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André Rasberg is the president of the Argentine sommeliers association. He spoke to Evelyne after his presentation at Vinexpo 2009 in June.
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Congrats to all the people who tried for the M-G gig, you were amazing and it was a hard choice (to me). Our regular guest Hardy Wallace @dirtysouthwine is the apparent choice of Murphy-Goode, so goode going and get dirty!
I did not follow every detail of the campaign, but I did not have the impression at any time that the votes were any more important than the cheers for Lance Armstrong at the sides of the road (or indeed on Twitter nowadays).
I contend that it isn’t surprising (or wrong) that people like Leo and Kevin Rose, who had a friendly “I have more Twitter followers than you” contest would be outraged when they learned that it wasn’t a vote contest, the votes (again in my perception) were just a way of cheering people on.
I don’t mind that this is now old news in the real time social web, because I think some thought needs to be given to the mob mentality and how it may not be right even if a large number of people line up to crack the whip.
Of course there’s a lesson in this story, too.
Note: we are on GMT+2, 6 hours later than New York in case your comments take a long time to appear, it may be because we’re sleeping.
Here is Martin’s original totally cool Tweet “heard round the world”
Reactions
And here is what happened next, on Digg: 2295 links, 311 comments
FriendFeed.com search for Murphy-Goode also shows about 300 posts:
Today, a Google search of Murphy-Goode reveals items 2 and 4 “not so goode”.
More viewpoints:
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Andy Cheese will talk about Wine in Sweden and what it’s like to live in a state-controlled liquor distribution system. Andy is member of the Stockholm section of the Munskänkarna Wine Club and a holder of the WSET certificate. He says on his blog: “In general, I try to taste everyday wines meant for everyday people.”
Neil Monnens will chat about living in Spain and his sites WineRelease.com and WineBlueBook.com. The mission statement of WineRelease.com says it “informs wine enthusiasts, restaurants and wine shops about upcoming North American wine release dates.” WineBluebook.com says it “is a wine buying guide that groups the major critics’ average wine ratings, then lists them by price to determine overall value – the Quality Price Ratio for wine.
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Randall Grahm mentioned this last week and today we’ll try to find out more about the growing movement to organic grape farming and wine making.
What is the difference between biodynamic and organic wine making and framing?
We hope to address some of the answers with help from Jamie Goode’s excellent series of articles.
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Randall Grahm started the Bonny Doon Vineyard in 1983.
Talk about “of cabbages and kings”, we chatted with Randall and a great group about Rhône varieties, the ungly duckling grapes, Riesling and Gruner Veltliner (everyone except Eve loves Riesling), biodynamics, cork taint, eastern Washington vineyards, terroir and its importance, screw caps and much more. See our Delicious bookmarks for more info.
Here is a notion we will be developing:
“I am also really interested in producing wines that have life-force. Another word for this might be minerality, another term might be the ability to resist oxidation. I think that one of the keys to this is learning how to master the oxidation/reduction states of the wines at varying points in the wine’s elevage.”
Special Rhone Ranger music on guitar by Zip Caplan.
It was a pleasure to meet Gilles de Boisséson at Vinexpo and chat with him about his Armagnac. The poster in the beginning was designed by his son Jean. You may recognize the background as that of the Train Bleu restaurant in Paris.
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ZAP (Zinfandel Advocates & Producers) came out to Vinexpo 2009 to meet people from all over the world and show them my favorites California wine, Zinfandel.
Richard Flores spreading the Zin gospel
Do not be fooled by Richard’s avuncular manner, he’s an inspired advocate. Everyone I saw interacting with him went away delighted to have learned more about Zinfandel.
Interviewed in the above recording :
David Phillips, Lodi Vineyards
| Grape | Mentions | |
|---|---|---|
| Chardonnay | 279 | 
|
| Merlot | 272 |
|
| Riesling | 153 |
|
| PinotNoir | 136 |
|
| Malbec | 135 |
|
| PinotGri | 104 |
|
| CabernetSauvignon | 86 |
|
| Shiraz | 79 |
|
| Syrah | 56 |
|
| Zinfandel | 55 |
|
| SauvignonBlanc | 52 |
|
| Tempranillo | 19 |
|
| Viognier | 15 |
|
| Sangiovese | 11 |
|
| Grenache | 10 |
|
| CabernetFranc | 6 |
|
