Here are a few very assorted observations that don’t merit an article on their own but I feel the need to get off my chest.
FT wine investment supplement
My inbox suggests that the Financial Times ad department has been giving the impression that I’m in charge of a supplement on wine investment planned for the Weekend FT of 11 jun. I’d just like to make it clear that I am not. Investment in wine is far from a speciality of mine. I’ll write a column for the supplement about buying wine for specific years, specially recent babies but, fine wine traders, please stop deluging me with prospectuses.
Calling all female supermarket wine buyers in Oz/NZ
Yvonne Max writes from Hawkes Bay in New Zealand: “Just a wee note regarding your article about women in wine media/trade/adjudication.In New Zealand we have a good number of female wine journalists and a couple of female MWs. I am the weekly columnist for Hawkes Bay Today (circulation 96,000 daily) and the Havelock North Village Press, and the wine buyer/consultant for Hastings City New World, a supermarket which boasts the largest supermarket wine department in the country. We are now considered a 'fine wine store' here in Hawkes Bay. I also instigated the first wine club based within a supermarket in (what I believe is) this part of the world. We now have close to 2,500 members. I am not aware of many other women actively involved in wine buying on a supermarket scale in our part of the Pacific. I'd love to know if there are others.”
Those wishing to contact her (preferably female counterparts rather than wine salesmen) can find her on yvonnemax@xtra.co.nz
Article in Belgium’s Knack magazine
Johan Joosten writes: “I just see in Knack, ‘We have three children, all three born in a good wineyear 1982, 1984, and 1991.’ OK for the first and last, but for me is 1984 a year to forget as soon as possible.
“Best regards from a father of two sons, born in two good wineyears 1986 and 1988.”
Well, Joosten, I couldn’t agree more. Delightful as our son is, and so far the one of our three children who is most interested in wine, I would never call his birth year 1984 a good one. Something was obviously lost in translation in this recent article about me.
A delicious Charbono
Mark at Hypatia Consulting writes to say: “Thought purple pagers might like to know that I just opened a bottle of Tofanelli Charbono 2000. I bought this a couple of years ago in Napa and proceeded to forget about it. Happily I found it again. The wine is quite good. It looks and drinks young. Its nice to try something different, especially when it’s so good.”