Arthur Miller visits

Would of course never see this in US, due to alcohol licensing restrictions. Closest would be the company that used to throw parties to sell dreck.

Feel sorry for the Willie Loman type.

Indeed a hard way to make a living. But my guess is a geek like you isn't the target audience. Like an insurance salesman, they're looking for residuals. Their prime customer is the person who likes wine but doesn't really think about it. Taste a wine they like, and order a couple of cases per month, drinking a bottle most nights. The variety- seeking geek isn't the target.

Thanks for write-up, interesting peek into a part of wine missing in US.

That sounds like a great item for the Bourgogne FAQ ;-)

Mark Lipton

You're a dreamer, Ed. And I mean that as a compliment.

Good Willie, (we called them Good Willie and Bad Willie), actually expressed some pleasure at the fact that we knew something about wine. He estimated that 5% of his clients are reasonably knowledgeable. So I think most of the comments he hears are of the "yeah, pretty smooth" sort.

However unlike Bad Willie he only shows up on appointment, so that's got to make things quite a bit easier.

-E

Thanks, I will make a point of it. Sounds like a wonderful tasting. Tales (and experiences) like this only serve to make the US "pay to taste" business all the more painful for me...

-E

Emery Davis wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@loki.domain.org:

The US is not uniformly 'pay to taste'.

In Oregon's Willamette Valley, it's fairly evenly divided, with some others that will set free tastings for the more ordinary of their wines, but require payment for their better offerings.

Washington Walla Walla area is mostly pay to taste, the Yakima Valley rarely pay to taste.

And for most of the above, if you buy, your tasting fee is waived.