron Washam, HMWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11238869156614617705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745003136564123305.post-89724030373465906012015-02-23T16:30:06.179-08:002015-02-23T16:30:06.179-08:00Ron - If I wait too long to comment on this, I fee...Ron - If I wait too long to comment on this, I feel intimidated. It is kind of like decanting - if you decant the damn wine it better be better later. If it isn't better you are a putz.<br /><br />I often feel like a putz which is why I mostly never decant wine.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02482425756666353293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745003136564123305.post-75880195914688003102015-02-23T16:08:33.238-08:002015-02-23T16:08:33.238-08:00Great read! And I couldn't agree more about th...Great read! And I couldn't agree more about the drivel that purports to be 'wine writing'. NickNick Katinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11000841291360673866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745003136564123305.post-61222151704703179142015-02-23T12:26:37.975-08:002015-02-23T12:26:37.975-08:00Negrette sounds like a French detective.
I've...Negrette sounds like a French detective.<br /><br />I've heard of the Berlin Wall, but didn't know there's a Wall Street in Europe.<br /><br />Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07322028233207741737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745003136564123305.post-81097044477482313042015-02-23T12:11:08.795-08:002015-02-23T12:11:08.795-08:00Thomas,
There are low bars, and then there are dum...Thomas,<br />There are low bars, and then there are dumpsters. I used Mr. Lyons' piece, but there are endless examples. I'm also certain he wasn't that thrilled with the assignment, but paychecks talk.<br /><br />Rob,<br />Call a cop, call a friend, but don't calamari.<br /><br />Oh, man, like an needy octupus, that sucked.<br /><br />Bob,<br />Coincidentally, just as your comment surfaced, I heard from Lettie Teague also mentioning the Mr. Lyons is the wine writer for the European edition of WSJ, which has no connection to the American WSJ. Like the woman in Fifty Shades, I stand corrected.<br /><br />I hear there's a Santa Ynez winery planting Negrette. They're going to call the wine Pinot St. George and the Dragonette.Ron Washam, HMWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11238869156614617705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745003136564123305.post-72025197773257576052015-02-23T11:50:39.232-08:002015-02-23T11:50:39.232-08:00You can call it Negrette -- or be politically corr...You can call it Negrette -- or be politically correct, and refer to it as Pinot St. George.<br /><br />Either way, still a distinct minority grape variety.<br /><br />(Back in 2009, The Wall Street Journal ran a page one article on DeRose Winery, a champion of Negrette.<br /><br />Google this headline:<br /><br />"Shaken or Stirred, This Winery Is a Big Hit With Seismologists"<br /><br />Will Lyons writes for the European edition of WSJ.)Bob Henryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02089688073031173053noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745003136564123305.post-60242095200524483962015-02-23T11:17:48.589-08:002015-02-23T11:17:48.589-08:00Abalone! You're just being Shellfish.Abalone! You're just being Shellfish.Rob Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07288356786552867804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745003136564123305.post-8123706249917151882015-02-23T10:52:16.653-08:002015-02-23T10:52:16.653-08:00Unfortunately, for wine consumers, general periodi...Unfortunately, for wine consumers, general periodicals and newspapers will hardly ever be any help. They are built to straddle a ridiculously low bar.<br /><br />I've spent many years trying to push through the subtle and--heaven forbid--the intellectual in my columns. Mostly, I get told "no can do" or eventually, I get fired from the column.<br /><br />I had one editor ask if I could make a column about wine faults "more fun". I suppose I could have, but then I would have had to tell fart jokes.Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07322028233207741737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745003136564123305.post-85113744407828514302015-02-23T09:59:36.396-08:002015-02-23T09:59:36.396-08:00Charlie,
In my view, I use Ephemera for far more i...Charlie,<br />In my view, I use Ephemera for far more informal wine commentary, expressed in my own Voice. There may be weeks I don't have any Ephemera to offer, so I don't want to publish it separately because then I'm back to twice a week and I don't want to do that. It's not the writing, it's answering the common taters.<br /><br />As for these two pieces, I wrote the lead piece about ten days ago. I'm unhappy with it, though I think it makes its points. It reads very clumsily. Maybe I should have attended the Napa Valley Wine Writers' Symposium so I could learn myself how to write good. The Ephemera piece I regurgitated in a hurry last Thursday. It's a classic style of rant, but something about the WSJ piece set me off. And when I write pieces that are particularly insulting, they always get the most attention. Subtlety gets very little response. Just like in real life.<br /><br />I recently asked for a pass to the SF IPOB tasting and Jasmine Hirsch sent me a very funny reply. She has me on the guest list, but insisted that the HoseMaster be his usual merciless in the aftermath. Jasmine gets it.<br /><br />Marcia Love,<br />The Oscars are meant to be dull and never-ending. It's Hollywood trying to impress the masses, while at the same time marketing their usual schlock and sending love letters to themselves on national television. I only watched an hour or so, and, it seemed to me this year's fashion theme was "Booty Contest." Which, by the way, I approve of.<br /><br />"Formulaic" is one way to see it. In another view, it's a kind of journalistic masturbation.Ron Washam, HMWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11238869156614617705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745003136564123305.post-24360298015147987822015-02-23T09:48:13.969-08:002015-02-23T09:48:13.969-08:00It's a 2-for-1 day at the HoseMaster! Woot! It...It's a 2-for-1 day at the HoseMaster! Woot! It's so much more fun to read the HoseMaster ripping these wine-writing-themes to shreds than actually read one. As you said: so formulaic.<br /><br />And the Oscars-that-went-on-forever? Boorrrrriinnnngggg! Keep throwing those jabs. We need 'em!Marcia Macomberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07237764449953259939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745003136564123305.post-12764108284528094782015-02-23T09:47:24.352-08:002015-02-23T09:47:24.352-08:00I am beginning to think that Ephemera needs to be ...I am beginning to think that Ephemera needs to be its own stand-alone piece. How about making it your Thursday offering.<br /><br />Nothing wrong with it, and, in fact, it is so good on its own that it detracts from your pilloring the Winemakers To Watch, IPOB and the authors of that set of crap--as opposed to the crap in the WSJ.<br /><br />I truly love the Trousseau Noir story. Two acres of grapes planted under the Portuguese name, Bastardo, to be the basis for a Port-like wine. Grapes did not work out so make something light and insignificant and sell it to the IPOB crowd. The NYT even did a story with a headline proclaiming Trousseau Noir as the face of the new California or something as ridiculous as that.<br /><br />It is a game these fake pundits play to see how much they can separate themselves from the wines that real people drink. Thanks for calling that practice out. But, as with your Merlot rant in Ephemera last week, I suspect that the Oscar-related bit will overpower this other piece of great insight.Charlie Olkenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02513782687786106137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745003136564123305.post-31222437618601779472015-02-23T09:02:12.346-08:002015-02-23T09:02:12.346-08:00Thomas,
Mr. Lyons, whom I've never met, is one...Thomas,<br />Mr. Lyons, whom I've never met, is one of the staff wine writers, along with Lettie Teague, for the WSJ. I don't read him, but a link to this post in Terroirist (shame on them) led me to it, and, I must have been in a mood, because I sat right down and hurled this crap at it. Mr. Lyons is far from the first to write a piece in this vein, but I found his work particularly meretricious. And because it was me who was upset, not the HoseMaster, I put it under "Ephemera."<br /><br />It was a cathartic piece to write. And completely heartfelt.<br /><br />Don,<br />Thanks. Once in a while I get it right.Ron Washam, HMWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11238869156614617705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745003136564123305.post-74136833851988359842015-02-23T07:59:05.175-08:002015-02-23T07:59:05.175-08:00Trousseau noir! Now THAT was a well-placed shot.Trousseau noir! Now THAT was a well-placed shot.Don Clemenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01018421143636593792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745003136564123305.post-81411582380728584052015-02-23T07:37:16.219-08:002015-02-23T07:37:16.219-08:00Is Will Lyons a regular wine writer?
Anyway, a nu...Is Will Lyons a regular wine writer?<br /><br />Anyway, a number of years ago the New Yorker had one of its staff writers come up with some drivel connected to wine. It was so bad it induced me tow rite a letter to the editor. The letter was not published, probably because I offered to be their wine writer if they agree that they need one. I didn't get the job either, but I haven't seen another one of those vapid articles in the magazine since--and I am always looking,<br /><br />The NY Times often has something stupid connected to wine in its Sunday magazine, and the paper has a wine club, which is even worse than that something stupid in the magazine.<br /><br />It is a mediocre world out there, Ron. Stay on top of it.Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07322028233207741737noreply@blogger.com