tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92102357676438628722024-03-18T04:47:16.613-07:00The Gray ReportBest Blogger/Online Wine Writer (in the world!): Roederer Award 2013W. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.comBlogger1176125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-60900386063759379392024-02-12T07:30:00.000-08:002024-02-27T14:55:13.706-08:00Endorsements for the San Francisco election of March 2024It's time for me to tell you how I'm voting in March, a Gray Report tradition. But I dread writing this endorsement post. I have been thinking about how to phrase this for months. I fear I am going to lose friends for saying what I'm about to say. Let me be very clear upfront. For national politics, Donald Trump is the greatest danger facing the United States today. We must do everything we can W. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-78698868116499596762023-05-16T15:01:00.000-07:002023-05-16T15:01:13.589-07:00Google censors a blog post of mine ... from 2010!On Sunday I got the following notice from Google, which runs the Blogger software that I use on this blog:Your post titled "The Prisoner, bondage and niche marketing" has been put behind a warning for readersHow about that! I published the post on Dec. 8, 2010, and only now has Google saved young impressionable people from its nefarious mind-warping. If a teenager read the post on its day of W. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-17521699757250565712022-12-22T14:53:00.000-08:002022-12-22T14:53:00.918-08:00Water barons move into Napa, and Supreme Court considers wine shipping againThe property now owned by Wonderful. Photo courtesy Visit Napa ValleyAccording to Mother Jones, the owners of Fiji Water use "more water than every home in Los Angeles combined." Now, after buying a Napa wine brand last year, they are buying up a property right on Silverado Trail. But they won't take possession right away -- showing just how valuable Napa winery buildings are now.Details in this W. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-27519992546596242702022-12-19T08:29:00.002-08:002022-12-19T08:29:00.168-08:00If you like Chianti Classico, you'll like Chianti Rufina Chianti Rufina makes good wines, the equal of Chianti Classico in quality but with a more rugged, savory character, the product of its cooler, mountainous terrain. But it's not in Chianti Classico, which
makes nearly 12 times as many wines per year.In October I visited the region for the first time to write about its new higher-end classification, TerraElectae. I was impressed by the winesW. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-50758213680098886992022-12-05T15:38:00.000-08:002022-12-05T15:38:01.431-08:00Herbicide overkill and a story about Mexican enologyPhoto courtesy iStockHey friends. I'm still trying to figure out how to deal with the unpleasant Musky aroma of Twitter, which I used to frequent both for fun and professionally. I haven't deleted my account, but I don't like giving Musk free content either. Until some other social media site pops up to fill the sparrow-sized hole in my day, I'm going to try to fill in at least the W. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-56802332008019278302022-10-12T14:19:00.013-07:002022-10-20T10:00:12.477-07:00Endorsements for the November 2022 election in San FranciscoIt's always darkest before the dawn. We can turn San Francisco around!Here we go again! It's the fourth election this year in San Francisco, and I am here to share with you how I plan to vote.Usually I write a very short intro of who I am and why I do this. But this election is different. The No. 1 issue in SF this year was whether or not to recall pro-crime District Attorney Chesa Boudin in JuneW. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-3238294938846754152022-10-12T14:18:00.002-07:002022-10-12T14:43:43.981-07:00Election endorsement intro: who I am and why I do this
Who am I, and why should you care about my political endorsements?I'm a freelance wine journalist; I chose this path because wine is the most interesting topic. But I have more relevant journalistic experience. In the SF Bay Area I have been a city editor at two local newspapers. At the second, I was on the editorial board, did some endorsements and won an award for editorial writing. I started W. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-48387891340838166762022-05-30T08:00:00.002-07:002022-05-30T10:14:07.223-07:00Endorsements for the June 2022 election in San Francisco (including the Chesa Boudin recall)Chesa Boudin's philosophical predecessor, Judge Jonathan CraneWelcome to a very ho-hum primary election, with one exception at the very end.All of the statewide office elections on the ballot are primaries, but unlike most states, California allows the two top candidates into the November general election, regardless of party. Democrats will ultimately win most if not all of the statewide officesW. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-3083248516133128632022-01-21T06:00:00.001-08:002022-01-21T06:00:00.191-08:00Lisa Perrotti-Brown makes some interesting accusations, and maybe solves the Wine Advocate sake mysteryLisa Perrotti-Brown MWLongtime readers of The Gray Report may remember that in 2016, I discovered an unusual situation whereby every sake rated 90 points or more by the Wine Advocate was available at one retailer that sold only those sakes. It was as if the retailer, which I later learned seemed to have a connection to Robertparker.co.jp, had prior knowledge of which sakes the Advocate would W. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-38314347852923990592022-01-17T09:48:00.005-08:002022-02-06T16:44:01.911-08:00Endorsements (with bonus rant): San Francisco school board recall election February 2022Total Recall! There are three races on this ballot, but one is much more important and attention-getting than the others, and will get the bulk of this post.Let's do the easier ones first:State Assembly District 17 special primary: Bilal MahmoodThis is ironic. The position is open because David Chiu, who beat Chris Campos for an assembly seat in 2014, decided to take the San Francisco City W. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-86375461018009889262022-01-13T17:46:00.003-08:002022-01-13T17:58:28.488-08:00Update: Sonoma County spokesperson confirms that San Francisco Chronicle wine competition appears to be in violation of health order
The San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, ongoing in Cloverdale in northern Sonoma County, is indeed in violation of Sonoma County's health order this week banning large gatherings. But nothing is going to happen about it unless a Sonoma County resident complains. And even then ... nothing is going to happen.This is an update of my blog post yesterday. Sonoma County Communications Manager W. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-63759427533013692202022-01-12T16:14:00.002-08:002022-01-12T21:08:49.098-08:00Chronicle Wine Competition continues in apparent defiance of Sonoma County health orderThe Chronicle Wine Competition posted these photos on Jan. 12On Monday, Jan. 10, Sonoma County issued a health order prohibiting gatherings of more than 50 people indoors, effective Wednesday, Jan. 12 at 12:01 a.m.The San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition began Monday Jan. 10 in Cloverdale in northern Sonoma County, and as of Jan. 12 in the afternoon, it is still going on, despite apparently W. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-82728865954308163782021-12-22T06:09:00.001-08:002021-12-22T06:09:22.987-08:00 Cannabis industry update from the Cannabis Business SummitCannabis is already a huge business -- $23.6 billion in sales in the US in 2021. And there's room to grow fast because the industry is still not reaching as many female consumers.This was one of the findings presented at the Cannabis Business Summit in San Francisco last week by Cy Scott, co-founder of Headset. Headset works a bit like Nielsen; it takes data from receipts from cannabis stores in W. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-81302064239894846462021-09-08T09:09:00.001-07:002021-09-08T09:09:22.400-07:00Haiku tasting notes for autumn 2021Shorter than twitterhaiku tasting notes capturethe feeling of wineI have been keeping haiku tasting notes for a few months since claiming I could do it. In most cases I took traditional tasting notes and then wrote the haiku. Some of these wines and sakes I have written about elsewhere; for others this will be my only memory, save the ephemeral grace of drinking and enjoying them. These are all W. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-41547727025788201822021-08-16T07:02:00.003-07:002021-09-05T15:11:53.641-07:00Election endorsement: Should we recall California governor Gavin Newsom?
Photo courtesy Michael S. Williamson, Washington Post
Election endorsements are a tradition at The Gray Report, because I think we yell too much about national politics but don't discuss our local choices enough. This could be the easiest election endorsement ever. Unlike a regular ballot with school board candidates I've never heard of and complex ballot propositions, there are only two W. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-17685195536401944522021-07-21T15:46:00.002-07:002021-07-21T15:48:02.728-07:00Drinking & Knowing Things: A book review
Michael Amon
This is a sponsored post: Michael Amon paid me to write about his book. He also offered (and I accepted) to pay my higher pre-publication-preview sponsored-post rate without seeing the post ahead of time, but this is a guy who cites some wine brands that he likes despite ... well, let me just quote him writing something I would never dare to write, about a wine he actually W. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-43060898700302481012021-05-18T06:00:00.001-07:002021-05-18T06:00:00.169-07:00Professional wine tasting notes are for the reader, not the writerTen years ago I went to the Professional Wine Writers’ Symposium and hated the session on writing tasting notes so much that I have complained about it ever since. This year the Symposium went virtual, with an interesting, diverse set of speakers, so I signed up. Perhaps this was predictable: while I enjoyed some of it, I hated the sessions on tasting notes so much that I was either going to W. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-61531557922658677602021-04-15T14:28:00.001-07:002021-04-15T14:28:27.647-07:00Beautiful scenes from this spring's dangerous frost in TuscanyThe story of 2021 for the wine industry in most of France is going to be the devastating frost that might reduce the crop by half or more, nationwide.Until I got an email this morning from a winery in Tuscany, I wasn't aware that Italy faced the same fear. Nor, I'm sorry to say, do I know anything about the extent of the damage in Italy. Take a look at these photos taken on the nights of Apr. 7 W. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-78393475662292288222021-03-16T11:50:00.001-07:002021-03-16T11:50:21.085-07:00How do people choose which wine to buy? An informal survey
Last month I was staring at three bottles of wine. Each was the same grape variety and from the same basic region (but not sub-region). I didn't know anything about the producers so there was no reason to blind-taste, but before diving in nose-first, I got to wondering -- if I was in a store or restaurant, and these three very similar bottles were on offer, which would I choose?This is a W. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-71912189048431785212021-01-18T06:00:00.001-08:002021-01-18T06:00:07.243-08:00I drank smoke-tainted canned wine and liked itSans Wine Co. makes some of the best canned wines in the country, and to prove that fact they held an online media tasting last week of three different vintages from three varieties. They wanted to prove that canned wine can last on the shelves: apparently it can, as the 2017s were just fine in 2021. I also learned something more significant.We tasted nine canned wines: three Cabernet Sauvignons,W. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-43079347954742381382020-12-30T15:42:00.003-08:002021-01-02T07:22:29.962-08:00I am so proud of my worst 2020 stories about wineI am immensely proud of the weakest stories I wrote in 2020. I was off my game for about half the year, and nobody told me they noticed.People have noticed that I haven't been blogging, though, so here's why. 2020 was a difficult year for many people so I'm not special. I did not get Covid-19, fortunately, but I did have an abscess in my intestine that required two 8-day hospital stays and a veryW. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-74323071367178299472020-10-16T11:31:00.009-07:002020-10-22T07:40:51.896-07:00Endorsements for the Nov. 2020 election in San Francisco
Greetings. Hopefully most of you have already voted, but if not, I'm here for you.Election endorsements are a tradition at The Gray Report because I think we don't talk (not scream) enough about political choices, and that's how we get dangerous extremists in office.This year's ballot is a seminar in wealth economics. Government is not a business: it must provide services for free that cost theW. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-17312846054634969382020-09-02T06:00:00.000-07:002020-09-02T07:36:45.172-07:00National Black Farmers Association asks for a court injunction ending Roundup sales
Two weeks after spraying with Roundup. Courtesy UC
Roundup may be the most widely used and thus financially successful herbicide in history. But brand owner Bayer is already facing a reckoning after agreeing to pay $10.9 billion to settle claims that the weedkiller causes cancer.
The National Black Farmers Association wants more than just money: it wants Roundup rounded up and taken outW. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-1954220877693226472020-08-30T06:00:00.000-07:002020-08-30T06:00:08.441-07:00Guest post: Don't write off the 2020 vintage, says Sonoma vintner Jake Bilbro
Jake Bilbro, author of this guest post and owner of Limerick Lane
I got a call last week from Limerick Lane winery owner Jake Bilbro, who is concerned that media coverage (including mine) about smoke is going to unfairly taint the reputation of the 2020 vintage. I offered Jake an opportunity to write a guest post. These are his words, lightly edited.
"2020 has been an unparalleled year in W. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-66332788442838256562020-08-11T06:00:00.000-07:002020-08-11T08:35:40.464-07:00Quiz: Guess which very popular wine has more residual sugar?
What's in the wines America is really drinking? I can't tell you about additives -- those aren't listed on the label, as the wine industry as a whole prefers secrecy, even as young consumers keep saying they want to know what's going in their bodies.
What I can tell you, thanks to the labs at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, is how much residual sugar is in some of the most popular wines W. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.com13