The following have been elected to the Wine Media Guild Wine Writers’ Hall of Fame for 2013:
- Allen Meadows, American wine critic of Burgundy and Pinot Noir wine; publisher of Burghound.com
- Alder Yarrow, American wine blogger; author of Vinography
- Posthumous: Harry Waugh
ALLEN MEADOWS
In 1999 Allen Meadows “retired” to focus on the subject of Burgundy, his long-time passion and obsession, and created an extensive quarterly publication, Burghound.com. It is devoted exclusively to the coverage of the wines of Burgundy and U. S. pinot noir. It was the first of its kind to offer specialized and exhaustive coverage of a specific wine region/grape and pioneered the on-line format. This highly respected and critically acclaimed quarterly publication has subscribers in 64 countries and nearly all 50 states. Subscribers have access to the database of more than 70,000 of Meadows’ tasting notes with recommended drinking windows. Meadows spends nearly five months a year in Burgundy visiting 100s of domaines.
Hailed as “the world’s foremost Burgundy expert” by acclaimed author Matt Kramer, Meadows published his first book, The Pearl of the Côte – the Great Wines of Vosne-Romanée. In this 350-page expedition through Vosne-Romanée, the legendary region aptly referred to as “the Pearl of the Côte”, Meadows provides rich and fascinating historical coverage and detail, including original maps of the vineyards as well as vivid photographs that make readers feel they are walking through the vineyards alongside the author.
ALDER YARROW
San Francisco Magazine has called Alder “The Wine World’s Brightest Cyberstar,” and he is widely accepted as a pioneer of wine blogging. His much-lauded Vinography.Com blog has been published daily since 2004 and was nominated for a James Beard Award in 2013.
Alder also has written for publications such as the former Sommelier Journal, The World of Fine Wine and Fine Cooking Magazine. He is the author of the Sonoma and Marin County chapter of DK Publishing’s “Opus Vino,” a comprehensive look at the world’s wine regions and their best wines. In 2014, he will publish a book of essays and photographs entitled “The Essence of Wine.”
Since November of 2011, Alder has been a columnist for Jancis Robinson on her web site jancisrobinson.com. He regularly speaks at events such as the Aspen Food & Wine Classic, Flavor! Napa Valley, and the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers, where he also serves on the board of advisors. Alder was born in the heart of the western Sonoma Coast, and lives with his family in San Francisco.
HARRY WAUGH (1904-2001)
Harry Waugh, who died aged 97, was the grand old man of the English wine trade; his 70 years in and around the business made him a celebrated figure among his fellow wine merchants. A distant cousin of his fellow oenophile, the late Auberon Waugh, Harry Waugh exerted great influence in the wine world through his directorship of Harvey’s of Bristol and his several books. With his persona of the old-fashioned English gent, Waugh was also much loved in America, and he was one of the first in Britain to notice and understand the emergent quality of California’s wines. The Americans called him “the man with the million-dollar palate”, and Bern’s Steak House, the celebrated wine-lovers’ restaurant in Tampa Bay, Florida, named one of its dining rooms the Harry Waugh Room.