I had to chuckle the other day when my friend Jack over at Fork & Bottle sent me this link to an article in Forbes magazine which has the subtitle: “Lift your glasses to the ten individuals who craft the finest wines in the U.S.”
Now I won’t tell you the various expletives and emoticons that Jack used to convey how flabbergast he was at this article, but I will encourage you to note that after the name of the individual and the wineries they work at, the next piece of data which Forbes chooses to show is their gross revenue in millions of dollars.
Now, it’s hard to argue with some of their choices, like Heidi Peterson Barrett, who, even if you’re not a fan of the style of wines she makes (I happen to like many of them) certainly makes some of the most sought after wines in the U.S. But there are other folks on the list who seem like they’re there because they just happen to make a bazillion dollars making wine. Now I certainly don’t hold that against them, but in my book that doesn’t qualify you as the maker of the best wine around. Maybe I just don’t share Forbes’ definition of “fine wine”
Anyhow, the list was:
Heidi Barrett — La Sirena
Chris Camarda — Andrew Will Winery
Merry Edwards — Merry Edwards
Randall Graham — Bonny Doon
Jess Jackson — Kendall-Jackson
Celia Maysczek — D.R. Stephens
Joel Peterson — Ravenswood
David Ramey — Ramey Wine Cellars
Tony Soter — Etude
Warren Winiarski — Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars
