Here are my Wine 101 notes on a few of bottles:

09 Nevertell. This is sweeter and darker than the Makepeace. The fruit didn’t hit you over the head. Color was mid-weight pinot noir.

09 Makepiece had a yum nose that was intoxicating. I tasted a little fruit. I thought this was a Central Coast style pinot noir

09 Cold Heaven Viognier Sanford & Benedict. Nice nose. Mild fruit coming through. More elegant than the 09 Le Bon Climate.

Disclaimer… I’ve always enjoyed reading LT’s columns. I’ve never met Scott, but know of him from Wineberserkers.

Not sure I follow you. That said, I am willing to stand behind all of my opinions, that is why I use my real name.

If you have something to say, please do…

Karma is a bitch ehh Scott?

The way the article, I mean blog post, ended seems to turn what many probably enjoyed as a celebrity lifestyle piece in the first half into a less than gentle conclusion about a woman whose reach has exceeded her grasp (at least for now).. I am disappointed in the post for several reasons, beginning with at least two factual inaccuracies (Kluge was born in Iraq, not Iran, and the name of one of the best known wine consultants in the world is Michel Rolland). Sure, most readers by now were into the vicarious tabloid thrill of reading about nude, Iranian billionaire divorcee hitting the skids .

As I’m apparently one of the ‘unfortunates’ in your regard. I nevertheless do expect a writer especially one of such acumen and integrity as Ms. Teague to do their best to get the facts right before they publish, correct (or at least respond) when a reader points out possible issues with an article/column/blog and because you work at what most of the world considers to be the peak of journalistic excellence show the rest of us how to do it

As I should have pointed out, Scott, I have no issue with you in this, it is Lettie’s place to address. Incidentally, the disclosure tally for agreeing with Tyler is something like 31 – 10 as far as comments and eight of the ten ‘dissents” are yours. You may be a very passionate person when it comes to wine and that’s great but your insistence on continuing to protest even after Teague has admitted the lapse is puzzling . I imagine she would just as soon have it go away.
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That may very well be the reality of it, however unfortunate that may be.

By way of background, my interest in wine, which has gone on for about 30 years now has always been from the consumer/collector side. All of my interactions with Lettie were from the perspective of consumer. My vocation was always commercial real estate finance, but my avocation has always been food and wine. It was my avocation that connected Lettie and me.

In 2009, in partnership with Morgan Clendenen, I set out to make a wee bit of wine (350 cases Pinot Noir) from CA. Being an unabashed burgheads, our goal was to craft a style of wine, that while still very much California, would have the structural characteristics that make burgundy so appealing to our respective palates. That wee bit of wine became Makepeace and Nevertell. So, pleased with the results, we made more under this partnership in 2010. That wine remains in barrel. While I do help Morgan with the operations of the winery and specifically some sales and marketing related activities, I have no economic interest in Cold Heaven Cellars and I receive no compensation from the winery.

Perhaps that clarifies for you why I think the whole disclosure thing is much ado about nothing… as for having something to hide, in vino veritas, or in this case, the truth is in the bottle. Track down some of our wine, if you think Lettie got it wrong, let me know and I will refund your money personally.

You stated that in the wine biz, “everybody knows and associates with everybody else”. That may be true, but look at it from the point of view of someone outside the business: After reading your comments, a simplistic view could be taken that says wow, since they all know each other, nothing in the wine business is objective. I don’t think that was your objective, but it’s unfortunate for the consumer, as they don’t know what end is up.

My point is this: Lettie may very well have written what she did solely on the merits of the wine…but the more forcefully you argue that the disclosure is unnecessary, the more people think you have something to hide.

Go back and re-read what I wrote. I have never had an issue with the disclosure itself, it is harmless, but I do have an issue with those who suggest it is an obligation, which it is not, as no conflict exists. My issue is and was that the lack of disclosure was defined as some unscrupulous act. It is not, it was not.

Completely consistent statements then as they are now. My comments were in response to the criticism, they pre-existed, so your suggestion makes little sense from a chronology standpoint.

“I believe it was an oversight”… “I believe it is an unnecessary disclosure” and “I believe the disclosure is harmless” are not inconsistent thoughts..

best of luck to you…

It’s interesting that–several days later–you “have no issue with the disclosure” and that it was an “oversight”. That’s certainly not what you said on the 11th when you first responded to the blog post and comments. If that is in fact true, you could have said so from the outset, and probably would have saved yourself and Lettie much of the criticism.

Cheers

Thanks

Perhaps I am not being clear. I have no issue with the disclosure. In reality, it was a complete oversight on Lettie’s part and the addendum was an easy fix. I am saying the disclosure itself is irrelevant and the lack of it is not a defacto nefarious thing as the tone and tenor of Tyler’s comments would suggest. I was surprised that she didn’t mention my involvement, not for disclosure reasons, but because Nevertell (and Makepeace) are every bit my vision and effort as they are Morgan’s. What I mean by irrelevant is this; the disclosure would have cost nothing, done nothing, not disclosing, equally harmless. In other words, much ado about nothing. My objection is, and remains, Tyler’s inappropriate tone and commentary.