Lastly, tell me more why you always get a sense of arrogance from us. That one hurts.

jay

I would like to apologize if my earlier comments were particularly harsh. Riesling IS my passion. 70% of my wines are Riesling, most are Auslese, all are spectacular and very high quality. I do get defensive when I hear “riesling” or “sweet Riesling” used as a pejorative. My reaction was based on the idea that you meant all sweet Riesling and not just the insipid stuff that calls itself Riesling.

I spend many of my days at the wine shop where i work trying to inform patrons about great Rieslings and thankfully we dont even carry the quaffable stuff that is blue nun or its ilk.

Its clear that I was wrong, there is no need for me to talk about the virtues of my favorite grape. Again I apologize for the rudeness in my earlier comments. I will of course download the podcasts you pointed too. It is my goal to learn not only wine in general but to consume every peice of Riesling related info i can find.

I am sorry you felt that way. The impression you received was not our intent. When we were referring to “Sweet Riesling” we were referring to the notoriously poorly made wines from Germany such as “Blue Nun” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Nun) which gave Riesling such a bad name for a long time – It has taken the German Wine Industry a great deal of time to recover from that perception but we feel GrapeRadio has been leading the charge to change that outdated/incorrect view.

All of us at GrapeRadio feel that Riesling is one of the most dynamic/versatile of all the grape varietals in wine today. There is nothing I prize more then some of the Beerenauslese and Ausleses in my personal cellar. I only wish I could afford some of the TBA’s unfortunately those who know about great wine have driven the prices of those wines out of my reach.

You might want to check out a few of our past shows and I think your opinion of us will change:

  04-25-2005 – Show 20 – The Wines of Germany
  03-13-2006 – Show 79 – A Tour of Germany – Part 1
  03-20-2006 – Show 80 – A Tour of Germany – Part 2
  10-02-2006 – Show 112 – A Tour of Germany – Part 3
  10-09-2006 – Show 113 – A Tour of Germany – Part 4
  12-11-2006 – Show 123 – The Riesling Shootout

   (We still have over 8 more completed parts to the Tour of Germany to post)

I am glad you feel so strongly about Rieslings because in the past it has seemed difficult to get people excited about this noble grape.

Once again, sorry if the comment had offended you. Sometimes when you are in the heat of the moment you can’t conceive of all the many possibilities how your words might be perceived.

Comments?

Brian Clark

Last night i opened up a triple star Auslese 1990 Dr. Benedict Loosen. this 17 year old wine was a delicious and complex (and yes sweet) treat with a lingering finish to live for.

so when i heard that you guys asked if someone likes sweet rieslings as a sign of ignorance i was shocked. it is a MAJOR sign of your own ignorance. and ignorance that is highly objectionable because of it’s offensive and arrogant nature.

i am currently taking advanced courses at the International Wine Center and will keep you guys in mind as how not to act and how not to talk about wine.

i always got a sense of ignorance and arrogance from you guys. still, i was shocked that you would insult those who love wine made from one of the most noble wine grapes. riesling produces some of the worlds greatest wines and yes some of these great wines are sweet. and if you think that their being sweet makes them any less great you’ve got a lot to learn buddies. maybe there is a “for dummies” book that will help you start on learning about wine.

I did find it pretty funny when Dennis Cakebread talked about giving you guys a ‘scoop’ on who next year’s chair will be though.

The Auction doesn’t really contain anything timely, so your approach works well. I think some of the info from Hospices would have been useful even with a 3 week lag.

I might be missing it, but you should mention at the beginning and end of the piece when it was taped and the dates of the upcoming event.

I very much enjoy your work and this is just a minor complaint.

A.

Given the choice of posting 3 weeks (at very best) after the event. or or positing our coverage just prior to the following year’s event, we felt the latter was a better choice. It helps build excitement.

What do you think?

Jay

Thanks,

A.