This was a 3-part event hosted by the Smithsonian Associates program to draw attention to the Smithsonian and all that it is and offers as well as a means to sell and be profitable with the sales of female British author/wine-writer Jancis Robinson and her co-author Linda Murphy on the book just released AMERICAN WINE. It's a really welcome book as it contains some invaluable information clearly and cleanly and beautifully-presented ( very readable and easy on the eyes, and nice to hold in one's hands, too ) book and source of information about those wines found here in the United States as well as Canada. The title is a bit misleading as it does not cover the wines of Central or South America.
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I looked briefly at my copy of : ENCYCLOPEDIA Of AMERICAN WINE ( including Mexico and Canada ) by William I. Kaufman that was published in 1984. I glanced at it the night before going off to the Natural History Museum to see, listen to and to meet Jancis Robinson for the very first time. I was so excited. I had been looking at AMERICAN WINE quite a bit already and I wondered how these two books would be different? I wondered if William Kaufman's ENCYCLOPEDIA would be completely out-of-date? Funny, later I ended up using it and finding information that I wanted, valued and which I did not find in the " new " AMERICAN WINE. In this case it was about two Arkansas wineries that I wanted to contact again and open the lines of communication once again : 1) the POST FAMILY WINERY and 2 ) WIEDERKEHR. I was able to contact both and have heard from the POST Family Winery and am thrilled about that.
My idea once that I looked at both books again was : wouldn't it be great to combine the two?!? There are great things in both and the information should be assembled together to give us one useful guide and collection as a source easy to access and easy to use? Sounds like a plan to me? Cheers.
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As I said this was a 3-Part Event , and a great event it was : 1) meet in the Baird Auditorium and listen to a conversation with Dave McIntyre of the Washington Post newspaper ( Dave writes the wine reviews that are published in the Wednesday " Food " section of the Washington Post ( today's is on two famous California wineries and their owners and wine-makers, too : " This week , Napa Valley honors two vintners who made a difference " : Jim Brrett, owner of Chateau Montelena in Calistoga ..died March 14 at the age of 86, ... and 90-year-old Miljenko " Mike " Grgich, the Croatian-born winemaker Barrett hired ... and also Warren Winiareski, 85, the owner of STAG'S LEAP WINE CELLARS, 4/3/13 ), 2) a buying and signing after the conversation of the book AMERICAN WINE by Jancis Robinson, and then 3) a United States wine-tasting with owners and wine-makers from the states of Texas, Michigan, Colorado, Virginia , New York , and yes, even California.
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As I said, in my opinion this was a momentous event and I saw many opportunities seized and some lost. One of the lost opportunities was to see everyone gathered up on the stage at one time so that all the 3-events would make more sense and be easier to navigate and take full advantage of as they were mentioned by both Dave McIntyre in his opening comments as well as with his conversation by both afterward.It would have been invaluable to have everyone gathered together and visible at once : all the owners and the wine-makers from these various states that had made special trips to come to Washington D.C. for this very special event with Jancis Robinson. Just to mention a few here now : 1) owner and wine-maker Jim Law of LINDEN Vineyard in Front Royal, Virginia, 2) Joshua Grainer, wine-maker of RdV Vineyards in Delaplane, Virginia, 3) owners Barbara Shinn and husband David Page of the SHINN ESTATE FARMHOUSE in Mattituck, Long Island, New York State, 4) owner and wine-maker Sean O'Keefe , Vice President of the CHATEAU GRAND TRAVERSE in Traverse City, Michigan, ... I will add the others soon. Everyone could have introduced themselves and said a few words. This would have been especially nice as this conversation and event was being filmed. Dave mentioned this several times. What a lost opportunity to have not had it all visible and cohesive here on film like this.
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It would also have been invaluable to have had a sheet printed and available for everyone as they took their wine glass up outside of the Great Rotunda before going inside to taste with the owners and wine-makers.
I will finish this later but post it now " as is " as I think this is all interesting information to make available as it might help in planning others and making them even more successful. Do not get me wrong, these are just suggestions of mine. Overall the event was a great success, and most of what I heard from those that attended was very positive. Cheers and stay-tuned for more shortly. Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn
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... ...
I looked briefly at my copy of : ENCYCLOPEDIA Of AMERICAN WINE ( including Mexico and Canada ) by William I. Kaufman that was published in 1984. I glanced at it the night before going off to the Natural History Museum to see, listen to and to meet Jancis Robinson for the very first time. I was so excited. I had been looking at AMERICAN WINE quite a bit already and I wondered how these two books would be different? I wondered if William Kaufman's ENCYCLOPEDIA would be completely out-of-date? Funny, later I ended up using it and finding information that I wanted, valued and which I did not find in the " new " AMERICAN WINE. In this case it was about two Arkansas wineries that I wanted to contact again and open the lines of communication once again : 1) the POST FAMILY WINERY and 2 ) WIEDERKEHR. I was able to contact both and have heard from the POST Family Winery and am thrilled about that.
My idea once that I looked at both books again was : wouldn't it be great to combine the two?!? There are great things in both and the information should be assembled together to give us one useful guide and collection as a source easy to access and easy to use? Sounds like a plan to me? Cheers.
... ...
... ...
As I said this was a 3-Part Event , and a great event it was : 1) meet in the Baird Auditorium and listen to a conversation with Dave McIntyre of the Washington Post newspaper ( Dave writes the wine reviews that are published in the Wednesday " Food " section of the Washington Post ( today's is on two famous California wineries and their owners and wine-makers, too : " This week , Napa Valley honors two vintners who made a difference " : Jim Brrett, owner of Chateau Montelena in Calistoga ..died March 14 at the age of 86, ... and 90-year-old Miljenko " Mike " Grgich, the Croatian-born winemaker Barrett hired ... and also Warren Winiareski, 85, the owner of STAG'S LEAP WINE CELLARS, 4/3/13 ), 2) a buying and signing after the conversation of the book AMERICAN WINE by Jancis Robinson, and then 3) a United States wine-tasting with owners and wine-makers from the states of Texas, Michigan, Colorado, Virginia , New York , and yes, even California.
... ...
... ...
As I said, in my opinion this was a momentous event and I saw many opportunities seized and some lost. One of the lost opportunities was to see everyone gathered up on the stage at one time so that all the 3-events would make more sense and be easier to navigate and take full advantage of as they were mentioned by both Dave McIntyre in his opening comments as well as with his conversation by both afterward.It would have been invaluable to have everyone gathered together and visible at once : all the owners and the wine-makers from these various states that had made special trips to come to Washington D.C. for this very special event with Jancis Robinson. Just to mention a few here now : 1) owner and wine-maker Jim Law of LINDEN Vineyard in Front Royal, Virginia, 2) Joshua Grainer, wine-maker of RdV Vineyards in Delaplane, Virginia, 3) owners Barbara Shinn and husband David Page of the SHINN ESTATE FARMHOUSE in Mattituck, Long Island, New York State, 4) owner and wine-maker Sean O'Keefe , Vice President of the CHATEAU GRAND TRAVERSE in Traverse City, Michigan, ... I will add the others soon. Everyone could have introduced themselves and said a few words. This would have been especially nice as this conversation and event was being filmed. Dave mentioned this several times. What a lost opportunity to have not had it all visible and cohesive here on film like this.
... ...
... ...
It would also have been invaluable to have had a sheet printed and available for everyone as they took their wine glass up outside of the Great Rotunda before going inside to taste with the owners and wine-makers.
I will finish this later but post it now " as is " as I think this is all interesting information to make available as it might help in planning others and making them even more successful. Do not get me wrong, these are just suggestions of mine. Overall the event was a great success, and most of what I heard from those that attended was very positive. Cheers and stay-tuned for more shortly. Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn
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