A Great New Wine Writer!

[Chasse-Spleen]

Guys,
I am officially a wine writer. I found this local paper in the West Village called West View News and pitched a wine column to them. They had a wine writer at the time (I luckily missed his article when I looked through!) but he left and I got the "job." My articles are aimed strictly below the radar of BWE level expertise, but I would love it if you would take a look.

http://www.westviewnews.org/2009/12/win ... ne-valley/

http://www.westviewnews.org/2009/11/on- ... -bordeaux/

Thanks!

-Chasse

[William P]

Well done Chasse.

[JimHow]

Bravo!
Very professionally done.

[Houndsong]

Highly readable. I rated your columns 5 stars and would give them RP en primeur scores of 98-100. I am envious of your position, especially if you get press credentials to important tastings, and get cases of wine placed into the trunk of your car in darkened alleys - for no particular reason of course, of course. Not fair, since as a songwriter/guitarist you are already getting all the women too.

[stefan]

Very nice articles, Chasse, with ratings that are well deserved. Congratulations!

stefan

[Chasse-Spleen]

Thank you very much, guys! It's fun to write about wine, as we all know. No real feedback yet, but brandishing an article here and there does get some attention. In one case, I was in the bar of Ocean Grill, a very good restaurant with an excellent wine list (and so typically New York in a way that many people will never see - very old school Upper West Side) and I had a copy with me. I showed it to the bartendress as I was moving on to the dining room with my friends and she said she would read it later but this guy at the bar with his wife actually started babbling like a true geek about the 2007 Rhones and how much he liked them. His interesting comment was how "inexpensive" they are. I was like, really? But then I realized it's somewhat true - two of the wines in my article were amazing bargains. I wished (sort of) I could have stayed to chat but then I had to hurry on as the Clape CdR was awaiting us along with more indulgent goodies.

Has anyone here been to Ocean Grill? It's on Columbus Ave. The wine list was highly workable and the food delicious. Excellent service. The only slightly odd thing was the prevelance of spiciness in many of the dishes that would render some wines a bit mute.

[Ramon_NYC]

Congratulations Chasse!
Nicely written and done well.

[Comte Flaneur]

Well done Chris, I'm jealous

I like your tongue in cheek comment about Chasse Spleen

Hopefully you will get invited to a lot of posh wine tastings and meet a lot of nice birds

[jal]

Very nice and very professional, Chris. Congratulations. Please keep posting the link to your articles as they appear.

[Jay Winton]

well done!

[JonB]

Well written and thought-out. Now you can deduct wine as a business expense!

I have a case of the '05 Larrivaux and will enjoy following this for the next 10 years if it lasts that long. One of the many value buys in '05.

[Chasse-Spleen]

Thanks again guys for your encouragement. I have another column coming out really soon, on red Burgundy. Really simple but informative. It focuses on the idea of the producer, naturally. Limited amount of words so you have to keep it simple and hopefully entertaining.

Jon,
The last time I tried the Larrivaux I thought it was shutting down so I think you may want to wait a couple of years before trying the next bottle, but I'm sure you have a strategy. Would love to see your notes.

-Chris

[Blanquito]

Excellent, Chasse. Fame and riches await, one day us lowly BWEers we'll sit around recalling the days when we used to know you.

I've been to the Ocean Grill once back when I lived on the UWS. I really liked the place. I loved it's 1950's feel and I thought the food was excellent. Are they corkage friendly?

[Chasse-Spleen]

Thanks, Blanquito. I don't know if they are corkage friendly. Worth a try. But their list is really user friendly, although not big on Bordeaux or European wines in general. Just a fairly balanced smattering of useful wines, didn't notice much in the way of German wines, despite the prevelance of seafood.

[DavidG]

Great articles, Chasse, very well done. And I see you got a nice plug in for Chasse-Spleen. Congratulations.

[Chasse-Spleen]

Thanks, David! The plug for Chasse-Spleen was inadvertant...

[Claret]

Congratulations Chasse. Press credentials can be the golden ticket for trade tastings.

Glenn

[Chasse-Spleen]

Thanks Glenn. I'm going to try to get into the NY Wine Expo in February. Anyone have any other suggestions?
-Chris

[DavidG]

I got registered for Wine Expo as "in the trade" a few years back based on an online form I filled out saying I did wine consulting for restaurants and liquor stores. Didn't mention I wasn't being paid for my advice, but I got the credentials. Could be tougher now, but as you are truly a bona fide wine writer, you shouldn't have any trouble.

[JonB]

Jon,
The last time I tried the Larrivaux I thought it was shutting down so I think you may want to wait a couple of years before trying the next bottle, but I'm sure you have a strategy. Would love to see your notes.

Chasse-
I posted them here, I thought, as well as I vaguely remember Alex or somebody else posted on the Larrivaux (maybe that was you), but doing the search turned up nothing.

I attended a Costco tasting that included the Larrivaux in July 2008, then drank two bottles in December 2008, and I noted to set the rest aside for 3 years or so before trying again, as the last bottle seemed to be closing then.

[Chasse-Spleen]

Thanks, Jon - I'll look for your Larrivaux notes. BTW, they still seem to have tons of it at Astor for $19.

David, when you say 'in the trade,' does that mean you got in free? If so, very well done, indeed.

-Chris

[DavidG]

Yup, got the badge, etc. in the mail for no more than a few minutes invested online. This was a number of years ago. Not sure if they've made it tougher since then, but...

[Chasse-Spleen]

So far, on their website the part that's devoted to "trade" says, "please check back later, etc." so they're not giving much info yet, and trying to get ticket buyers, which is totally understandable. So I will keep checking. Very encouraging, thanks!
-Chris

[DavidG]

Keep checking, I had a similar experience, then either it opened up or it took my info. Then it was a long wait before the tix showed up in the mail. I had almost written it off.