Wine Media Guild of New York

Over 75 people attended the Wine Media Guild annual dinner at Del Posto.

Above, Peter Sichel is inducted into the Wine Writers’ Hall of Fame by Wine Media Guild member John Foy.

Photo credit : Len Speier

The Wine Media Guild will hold its Annual Dinner on Sunday, June 14, 2009 at Del Posto Restaurant. It promises to be another gala event, with members and guests bringing impressive bottles of wine from their cellars to share with others. This year, we are taking the elegant downstairs wine room at Del Posto. Another positive is that we will have room for twice as many attendees as last year.

We will begin with a Champagne reception with passed Hors d’oeuvres. This will be followed by a four-course dinner, coffee/tea, and more of the fine Cognacs we had last year to finish.

At the Dinner, the 2009 Inductees to the Wine Writers’ Hall of Fame will be honored. They are: Mary Ewing-Mulligan, Matt Kramer, Clive Coates, James Halliday. The posthumous Inductee is Alexis Bespaloff. Recipient of special Recognition for Distinguished Service to the Wine Industry is Peter Sichel.

To purchase tickets, go to Brown Paper Tickets (Visa, Mastercard, Discover).

There is a small handling fee for using the service, which is added to the price of each ticket. No physical tickets will be issued; names are placed on a list and sent to WMG at the end of each day. For email confirmation or additional information, purchasers should send a separate email to psavoie@nyc.rr.com.

Two historic chateaus. Ten vintages. Many, many Guild members.

Member Mark Golodetz brokered the peace and the managing directors of both Pichon-Baron and Pichon-Baron attended the last lunch. For a recap, check out these postings or articles by members or their guests:

Robert Simonson (Off the Presses): Pichon-Baron Pichon-Lalande Showdown
Tyler Colman (Dr. Vino): A tale of two Pichons – peace in Pauillac

As other accounts come in, send them in and we will post!

Wine Media Guild May Newsletter
Ron Kapon, Editor

MEMBERS’ MEMOS

The outpouring of good wishes for Paul Zimmerman (Dr. Z) from our members has been heartwarming. Jonathan Levine has collected wines for the silent auction from the members of his wine tasting group.  Many WMG members have donated wines or cash, and, at the time of writing of this newsletter, we have 6 members going to the event but need two more to fill the WMG table. The event, featuring Giants coach Tom Coughlin and Jets coach Rex Ryan, is May 18 at Mayfair Farms in West Orange, N.J. Open bar beginning at 6:15, followed by dinner and a round-table with Peter King of Sports Illustrated, coaches Coughlin and Ryan reviewing the draft and previewing the season, followed by questions for the coaches from the audience. Then, there will be a football insiders’ roundtable after which the winners of the auction items will be announced. Tickets are $225 apiece, or $1,500 for a table of eight, and are available by sending a check, payable to “Dr.Z/Nothing is Impossible Foundation” to: Dr. Z/Nothing is Impossible Foundation 21 Pine Street- Suite 202-Rockaway, NJ 07866. All tickets are tax-deductible. In addition, donations may be sent to that address. For further information, please email Barbara Neibart, at bneibart@yahoo.com .

We have learned that Perry Luntz passed away from Legionnaire’s Disease, which he contracted while at a skilled nursing rehabilitation facility where he was recovering from lung cancer and a broken hip…You may be interested to learn that Wiley will soon publish German and Spanish language versions of his Whiskey and Spirits for Dummies.

MAY TASTINGS (more…)

In Memoriam
Perry Luntz ( March 9,1927-April 13,2009)
Former Chairman of the Wine Media Guild

Perry Luntz graduated from Boys High and  NYU with a degree in marketing. He served in the Army Air Force with the occupation forces in Berlin after WWII. He was involved in one way or another with the beverage alcohol business most of his adult life. For more than 20 years he was publisher and editor of Beverage Alcohol Market Report, an international e-letter for marketing executives in beer, wine, and spirits. He served as Director of Marketing Communications (a term he coined) for Seagram Distillers for a decade, worked on the creative side of several advertising agencies– including a spell as a creative director of a Young & Rubicam division– and for several years headed his own marketing communications agency.

As Chairman of the Wine Media Guild, he showed he knew his way around vineyards and breweries, as well as distilleries. Like many native New Yorkers, Perry was a political junky. He served several years as president of the Eleanor Roosevelt Political Club, He was a member of  Manhattan Community Board 6 and a founder of the Manhattan Neighborhood Council. For the past decade, Perry was Senior Editor of the Beverage Media Group, a network of trade magazines read by 140,000 licensed retailers. He also wrote a weekly column for the group’s B-to-B Internet site. At age 80, he wrote his first book, Whiskey and Spirits for Dummies, and was working on a new book at the time of his death.

He is survived by wife, Carol Ann Rinzler, sons Ira and Russell (a third son, Lloyd, is deceased), and two grandsons, Ari and Eli.

Ron Kapon: On a personal note Perry helped me when I started writing about wine and spirits, making concrete suggestions that have made me a better writer. He asked me to join the Manhattan Neighborhood Council and whetted my appetite for politics while showing me the way things got done in New York City. He mentored many people in the wine and spirits business, and I have quoted his Whiskey and Spirits for Dummies book in several magazine articles and use it as a texbook for one of my classes. His gruff exterior hid a warm, friendly, caring person. I will miss our weekly phone calls. I raise my glass to you, Perry. Help organize heaven.

Ron Kapon
The Peripatetic Oenophile
www.ronkapon.com

We Wine Media Guild members are counting down the days until the unprecedented Pichon-Pichon showdown later this month! Excitement is palpable! And in June…the Hall of Fame awards dinner at Del Posto!

But until those reports are filed, you’ll have to content yourselves with these roundups of last week’s tasting of Austrian Riesling. Jodi Stern of Austrian wine importer Vin Divino, and Aldo Sohm, the Austian-born, sommelier to the stars from Le Bernadin, were the speakers!

Robert Simonson, “Lip-Smaragd-ing Good!”
Charles Scicolone, “On Austrian Riesling”
Brian Freeman, “Spectacular Austrian Riesling: Part 2″

TASTINGS

Mon March 30: Noon-4:00pm. Fine Wine Importers Alliance. DelPosto (85 10th Ave @ 16th St) RSVP: 917-691-9267 or patriciarichter@hotmail.com

Wed 1: 11:30am-2:pm.Wine Media Guild Lunch. Austrian Rieslings. Felidia (more…)

Brian Freeman has a brief overview (literally, with video) of our March tasting of Portuguese wines on his site, Uncork life!

And here’s another take from Marisa D’Vari (republished here).

And don’t forget our next lunch: Austrian Rieslings!

Surf on over to i-italy.org to see member Charles Sciccolone’s account of our excellent Amarone lunch.

MEMBERS MEMOS

Pat Savoie has just been appointed Associate Editor of Celebrity Chef Tour magazine, a twice yearly publication of the James Beard House that supports the JBH Celebrity Chef Tour. The Tour goes to 16 cities in the US, where a dinner is held in the Spring and Fall. One of ten top chefs who have won Beard Awards cooks at each of the dinners.

TASTINGS (more…)