Alice's At It Again...

From today's LATimes Magazine:
AliceOnChard..

It puzzles me that newspaper editors are so clueless about wine that major newspapers continue to publish her articles.

In this article, she:
1. Attributes the growth of Chard in Calif to Ch.Montelena's success in the '76 Paris tasting. I hate to tell her this, but the Chard market had already started its big growth well before that, in the late '60's. I strongly suspect that if you plat Chard sales vs. calendar year, you'll see nary a blip at 1976, I'd guess. And the reason for the growth of the Chard market?? Primarily the use of new/French oak in Hanzell and StonyHill Chards gave them a character that more resembled WhiteBurg than Calif Chards afore that time. It was all about the oak, not the fruit.
2. She cites some JohnGillespie poll (you can buy this report for only $495) that those who love big/oaky Chards are mostly male and over 60 (hey...that hits close to home!!) and that women of all ages love un-oaked Chardonnays. Nothing like folding sexual stereotypes into your article to make your point. No wonder Alice is such a failure at love!!
3. She claims that fermentating Chard grapes on their skins is a more "natural process". Huh??? How the heck is that "more natural"??
4. Then in the Chards she recs in support of her no-oak Chard case, are four that have a significant whack of oak.

Whacko Alice....makes for an amusing read. No wonder wine journalism is held in such low esteem.
Tom

Alice will be Alice, Being ITB, I will not say more.

[David M. Bueker]

I've never liked Alice's writing, but that is pretty much the worst thing I have read from her (and I am no Chard junkie - only 11 bottles of non-Champagne Chardonnay in the whole cellar).

I've never liked Alice's writing, but that is pretty much the worst thing I have read from her (and I am no Chard junkie - only 11 bottles of non-Champagne Chardonnay in the whole cellar).

David,
Actually..I thought it was one of the better articles she's had published...which is saying a lot about her other ones. Her book is one of the most self-indulgent/self-promoting tomes I've ever read. Her other article were of that same ilk.
Actually...I feel a little sorry for her...knowing that so many people regard her as a laughingstock and she doesn't realize it.
Tom

at least it took less time to read than her rather painful book..and it wasn't weighted down by her personal misadventures

Boy, Tom; things must be slow down in Los Alamos! The only thing I found remarkable about the article was how dull it was. But then, again, Chardonnay ain't been my thing since I first tasted the '73 Montelena!

[David M. Bueker]

I have to say that I would love to introduce Alice to a few of my friends here at home. There's the two women in their mid-40s that Laura and I have dinner with once in a while. They love wine, and nothing so much as a big, oaky Charodnnay. The Pride Vintner's Select Chard was a big hit with them recently. Then there's the couple we have dinner with every other month. again a couple of folks who really like wine a lot, and boy do they love their oak. Oaky Chard for her & oaky Melot for him. And it had better be the good stuff. They know the difference.

I know that Rombauer Chardonnay flies out of the Wine Styles shop-and its often the women buying it (and the female half of the owning couples almost always have a glass of the stuff in hand). Those who don't want to spend the $30+ buy Earthquake Chardonnay instead, which is a much cheaper, less drinkable version of same.

No wonder wine journalism is held in such low esteem.

Goodness, Tom, using this example to generalize about our modest trade is a low blow...