My Third Podcast -- Details about the March 21st Polaner Selections Tasting!
Twenty-two of our vignerons will be in New York on March 21st and I'm podcasting all about this exciting event!

There will be lots of side tastings, events, dinners, concerts, charity events and gallery openings associated with the week.

For more details, listen to the podcast below, either on your IPOD or on your desktop computer.

Evan Spingarn, the wine author and agronomist who also works for David Bowler Selections in New York, will not be attending any of these events although we would be happy to see him there.

To hear this interesting podcast, please click below:

The Wine Importer's Third Podcast on the Polaner Selections March 21st Tasting!


- Joe Dressner 2-28-2007 4:45 pm [link] [3 refs] [6 comments]

Back in New York, Leaving to Montreal!
I have no time to talk or to post witty and intelligent observations.

Don't miss the exciting Polaner Selections tasting tomorrow in New York. They should have a great selection of interesting wines from our company and from producers all over the world!

Remember, that one of the great things about Savignin is that it is one of the few white wines which is both powerful and dry! What a wine it can be!


- Joe Dressner 8-21-2006 2:07 pm [link] [2 comments]

What a Polaner Tasting and Here We are In Portland, Oregon!
Nearly 600 people attended Tuesday's Polaner Selections tasting in New York. It was a great crowd and there were people from all over the country and all walks of life. I counted at least two veternarians, one from Omaha, Nebraska.

Wednesday was a travel day with The Real Wine Assault winding up in Portland, Oregon.

One little known fact I have learned here in Portland is that Pierre Breton and Thierry Puzelat are pool sharks. The flights out there were uneventful and Jean-Paul Brun managed to sell 14 cases of Beaujolais to the air hostesses on Frontier Airlines.

Don't miss today's exciting trade tasting here in Portland. You have to be a card carrying member of the Wine Industry, but we would love to see! Call Holly Wing at Domaine Selections for more information. Her cell number is 503 389 7243.

Our thanks to Dino for the great dinner last night at the Family Style Restaurant.
- Joe Dressner 3-23-2006 12:39 pm [link] [4 comments]

Real Wine Assault Schedule!
Here's the final schedule, more or less, of the Real Wine Assault 2006:


Saturday March 18th, 4-8 pm, Chambers Street Wines
There will be a fabulous tasting followed by a fabulous dinner at the fabulous 360 Van Brunt restaurant in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Dinner reservations must be made through Chambers Street. Vignerons include:

1. Catherine Roussel & Didier Barrouillet: Clos Roche Blanche
2. Franck Peillot, Bugey
3. Marc Ollivier: Domaine de la Pépière
4. Evelyne & Isaure de Jessey-de Pontbriand: Domaine du Closel
5. Nadia Verrua: Cascina ?Tavijn in Piedmont
6. Mario Zanusso: I Clivi from Friuli
7. François Pinon, Vouvray (along with several of his daughters)
8. Eddie Wrinkerman, Domaine Wrinkerman in Pacherenc-de-Vic-Bilh
9. Pierre Breton, Bourgueil
10. Thierry Puzelat, Clos du Tue Boeuf in Touraine
11. Sylvie & Thomas Morey, Domaine Bernard Morey in Chassagne-Montrachet
12. Grégoire Hubau, Château Moulin Pey-Labrie (Canon-Fronsac)



Monday March 20th, 5-8pm, Tasting at CRUSH Wines on 57th Street
This tasting will include all the above, plus:

Jean-Paul Versino, Bois-de-Boursan in Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Jean Manciat, Mâcon



Tuesday March 21st, 10-5, Puck Building, Polaner Selections Portfolio Tasting
This is a trade tasting, by invitation only, which will include 28 producers who work with Eric Solomon, all of our producers listed above, and:

Jean-Paul Brun, Domaine Terres Dorées in Beaujolais
André Iché, Château d'Oupia in Minervois
Alain Coudert, Clos de la Roilette in Fleurie
Catherine Le Bihan, Mouthes le Bihan in the Southwest
Christine and Eric Nicolas, Domaine de Bellivière, Jasnières
Eric Texier , Rhône Valley


Wednesday March 22nd, 6-8pm, Prospect Wines, Park Slope in Brooklyn
Jean Manciat, Mâcon
Nadia Verrua: 'Tavijn


Thursday, March 23rd in PORTLAND, Oregon
That's right, Wednesday is a travel day and we are off to the West Coast. There will be two main events:

Trade Tasting at 1 pm: Studio 1050 at 1050 SE Water Avenue
Contact Domaine Selections, our fabulous wholesaler, for more information.

Fabulous Public Tasting Organized by the Guy Du Vin! 6:30 to 8:30 pm at the same spot!
Call the Guy Du Vin at 971.244.1596 to reserve a spot.

The following vignerons will be appearing:
1. Catherine Roussel & Didier Barrouillet: Clos Roche Blanche
2. Franck Peillot, Bugey
3. Marc Ollivier: Domaine de la Pépière
4. Isaure de Jessey-de Pontbriand: Domaine du Closel
5. François Pinon, Vouvray (along with five of his daughters)
6. Eddie Wrinkerman, Mas de Wrinkerman in the Côtes-de-Toul
7. Pierre Breton, Bourgueil
8. Thierry Puzelat, Clos du Tue Boeuf in Touraine
9. Jean-Paul Versino, Bois-de-Boursan in Châteauneuf-du-Pape
10. Jean-Paul Brun, Domaine Terres Dorées in Beaujolais
11. André Iché, Château d'Oupia in Minervois
12. Alain Coudert, Clos de la Roilette in Fleurie
13. Catherine Le Bihan, Mouthes le Bihan in the Southwest
14. Christine and Eric Nicolas, Domaine de Bellivière, Jasnières
15. Eric Texier , Rhône Valley

Friday, March 24th in SEATTLE, Washington
We have rented a private plane to zoom us up to Seattle that morning.
There will be a trade tasting, two delicious dinners, and an in-store tasting.
Triage Wines Trade Tasting 1:00-4:12 pm at the Palace Ballroom


Dinners at Campagne (206-728-2800) and Le Pichet (206-256-1499)
The vignerons will be splitting up and there will be dinners at the above restaurants. Please call each restaurant for reservations and details. Catherine Roussel from the Clos Roche Blanche will be appearing at both restaurants simultaneously.

Saturday, March 25th at McCarthy and Schiering -- Tasting with Pierre Breton and Thiery Puzelat
Pierre and Thierry will be pouring at the store's two locations:

McCarthy and Shiering
Ravenna Shop from Noon to 2:00 pm
6500 Ravenna Ave NE
206-524-9500


Queen Anne 2:30-5:00 pm
2401 Queen Anne Ave N
Phone 206-282-8500

Saturday, March 25th at SAN FRANCISCO's K&L Wines from 1:00 pm to 4:12 pm

This event will include acrobats, clowns, oysters, star chefs and prominent television personalities. Everyone will be there who was in Portland, except for Thierry Puzelat and Pierre Breton. They have to go home! Contact K&L for all the details

Sunday Morning, March 26th at 10 am -- Ride San Francisco's Famous Cable Car with Catherine Roussel of Touraine's Clos Roche Blanche
The group will be leaving Market and Powell at 10 am. Please contact MUNI for further information.


Sunday Night, March 26th -- Fabulous Dinners at Cav Winebar (415 437 1770) in San Francisco and Baywolf (510-655-6004) in Oakland
Please call each restaurant for details. The Baywolf dinner is being organized with Paul Marcus Wines of Oakland. The vignerons will split up but Catherine Roussel from the Clos Roche Blanche will be appearing at both restaurants simultaneously.


Monday, March 27th Estate Wines Ltd. Tasting at Fort Mason from 1:00 pm to 4:12 pm
This is a trade-only tasting which will include everyone still standing except for Jean-Paul Versino, who has to go home.


- Joe Dressner 3-02-2006 9:11 pm [link] [3 refs] [14 comments]

Point/Counterpoint on the History of the Term Spoofulation
I wrote an article several weeks ago about spoofulation and modern wine.

I received a note this morning from Harmon Skurnik on the origins of the term Spoofulation. Mr. Skurnik has been gracious enough to let me print his contribution here. I am also printing the response from Michael Wheeler, who I have previously credited as the popularizer of the term.

Harmon Skurnik, along with his brother Michael Skurnik, is a partner in Michael Skurnik Wines in New York. In addition to being a distributor, they are also the national importer of Terry Thiese's German, Austrian and Champagne selections. Over a decade ago, Michael and Harmon created a new standard in wine distribution that is being followed by other companies around the country and in many ways the emergence and success of their company marked a significant break in the dominance of the wine trade by old-time liquor/wine wholesalers. See my article about Sidney Frank.

Mr. Wheeler is a former salesman at Winebow and later Michael Skurnik Wines, and is now a partner in Polaner Selections, also a distributor in New York. Doug Polaner, who founded Polaner Selections along with Tina Fischer, is also an alumnus of Skurnik wines. Polaner Selections is part of a newer wave of wine distributors, who draw on the earlier work of the Skurniks.

Point: From Harmon Skurnik
Dear Joe:

I just read your "Christmas Spooftide Carol" however - and I would like to point out some incorrect historical references that appear in the following paragraph:

"I have received many inquiries lately about the origin of the word Spoofulation. While there is some controvery about the origin of the word itself, there is little question that the popularizer of the term has been Michael Wheeler, the famed New York Wine Industry Personality. Anyhow, here goes....

Spoofulation is a form of manipulation which takes wine away from nature and into the technological world of fake extraction, fake aromatics, fake flavors, fake density, fake acidity, fake tannin levels, fake color and fake sugar levels.

Basically, fake wines."

First off, it is unquestionably true that Wheeliamo is the biggest "popularizer" of the term in recent years but he is not the originator of the term (nor the original "populizer")


Michael Wheeler (on the left) and Harmon Skurnik

The truth of the matter is that Mr. Wheels first heard the term while under the employ of Michael Skurnik Wines from the original "populizers" of the term, Michael and me. We used the term often at sales meetings, etc, but alas, it never meant "fake wine" - it seems to have morphed into that meaning but did not originally have that meaning at all.

The origin of the term is as follows (I have explained this to Wheels in the past but he finds it hard to believe, for some reason. But alas, it is true.

The Year Was 1990 (give or take two years) - my wife Lori and I were traveling through Napa Valley and we stopped upon the tasting room of Chateau Montelena...as we tasted through their wines, the pretty young girl behind the counter explained to us how Montelena's Chardonnay did not go through malolactic, and therefore retained some acidity and freshness, after which she uttered the famous words, "not like all those spoofulated Chardonnays being made in the Valley these days".

I proceeded to ask her what she meant by "spoofulated" and she explained that she meant the new (at the time) style of Chard i.e. full malolactic, ultra rich, lees-stirred, golden, extracted, low acid Chards that were just starting to be produced by the likes of Helen Turley etc (and which Parker, incidentally, had yet to discover). She was passionately defending Montelena's style of Chard, which was old fashioned (and frankly works quite well in the often torrid Napa
Valley)...

Lori and I both laughed at her term "spoofulation" and repeated the story several times on the trip. Upon returning home, Michael and I started using the term in sales meetings to refer to wines that were overoaked, overwrought in some way, or with too much "makeup" on them to really let the terroir, if there is any, to shine through. Not "fake
wines" - just misguided ones that are "underwined".

Anyway, I think Wheels latched onto the term at one of our sales meetings and started using it freely and adopted it as his own cry for "natural wines" - and, of course, that's a good thing - all of us who are the defenders of "real wine" (yes, even us, Joe) out there want to promote what's real and uncover the fakes. But "spoofulated" wines, as
defined by the originator, are not always bad. Coche-Dury's awesome Burgundies, for example, are "fully spoofulated" in my mind, but they have the material to withstand all that manipulation! And they are far
from "fake".

Thanks for listening - just wanted to clarify this piece of winedom history. LOL

Feel free to post my thoughts on your "blog" (I would if I knew how!)

Your friend and colleague, Harmon Skurnik


Counterpoint -- Mike Wheeler
Harmon:
I look forward to Joe's response and I will not argue that you brought the term to NYC...

But the word as used by the Montelana lady is of no interest for the true meaning of Spoofulated.

Until a word is recognized by the Webster or other dictionary's (even if slang) the word is open for discussion, empowerment, and most important "usage", and the use of this word you knew in Cali in 1990 is not the term in use now all over the country today, 16 years later....it has morphed, congrats to you for being an important part of history!!

Spoofulated as used by all the people I know is a term for many modern process's applications etc

These include: 200%+/- new oak, rottofermenters, micro ox, oak chips, de-acidifying, spin cone, reverse osmosis, adding nontraditional/not approved grapes to blends (for example Vallana Spanna's in the glory days, he added Aglianico but sold it as pure Nebb, aka he was one of the Great Historical Spoofalators, history has many examples of Spoofalicious Wines, like great Pinot with "Rhone/Algerian" juice added, I had a 59 Chambertin the other day that was awesome, been sitting in a cellar for over 40 years, yummy but not pure Pinot hence, Spoofulted)....also spoofed wines are wines where enzymes/yeast/flavors are added to "create" a wine etc

So yes Spoofulated wines can be Spoofulicious, some of these I know Joe would not love but he is correct that the current use of the term Spoofalted in 2000's wine jargon is as he describes...



- Joe Dressner 1-20-2006 4:37 pm [link] [10 refs] [7 comments]

An Amazing Distributor Part 2
Polaner Selections distributes about 80% of our wines in New York and New Jersey.

Doug Polaner, Tina Fischer and Michael Wheeler are the owners of this dynamic company. They have introduced and successfully marketed not only our wines, but a range of great producers like López de Heredia and Guisseppe Mascarello, plus they sell Eric Solomon's wines! Not only that, they handle the wines for my cousin Eric Sussman at Radio-Coteaux.

What is remarkable about Polaner is that they create wine excitement and have transcended the humdrum salesmanship of wine distributorships. They bring an added value into the market at a time when distribution is going over to standardization, consolidation and boredom.

We're having our 11th Annual Louis/Dressner Selections tasting this year and the bulk of the wines are with Polaner. But what is remarkable is that the entire Polaner organizations throws themselves into promoting the event, even though there will be lots of wines they don't sell and don't make money from. I can't say I know another distributor in America who would be so generous with their time and resources.

Two people came to our First Portfolio Tasting in 1994 -- Amy Pommier and Danny Cohen of the now closed l'Acajou restaurant. We expect at least 25 people this coming Wednesday, maybe even more, and we have Polaner Selections to thank for our added presence in the New York marketplace.

We're also fairly certain that Amy Pommier will be attending for the 13th consecutive time.

All our thanks to everyone at Polaner Selections! From the inside people who have helped us with samples and logistics (Kathleen, David, Eric, Roselyn, Carol and Carolina) to the salespeople (Mark, Susan, Tim & Tim, Meg, Linus, the new guy upstate, the new guys in New Jersey, the new woman in New York and Josh who succeeds at selling our wines in New Jersey despite enormous market obstacles) who pound the pavement selling our wines.

And of course to Doug, Tina and Mike.

All our thanks.
- Joe Dressner 10-14-2005 2:43 pm [link] [4 comments]

1947 Barolo Chinato from Teobaldo Cappellano to be Showcased at Louis/Dressner October 19th Tasting!
Actually, his father made this wine.

Michael Wheeler, a past recipient of the Wine Personality of the Year Award, has graciously donated a bottle of this rare wine for the tasting. The wine has been stored for nearly 50 years and is the latest library release from the Michael Wheeler Wine Library.

Mr. Wheeler will be presenting this wine, along with a wider range of Cappellano wines, during the October 19th Louis/Dressner Tasting. Mr. Wheeler is a principal in the firm of Polaner Selections, who distributes the bulk of Louis/Dressner wines in New York and New Jersey.

A google search has found some interesting background on this wine....lifted from the Kobrand Wines web site. Kobrand sells lots of great wine and I want to thank them for the use of this material:

In the 1800s, pharmacists were also referred to as "chemists" or "druggists," as they occupied a role of therapist to their patients in administering compounds of spices prepared in their pharmacies to help overcome various indispositions such as flu, colds, headaches, digestive and appetite problems and other ailments. These compounds were produced from a few basic pharmaceutical products which they had at their disposal combined with raw materials naturally available in the area in which they pursued their art. Relying on the scientific knowledge of the day and their imaginations, these pharmacists created unique preparations often effective for their purposes.

Of particular note was a pharmacist of Serralunga d'Alba, Giuseppe Cappellano, first known as a gourmet and then as a pharmacist. Resident of an area of great gastronomic tradition, he seriously undertook the creation of an efficient digestive. His love of fine Barolo was reinforced by his belief in the wine's therapeutic properties when drunk well aged, and so he began his research with this great wine. He departed from an alcohol infusion of quinine bark ("china") to which he added numerous herbs and spices such as clove, wormwood and cinnamon; this was blended with Barolo slightly sweetened with cane sugar. This delicious elixir soon became famous among the Piemontese bourgeoisie and much appreciated by the house of Savoy, who served it at royal banquets not only as an excellent digestive, but also as an aperitif and as a dessert wine to accompany chocolate.



- Joe Dressner 10-06-2005 11:59 am [link] [2 refs] [8 comments]

Anyone Attend the Polaner Selections Tasting?
I was in France and could not make it.

I heard Eric Solomon was there!

Anyhow, how did it go? Any highlights?

Did my cousin from Radio Coteau show up?
- Joe Dressner 8-23-2005 11:00 pm [link] [7 comments]

Real Wine Attack Week Details!
Here's the fabulous schedule for Real Wine Attack week:

New York -- Saturday March 12th, 3-7pm @ New York's Chambers Street Wines:
François Pinon from Vouvray, Marcel and Marie Richaud from Cairanne, Jean-Pierre and Chantal Frick from Alsace


Seattle -- Monday March 14th, 1-5pm, Triage Wines @ Triage Wines warehouse
This is a Trade Only Event
Alain and Mireille Renardat-Fâche of Cerdon du Bugey fame
Franck and Nathalie Peillot from Montagnieu in the Bugey
Meet Kevin McKenna from Louis/Dressner and LDM Wines!
Meet John Putterman, Louis/Dressner Northwest Regional Manager!



New York -- Monday March 14th, 5-8pm @ Whole Foods, Time-Warner Building
Jean-Pierre and Chantal Frick from Alsace
Meet Someone from Louis/Dressner Selections!


Boston -- Tuesday March 15th, 1-4pm, Carolina Wines @ Legal Seafoods Restaurant, Park Plaza
This is a Trade Only Event
Jean Manciat from the Mâconnais
Philippe Béraud from Mas St-Joseph in the Costieres de Nimes
François Pinon from Vouvray
Jean-Paul Brun from the Domaine des Terres Dorées in the Beaujolais
André Iché from Château d'Oupia in the Minervois
Isaure de Pontbriand-Cribiore from Domaine du Closel in Savennières
Catherine Roussel and Didier Barrouillet from the Clos Roche Blanche in Touraine
Catherine Breton from Bourgueil
Eric and Christine Nicolas from Domaine de Belliviere (Jasniere and Coteaux du Loir)
Marc Ollivier from Domaine de la Pépière in Muscadet
Meet Sheila Doherty from Louis/Dressner and LDM Wines
Meet Joe Dressner from Louis/Dressner and LDM Wines






New York -- Wednesday March 16th, 11am-5pm, Polaner Selections @ Puck Building: all the above (including Sheila Doherty, Kevin McKenna and Joe Dressner)
Trade Only
Catherine Le Bihan from Mouthes le Bihan in Côtes de Duras
Frédéric Alary from Oratoire St-Martin in Cairanne (who swears Marcel Richaud is the greatest vigneron in Cairanne)
Marcel and Marie Richaud from Cairanne (who swear that Fred Alary is the greatest vigneron in Cairanne)
François and Manuéla Chidaine from Montlouis and Vouvray
Alain and Mireille Renardat-Fâche from Cerdon du Bugey
Franck and Nathalie Peillot from Montagnieu in the Bugey
Jean-Pierre and Chantal Frick from Alsace
Meet Mike Wheeler!
And Meet Denyse Louis!


Brooklyn, New York -- Thursday March 17th, 6-8pm @ Slope Cellar, Brooklyn
Frédéric Alary, Marcel and Marie Richaud -- The Cairanne Gang!


New York -- Thursday March 17th, 5:30-7:30pm @ Astor Wines and Spirits
The Chidaines from Montlouis
Renardat-Fâche from Cerdon du Bugey
André Iché from Château d'Oupia
Domaine du Closel
Marc Ollivier from Domaine de la Pépière in Muscadet
Meet Eddie Wrinkerman from Louis/Dressner and LDM Wines!


New York -- Thursday March 17th, 5-8pm @ Whole Foods in the Time Warner Building
The Peillots from Bugey
Catherine Breton from Bourgueil
Françlois Pinon from Vouvray
Meet Jiggs Parsons (Metro Sales Manager) from Louis/Dressner and LDM Wines!


Brooklyn, New York -- Thursday March 17th, 6-8pm @ Prospect Wines, Brooklyn
The guys from Clos Roche Blanche in Touraine
The guy form Domaine des Terres Dorées in the Beaujolais
The striking couple from Domaine de Bellivière


New York -- Friday March 18th, 4-7pm @ Chelsea Wine Vault
An Alary from Oratoire St-Martin,
An Iché from Château d'Oupia
A Pontbriand from Domaine du Closel






New York -- Friday March 18th, 5-8pm @ Acker Merrall & Condit:
Two Chidaines from Montlouis
A Bearded Vigneron from Domaine de la Pépière in the Muscadet

New York -- Friday March 18th, 5-8pm @ Whole Foods
The Charming Renardats from Cerdon du Bugey
The Charming Roussels from Clos Roche Blanche


New York -- Friday March 18th, 4-7pm @ Astor Wines & Spirits
The Dynamic Peillots from the Bugey
The Intense Catherine Breton from Bourgueil
The Elusive Marie and Marcel Richaud from Cairanne
The Effervescent Jean-Paul Brun from Domaine des Terres Dorées
The Debonaire Christine and Eric Nicolas from Domaine de Bellivière
The Banal Joe Dressner from Louis/Dressner and LDM Wines


Giant Chambers Street Gala on Saturday March 19th, 3-7pm @ Chambers Street Wines
The Wacky Chidaines from Montlouis
The Suave Peillots from Montagnieu
The Generous Renardats from the Cerdon du Bugey
The Sophisticated Catherine Breton from Bourgueil
The Happy-Go-Lucky Roussel/Barrouillet from Clos Roche Blanche in the Touraine
The Distinguished André Iché from Château d'Oupia in the Minervois
The Avuncular Jean-Paul Brun from Domaine des Terres Dorées in the Batard-Beaujolais
The Bearded Marc Ollivier from Domaine de la Pépière in the Muscadet
The English Fluent Isaure de Pontbriand-Cribiore from Domaine du Closel
Those Devil-May-Care Nicolas from Domaine de Bellivière (Jasnieres and Coteaux-du-Loir)

Followed by Dinner, Reservation Only at:
Restaurant ICI
Fort Greene, Brooklyn, 8pm until 3 am
Info through Chambers Street Wines
The Dinner will be at a reasonable price. Call Chambers Street for Information.




- Joe Dressner 3-04-2005 10:11 pm [link] [18 refs] [8 comments]

Thank You For Your Warm Birthday Wishes!
Yes, September 15th is my birthday....having been born in 1940.

I want to thank everyone who has called and sent e-mail today!

I particularly want to thank Linus from Polaner Selections, who told me:

You're so fucking old they've archived you ass, dude!

Thanks again!


- Joe Dressner 9-15-2004 5:28 pm [link] [1 ref] [5 comments]

Don't Miss Today's Polaner Selections Tasting
Yesterday's tasting in Boston was a smashing success.

Another six vigernons arrived from France last night and there will be 34 vignerons from Louis/Dressner at today's gala Polaner Selections event.

This marathon, all-day affair should be great fun and we hope to see you there. Consult the Polaner Selections site to find out more information about the tasting or call me on my cell phone at 646 833-2913.

To find the Polaner site, do an advanced Google search and search for all the following words:

Copain Brewer-Clifton Carlisle DuMol Pax Michael Wheeler

- Joe Dressner 3-03-2004 10:55 am [link] [2 refs] [5 comments]

Michael Wheeler Wins the 2003 Wine Personality of the Year Award
Michael Wheeler, a principal in Polaner Selections, was overwhelmingly voted the 2003 Wine Personality of the Year Award today.


Michael Wheeler


Michael started out in retail years ago, then aided Winebow in becoming a major player in the national wine market. Next, he was off to Michael Skurnik Wines, where he was instrumental in their leap from a small house to a major, quality distributorship.

Three years ago, Mr. Wheeler left Skurnik to become a principal in Polaner Selections. That company is now one of the hottest distributorships in the country. Along with Douglas Polaner and Tina Fischer, Mr. Wheeler has propelled Polaner Selections from a small start-up to a major force in the New York/New Jersey market.

But all this gives little sense of what makes Michael Wheeler the man of the year. Mike is not just a salesman. Mike is not a Lomanesque brand pusher.

Mike Wheeler makes his customers, colleagues and suppliers remember what is joyful about wine. Why wine and food can be such a grand and deep pleasure for all of us. Mike Wheeler has mastered the fine art of communicating his enthusiasm and making it contagious. The man is a walking, talking, irresistible explosion of generosity and joie de vivre.

Mr. Wheeler is not the most powerful person in the wine trade. But he is what every one of us in the trade wishes they could be.

Congratulations to Michael Wheeler, Wine Personality of the Year.
- Joe Dressner 1-08-2004 3:16 am [link] [10 refs] [11 comments]

A Great Tasting!
We rarely do events, but it went great the other day.

Everyone at Louis/Dressner worked like lunatics, the tasting was a great success. The wines tasted great, there was good food, lots of people came, they lingered and there was no Marquis Phillips Shiraz 2002.

What more could a wine geek ask?

I would also like to thank Mike Wheeler, wine distributor icon extraordinaire, for convincing us to do the tasting. We'd also like to thank everyone at Polaner Selections for promoting the event, even though we were showing much paraphenalia that we don't have listed with them.

Yes, we're all schnooks in the wine trade.

But occassionally, we transcend our miserable schnookdom.

I'd also like to thank the people who came from out-of-town. The two Ricks from Connecticut, Boston Wine Impressario Steve Mosher, Melanie Mann of Whole Foods Seattle who is planning to take over the New York market, and Brooklyn Restaurant Impressario Arnaud Erhard from Red Hook.

Part-time Louis/Dressner employee Mona Moore also played an exemplary role.

Again, thanks to all.

I'm off to Chicago this week to suck up to Sams. They're opening a mega store in New York, and we desperately need their business.
- Joe Dressner 10-05-2003 1:12 am [link] [1 ref] [17 comments]

Thanks for a Great Week!
I want to thank all the vignerons who showed up in New York for taking the time and spending the money to come over here and promote their wines.

I also want to thank the folks at Polaner Selections for throwing a great tasting last Wednesday. Hordes of New York wine types attended and the event was one of the more exciting wine schnook events I have ever been to in this town. They're a bunch of geniuses over there at Polaner.

I want to thank David Lillie at Chambers Street, Jeff Connell at Astor, Amy Pommier at Prospect Wines, Bruce at Sea Grape and Evelyn at 67th Street for all the tastings in New York.

I also want to thank Rick Franco in New Canaan for throwing an Eric Texier tasting at his store and taking out a fabulously expensive ad in The New York Times.

I would like to thank my wife Denyse for all her moral support, my children Jules and Alyce, and my parents Sam and Irene. Not to forget Buster, for all the fun and joy he brings to my life.

Lastly, I want to thank Harvey, who shared a dormitory suite with me our freshman year at a unspecified university many years ago.

Harvey, who has perfected the art of the acceptance speech.

Harvey gets to make acceptance speeches every year at the the big movie award ceremony. He has a big budget and runs whirlwind publicity campaigns to make sure his films win.

I have no budget.

I blog.

Sometimes I have blogger's block.

But knowing how much my work is appreciated by my readership is enough to keep me going, blogging away.

I want to thank Jim for making this blog spot possible.

Thank you very much.
- Joe Dressner 4-12-2003 1:28 am [link] [3 refs] [3 comments]

Genuine French Vignerons Coming to Town!
Come Taste Their Wines!
Scores of Genuine French Vignerons will be coming to New York and Connecticut starting March 29th and hanging out through April 5th.

There will be many events for people in the trade and for people not in the trade. You're invited to attend!



A Genuine French Vigneron (the guy in the white shirt wildly gesticulating) Showing His Wines to Excited American Consumers

Here's the festivities:

Saturday, March 29th -- 4-7 p.m.
Chambers Street Wines Hosts an All-Charnay Event!
With Eric Texier and Cult Beaujolais Winemaker Jean-Paul Brun

Wednesday, April 2nd -- 11 to 4 pm
See 12 Different Authentic French Vignerons at the Polaner Selections Tasting
But you have to be a card-carrying member of the wine trade!

Thursday, April 3rd
Astor Wines -- 5 to 8 pm
See Eric Nicolas from Jasnières, François and Manuela Chidaine from Montlouis, Jean-Paul Brun, Paul Lignères from the Château la Baronne in Corbières!

Prospect Wines in Park Slope -- 5 to 8 pm
Pierre Breton from Bourgueil, Eric Texier from Charnay, Marc Ollivier from the Domaine de la Pépière in Muscadet, Franck Peillot from the Bugey!

Chambers Street Wines in Downtown Manhattan -- 5:30 to 7:30 pm
Cosmoculturist Philippe Viret from St-Maurice and Evelyne de Jessey from the Domaine du Closel

Seagrape Wines in Greenwich Village -- 5:30 to 8:30 pm
The fabulous André Iché from the Château d'Oupia in the Minervois!

Friday April 4th

Slocum and Sons
Everyone will be at a special Slocum and Sons tasting outside of New Haven. But you have to be an employee of Slocum and Sons to attend.

Astor Wines -- 5 to 8 pm
Eric Texier, Evelyne de Jessey, André Iché and Franck Peillot

Prospect Wines -- 5 to 8 pm
Philippe Viret, Eric Nicolas, François and Manuela Chidaine, Paul Lignère from la Baronne

67th St Wines on West 68th Street -- 4 to 7 pm
Pierre Breton, Marc Ollivier, Jean-Paul Brun

Saturday, April 5th
Chambers Street Wines -- 4 to 7 pm
Everyone will be there! It's going to be one big event! Except for Jean-Paul Brun and Eric Texier. Brun will be taking a plane back to France. Eric Texier will be in New Canaan....


Franco's Wine Shop in New Canaan, Connecticut
Yes, Eric Texier will be here in New Canaan, Having the time of his life!

So, be sure to join us at one of these exciting tastings.

Hopefully, someone will soon tell me what time they all start and when they end. See you there!
- Joe Dressner 3-30-2003 2:57 pm [link] [3 refs] [27 comments]

All Our Thanks to Everyone at Polaner Selections
We went up to Mt. Kisko this morning to have an important meeting with the people at Polaner Selections.



This company is our distributor in New York, except for wines that come from the Pineau d'Aunis grape.

I just want to thank them publicly, inasmuch as this can be considered a public place, for the fine job they are doing getting our wines out to an unsuspecting public.


- Joe Dressner 11-19-2002 2:37 am [link] [3 refs] [2 comments]

Douglas Polaner Selections Burgundy Tasting is a Smashing Success!
Hundreds of New York/New Jersey Area Wine Schnooks attended the exciting Douglas Polaner Selections 2000 Red Burgundy Tasting.

While this is a non-glamorous vintage (appraisals of the vintage range from shitty to difficult), there is no doubt that the best growers still produced interesting wines. Particulary, if their importers have a large Australian book filled with blockbuster wines raised in gobs of new oak!

One highlight of the tasting was the appearance of a delegation from the Chevaliers du Tastevin, straight from their home in the Clos Vougeot. The group lead the assembled tasting in a round of cheerful songs, ending with the old classic: Je Suis Fier d'Etre Bourguignon.



Various Members of the Tastevin at the Douglas Polaner Selections Tasting


- Joe Dressner 6-06-2002 11:41 am [link] [4 refs] [3 comments]

The Wine Importer Back in New York City!
I will be pouring 2000 Red Burgundies today at a schnook-centered event at the Beacon Restaurant.

All members of the wine trade are invited to this important tasting. Don't miss it!

The idea of this event is that nobody wants to buy Burgundies unless a significant amount of them are pre-sold. Can you blame the importers and wholesalers of America? So we will be testing restaurant and retail interest before ordering vast quantities of Burgundies that will collect dust in a warehouse. A questionnaire will be handed out to all tasting participants and their responses will determine the eventual orders.

The event is sponsored by Douglas Polaner Selections, our main wholesaler in New York City. Other celebrity wine importers will include my good friend Peter Weygandt and Peter Wasserman. Peter Finkelstein, of World Shippers, will not be pouring wine as Peter Polaner Selections does not do business with World Shippers and all of Peter Finkelstein's 2000 Red Burgundies are already pre-sold.

Peter Wasserman is the son of celebrity wine broker Becky Wasserman, who lives in Burgundy, and Peter himself works for celebrity importer Mark Whitmore. This makes Peter a double-celebrity.

Peter Weygandt, in addition to his high-scoring Australian Wines portfolio, also has a full and distinguished line of French wines, with some outstanding Burgundies.

Peter Nolis of Garnet Wines and Liquor might be attending, although he is not the Burgundy buyer at Garnet. Whatever happened to my friend Peter Aaronson, the former member of the Niagra Liberation Front (NLF) during the late 1960s at the University of Buffalo? Does he too have a stunning Burgundy Portfolio?

The Wine Importer is very tired so I will be terse with you if you attend today's event. I just got back from schnooking around the Chicago wine scene. That scene is so demented that retailers lure employees at competitor retailers to become moles, right out of a John LeCarré novel!

Several years ago, some schnook working at one of the big chains was actually enticed into letting the chain's competitor know all the pricing for upcoming advertisements on various branded wines like Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay and Domaine de Pouy Côte de Gascogne. In return, the mole received a double salary. This espionage allowed the competing chain to undercut the pricing of Kendall-Jackson by one dollar a bottle in newspaper advertistements, leading to millions of dollars of captured sales.

Finally, the mole was caught by the George Smiley of the Chicago wine trade, lawsuits ensued, the mole was fired and finally received retail-schnook-salesman-refuge at one of Chicago's leading stores (following an extensive debriefing in suburban Skokie).

All this leads one to ask what sort of demented people could be behind such crazy activity?

One good thing about my trip to Chicago is the head of my wholesale company told me that until recently he had mistaken me for Russell Hermann. He thought I was yet another schnook with yet another stunning portfolio of outstanding producers that no wholesaler in their right mind really needs.

Prior to my visit to complain about poor sales in Chicago, the wholesaler's director looked at our corporate web site and this web site. He now realizes how we have a special perspective on selling only hand-harvested, non-yeasted, non-enzymed, non-hormonized wines. We are iconoclasts, he told me, and he loves marketing iconoclasts. We expect sales to rise expotentially in Chicago over the next six months, a market which appears to have no lack of iconoclasts. By the way, 8 out of 10 restaurants in Chicago are owned by a chain called Let Me Entertain You.

Please call me on my cell phone to confirm you attendence at today's New York Burgundy Tasting.
- Joe Dressner 6-04-2002 12:47 pm [link] [9 refs] [8 comments]

The 17th Reason I Like Being a Wine Importer -- You Meet Lot's of Famous People!

Who is Peerless, you ask? And why should I be impressed by Joe Dressner meeting Nino Magliocco, Peerless' owner?

Peerless Importers has some of the most beloved liquid assets around. The company, founded in 1943, distributes wine and spirits in New York and Connecticut. Its spirits catalog includes blends, brandy and cognac, cordials and liqueurs (including Baileys Irish Cream), gin, rum, scotch (including J&B), and vodka. Wines are imported from Australia, Chile, and Western Europe. Unfortunately, Peerless Importers does have peers and has, in the past, lost business from liquor giants Diageo and Bacardi Limited to New York rivals like Charmer Industries. The Magliocco family (through its Quaker Equities holding company) owns and operates Peerless Importers and its Johnny Barton subsidiary. The firm ranked Number 417 in the Forbes Private 500, has 1,200 employees and billed over $600 million dollars in 2000 (according to the ever-reliable Hoover's News).

Although I knew Peerless was a big company, I had no idea what they actually sold. Nino was quick to inform me of all the above, and also pointed out that they sell Louis Jadot wines, wines from Paterno and various other imports. I told him that I always get confused between the big companies and can never keep straight which one is actually Hublein and which one is actually Somerset & Schieflin.

This is a little know fact about the wine/liquor trade: two giant behemoths, the aforementioned Hublein and Somerset & Schieflin control every company with the exception of Louis/Dressner Selections, Mark Whitmore's Vineyard Expressions, and the Shiverik portion of Langdon/Shiverik (although the late Louis Langdon long sold out to Hublein). Prominent national importer Andrew Scott, for instance, is a Hublein creation and paid agent, who maintains the elaborate pose of being an independent agent. This allows Hublein to get favorable reviews from Robert Parker. More recently, these two mega-firms conspired to destroy Seagrams, which is now being dismantled by the notorious Vivendi company, a well-known French Freemason Front with long-standing ties to Somerset & Shieflin. Rumors have it that Hublein will get Captain Morgan but Somerset & Schieflin gets all the rest (including that well known Angerville brand).

Anyhow, Mr. Magliocco told me I should give him a call as even Neal Rosenthal had recently called Peerless about helping him distribute some of Mr. Rosenthal's excellent wines. I was rather taken aback that Mr. Magliocco would make such a strident offer, as I was tasting with one of the principals in Douglas Polaner Selections, a seemingly independent New York/New Jersey distributors who carries many of our wines. Much to my relief, Nino Magliocco had never heard of Polaner.

Anyhow, 10 minutes later, who should walk in but Tom Brokaw the NBC newscaster! Brokaw was looking for enzyme-treated New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs (although I will give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he did not realize that they are enzyme-treated and actually enjoys all that gooseberry taste. Despite Brokaw's proclivities, I did manage to get him to taste a Clos Roche Blanche Sauvignon Blanc 2000 which he claimed to like and actually purchased.

Yes, the wine business is a glamorous business.

- Joe Dressner 1-01-2002 7:22 pm [link] [7 refs] [13 comments]

The Most Beautiful Baby of the Year 2001
The verdict is in.



Mason Polaner.

Son of Doug Polaner and Tina Fischer.

Doug and Tina are two of the three principal owners of Douglas Polaner Selections, a wine distributor in New York and New Jersey.

We have reserved 18 Jeroboams of Hérétiques for the lucky lad to enjoy on his 18th birthday.
- Joe Dressner 12-13-2001 11:10 pm [link] [3 refs] [1 comment]

Grape Varieties, Lawyers and Medications

Originally Posted on Thursday, April 5th, 2001

Yesterday was another glamorous day in the life of The Wine Importer.

6:00 AM -- Wake up, make oatmeal for breakfast. Oatmeal is very good for heart disease. I had four bypasses last May and have to take endless medications and eat lots of oatmeal to remain alive and to evangelize Pierre Overnoy's wines. Who else will do this if I falter?

8:00 AM -- Spoke with a French Lawyer who guaranteed, for a modest fee, that he would bring the Citibank and Crédit Agricole to their knees. Both banks will soon be rewarding my firm vast sums of money.

8:30 AM -- Called Long Island Carpet Cleaning to arrange to have the ugly wall-to-wall carpeting in my apartment cleaned. I would like to strip the carpets off the floor and just have wood floors, but legally I'm obligated to cover 80% of the apartment's surface. Given we have a dog who scurries around the apartment and my son Jules has taken to riding his skateboard and doing elaborate tricks in our flat....I suspect we need to maintain some level of sound insulation. But the carpets get so dirty and so ugly. Every few months we have those miracle workers at Long Island Carpet Cleaning come to our apartment and totally clean the carpets, leaving them almost as clean and shiny as the first day they were installed. The carpet cleaners are coming on Friday, but cannot guarantee what time. It will be somewhere between 9 am and 5 pm, they assure me.

8:45 AM -- Get on my fabulous Swiftfolder bike and ride to work. I'm in an energetic mood and purposely take a 55-minute trip over the Queensboro Bridge (immortalized in the 60's by Simon and Garfunkel) through industrial Queens and industrial Brooklyn and then return to Manhattan over the Williamsburg Bridge to our office somewhere in Soho. Of course, I cannot play my usual mental game of counting the number of Duane Reade Drug Stores I pass and using my chronometer to time how long it takes to go from one Duane Reade to another Duane Reade. Industrial Queens and industrial Brooklyn are official Duane Reade Free Zones (New York Mayor Rudolph Guliani calls them DRF Zones). Instead, I count how many trucks from 1800-MATTRESS pass by me. Only three of them this morning. Unfortunately, I cannot get the jingle from the 1800-MATTRESS commercial out of my head and hum it to myself for the entire duration of my bike ride.

9:45 AM -- Arrive at my office and check my e-mail, foreign currency rates, faxes from angry French vignerons, and faxes demanding we pay for services we performed for free or at our expense for our customers. This last ‘charge’ is part of the wine racket -- if we travel to another town, we pay for the air fare, the hotels, take out the customers and salespeople from the distributor, organize a luncheon and pay for it, and get nary a thanks. It is a norm of the wine racket. A few weeks later we receive a bill for every last bottle of Muscadet or Gris du Toul that was open during our stay. We throw out this bill immediately. One month later we get a threatening letter from the distributor. Then their collection department calls. Then they start deducting money from payments. Distributors call these sort of trips "work-withs." They call me personally a "rep." What do I "rep?" A "supplier" named Louis/Dressner Selections. What are my wines called? "Brands," "Product," or “Products."

9:55 AM -- Make reservations on Amtrak to take a Metroliner to Baltimore on Monday morning at 7 AM. This is altogether too early for me to be traveling, especially considering my heart problems, but my mother is having a Passover Seder on Sunday evening and I want and have to be in attendance. I am of the Jewish persuasion. One of the joys of this Seder will be having my sister-in-law say that she actually prefers the Manischevitz Heavy Malaga to the other wines available at the dinner. Since no one is religious I don’t bother to bring horrible Kosher wine, but my folks always have one bottle of the Heavy Malaga.

10:00 AM -- Organize documents for the meeting later today at our lawyer. Why am I going to Washington? A shipload of Louis/Dressner product just arrived there and I have four days of work-withs scheduled with our distributor there to move boxes and promote the brands.

10:15 AM -- Retailer in New York calls and orders some Corbières. He wants to know exactly what grape varieties are in the wine and in what percentage. I make up something that satisfies the guy. Why he, or his customers would like to know this sort of information is a mystery to me. The wine is a blend dominated by Carignan and there are many more interesting things to say about this wine then to describe what grape varieties are in the bottle. So, it is just easier to make something up. Later in the day another retailer calls and gets my wife on the line -- I'm already at my Cardiologist. The retailer wants to know what grape varieties go into Franck Peillot's Modeuse from Bugey, which the retailer has on his shelves and likes very much. My wife says Mondeuse, which is the actual answer and all is well. We are considering reducing the Louis/Dressner catalog to mono-cépage wines to avoid all this bothersome talk with customers and consumers about varietal composition.

10:30 AM -- A guy named Peter from San Juan calls and wants to know how he can get three cases of Cerdon du Bugey for a marriage in two weekends in Puerto Rico. As importers, we cannot sell to consumers, but apparently retailers in New York City can ship to Puerto Rico. I tell him that I do not condone or condemn the shipment of wine to Puerto Rico (in case he is actually an agent of the New York State Liquor Authority) and suggest he call a store I know that carries the Cerdon. Five minutes later a retailer from the Hudson Valley calls to get prices on the Cerdon du Bugey. Turns out a friend of the guy in San Juan has already called this retailer who is desperate to bag the three-case sale of Cerdon. I inform him that the wine is distributed by Douglas Polaner Selections and that I had unfortunately sent his potential customer to another store. The best and most satisfying part of this whole exchange was that no one asked me what grape varieties go into the Cerdon du Bugey. Later in the day a woman calls and asks if we sell to the public. I ask her if she is a member of the public and when she informs me that she is I tell her that we Federal and State laws prohibit us from selling wine to her. Assuming yet another call for a wine from the Bugey I ask her what wine she wants. She is looking for Sutter Home.

10:42 AM -- A phone company calls offering us a national rate of 1.2 cents a minute and 3.4 cents a minute to France. I say "no thank you" and hang up the phone.

11:00 AM – I feverishly print out, annotate and collate the information for our law firm, Klein, Foster and Steinfesse. Someone from a distributor calls to complain that Garnet Wines is lowballing the price on the Clos Roche Blanche Cabernet in Garnet's New York Times ad on Wednesday. We sort of agree, but what can you do? The caller then wants to know what grape varieties go into the Clos Roche Blanche Cabernet -- is it Cabernet Franc or Cabernet Sauvignon or a mix of the two. It is actually only Cabernet Franc. I hang up the phone and am relieved that I had an entire 45 minute interlude without talking about the dreaded "What Grape Varietal" question. I am assuming that my lawyer and cardiologist will not be discussing grape 'varietals' when I see them later today. But who knows? Spring is here and Grape Varietals are in the air!

11:43 AM -- Take cab to 14th Street to the corporate offices of Klein, Foster and Steinfesse. The entire Board of Directors of our firm converges on their offices where we discuss the latest legal challenge to our wine work. Peter Steinfesse, our attorney, assures me that we will not only collect $30,000.00 in debt, but will also make $50,000.00 in damages! Wow! I wasn't certain if this was a new episode or a repeat. Steinfesse looks remarkably like many of the character actors who appear on NBC's long-running Law and Order television series. Apparently, if we pre-emptively sue on one issue, it short-circuits our opponent's attempt to sue us over inflicted business damages. Or something like that. We were fearful that our antagonist would resort to physical reprisals. Happily, they have only used theft, slander, racism and sexism. We can deal with that. There is talk of dragging long-time Louis/Dressner confidant Eddie Wrinkerman into the legal arrangements as some kind of designated hitter. Wrinkerman has the same relationship to Louis/Dressner Selections that Bebe Rebozo had to President Nixon. But frankly, I lost Steinfesse Esq.'s logic on this matter.

1:13 PM -- After this exhausting meeting, the entire board adjourns to a restaurant called Republic in the Union Square neighborhood. Since the Board has 14 members, we purposely pick this restaurant as they have large tables that can accommodate such a large group at short notice. Noodles are healthy, nutritious, and inexpensive. For $6.00 to $8.00 you can enjoy a bowl of noodles which includes a healthy broth, starch, fresh vegetables, and a variety of meats and fish, depending upon the dish you select. The decor is minimalist, with a "sit-where-you-will" seating arrangement in a strikingly smart and modern space. Service is provided by a chic, hip staff. I wanted to order a wine and then grill the chic and hip waiter over what grape varietals were in the wine but the restaurant only serves beer.

2:42 PM -- Return to our office. There are almost 15 messages for us, the vast majority dealing with the varietal composition of wines we sell. It takes over an hour to clear up all the confusion.

3:42 PM -- A representative from Verizon telephones calls to propose sending me a free cell phone. I give him my address and tell him to send it as quickly as possible. The representative then wants to know which service plan I want. I tell him I do not want a service plan but only want the phone, which he had graciously offered me for free. He insists I have to have a service plan. I tell him that if I have to have a service plan then the phones are not for free and that I will report Verizon to the Better Business Bureau for false advertising. The representative wants to know what I will do with a cellular phone that is not connecting to any wireless provider. I tell him that it is none of his business. I find the entire discussion a relief, having gone through a day of varietal discussion and legal argumentation. The Verizon representative eventually hangs up on me.

4:02 PM -- We receive a fax with a lot of orders from some hapless distributor who thinks they can make money with our product. We then have to spend 40 minutes doing the necessary paperwork to facilitate the movement of the brands from suppliers in France to the hapless distributor's warehouse somewhere in America. We have a mix of distributors -- some are hapless and some are dynamic. But to stay in business we need both of them. Some of the distributors who are hapless about wine are great personalities. Some of the distributors who are wine geeks are insufferably humorless. As Georges Prat has taught me, I look for a Geobalance. One thing is for certain -- as soon as the container arrives with out product one of us will obligated to go to the hapless distributors' city and do work-withs and have our firm receive bill-backs.

4:32 PM -- A New York retailer calls to ask if there is any more 1999 Morgon Javérnieres left in town. I tell him that there is no more Savennières. He says, no, not Savennières but Javérnières. I tell him that no, the Jasniéres has not arrived. I offer to send him a free cellular phone and hang up the telephone.

5:00 PM -- My daughter calls to speak to my wife and complain bitterly about her life.

5:12 PM -- My son calls to find out what we will be eating for dinner.

5:18 PM -- Someone calls to sell insurance.

5:30 PM-- Prepare to see my new Cardiologist. I just fired my old one, but regret that my new Heartman is not in a building where I can leave my bicycle as was my old guy. So, bikeless, I go down to Lafayette street to hail a taxi. After 12 minutes a taxi comes and a woman and I almost come to blows over who will get possession of the free cab. I ask her where she is going and it is on my way, so I offer to let her off for free. She seems hesitant but finally agrees. She's a very nice chain-smoking woman who is picking up her 4-year-old son at a day-care center. I go on to New York University Hospital and arrive at my Heartguy's office on time at 6:00 PM.

6:42 PM -- after sitting around for 42 minutes the guy finally sees me. At least he has the decency to apologize about the delay, the last Cardiologist never cared. Anyhow, the new one doesn't want to take any lab tests and pronounces me as fit as a beaver after poking at me some and taking an EKG. Fit as a beaver or some other medical term I did not understand. The only problem is that my homocysteine level is too high and he wants me to take a higher level of folic acid every day, along with a megadose of B12 and B16. Already I'm taking Baby Aspirins and Lipitor to lower my cholesterol. The Heart Guy makes this judgment based on old lab reports that my former doctor has forwarded him. Nevertheless, despite my insistence, he doesn't want me to take new lab tests but wants me to wait six weeks and take the new medication regimen and then take a lab test. He will then review the results and call me. I mention that we should make an appointment as I will be going to France around June 10th for the summer. He says it is unnecessary, that he'll look at the lab results in six weeks and then decide if I need to see him. Otherwise, I should call him in September when I return. Assuming, I'm still alive. So, finally, I have changed Cardiologists and get another indifferent guy. What's the point? At least the last guy, who I just fired, allowed me to bring my bike into his office. Of course, the last guy let me have a low level of homocysteine without any preventive measures. The guy was so busy with his busy practice and his hot tub in Great Neck (in which he was reported to study the Talmud!) to ever look at my chart or test results. The worst thing about being ill is having to see doctors. The only thing I could imagine that would be worse than this is being dependent on oenologues.

7:35 PM -- Arrive at the Duane Reade Drug Store to buy megadoses of B12, B6 and Folic Acid.

7:42 PM -- Take a cab crosstown to meet various wacky internet wine personalities at a famous Indonesian restaurant for dinner. I suspect that every detail of this evening will soon be appearing somewhere on the internet so I will leave it to others to chronicle the evening. All I will say was that the Rijsttafel was sumptious.

11:15 PM -- Arrive home. My wife informs me that Neocork, a leading manufacturer of synthetic corks, has initiated a multi-million dollar lawsuit against our firm. Something about libel, slander, Pineau d'Aunis and my having blabbed confidential material that led to the firing of one Stuart Yaniger. Steinfesse received the papers while I was being poked by my Cardiologist and sent a summary to our home fax.

11:47 PM – Fall asleep. I decided to call it a night as I had forgotten to get home to watch re-runs of Seinfeld that are now on at 11 PM, rather than 7:30 PM – having switched from the WB to Fox. Dream that George Castanza has been transformed into Steve Plotnicki. Or was it Stuart Yaniger?

- Joe Dressner 5-08-2001 5:08 pm [link] [96 refs] [7 comments]