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#351537 - 05-17-2009 23:50:29 Alice's At It Again....
TomHill Online   content
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Elvis Has Entered the Building!

Registered: 02-15-2004 17:42:19
Posts: 12126
Loc: LosAlamos
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

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#351673 - 05-21-2009 20:51:37 Re: Alice's At It Again.... [Re: TomHill]
Richard Leland Offline
Member

Registered: 02-20-2004 02:40:24
Posts: 399
Loc: San Francisco
Originally Posted By: TomHill
She cites some poll that those who love big/oaky Chards are mostly male and over 60 (hey...that hits close to home!!)Tom


I'm confused. People who like oaky Chards are mostly male? Are the rules about gender similar to those for varietal designation, i.e, you have to be 75% male to be labeled as such? And why does that only hit "close" to home for you? We know you're over 60 and up til now were pretty sure you were a male, so .....

Richard

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#351681 - 05-22-2009 10:53:10 Re: Alice's At It Again.... [Re: TomHill]
BEB Online   content
True Southern Exposure
Crazed Wino

Registered: 01-02-2001 08:00:00
Posts: 5444
Loc: Somewhere in the Great Valley ...
Thanks to Richard's post, this came back on my radar screen. I had intended to read this, but it just slipped by. Tom, in addition to some of the whopper you mentioned, I was particularly taken by this:
Originally Posted By: WhackyAlice
California has more volcanic soils than the deep ocean limestone of Burgundy, so wines will never have that French minerality
I guess no one told Alice that volcanic soils are made of minerals. And maybe someone should point out to her the soil compositions in the Santa Rita Hills.

However, I did enjoy her likening of Chardonnay's American marketing to Britney Spears as the "Britney era." That hit my funny bone.
_________________________
BEB

"I've wrestled with reality for 35 years and I'm happy to state I finally won out over it." Elwood P. Dowd

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#351687 - 05-22-2009 12:49:14 Re: Alice's At It Again.... [Re: BEB]
Mel Hill Offline
Local

Registered: 12-21-2000 08:00:00
Posts: 1660
She does like ESJ... so she's not all bad......
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http://www.melhill.com

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