Where to start

In my earliest days in the wine business, back in the early '70s, I learned more from the WORLD ATLAS OF WINE than from any publication since, and I still think that there's more one can learn from that book than any other single source. I could be wrong, but even if I am, it's a journey worth taking!

In my earliest days in the wine business, ........ I learned more from the WORLD ATLAS OF WINE than from any publication since,

Yes, but the world was much smaller then.

So, Brian, was that class taught by the aptly named Dr. Vine? If so, do you know that he retired a few years ago? The class, thankfully, lives on.

Mark Lipton

Yes it was. Dr. Vine did a lot for me and my interest in wine - he went above and beyond just teaching a class. He spent a lot of time talking to me about wine, allowed me to sit in classes when I wasn't enrolled to taste different wines, put me in touch with lots of people in both the academic side and industry side of the business when I was thinking of making wine a career. I really owe him a lot. I did not know that he retired but good to know that the class continues.

Yes it was. Dr. Vine did a lot for me and my interest in wine - he went above and beyond just teaching a class. He spent a lot of time talking to me about wine, allowed me to sit in classes when I wasn't enrolled to taste different wines, put me in touch with lots of people in both the academic side and industry side of the business when I was thinking of making wine a career. I really owe him a lot. I did not know that he retired but good to know that the class continues.

In the 1960s, Richard P. Vine co-authored "The Home Wine Makers Handbook" with Walter S. Taylor of Bully Hill fame. I have a hardcover copy signed by Mr. Taylor, who made many drawings that are included in the book. It was the first book on wine making that I ever bought and I still refer to it. I contacted Dr. Vine by email a few years ago about writing a second edition to the book, as I believe the original would be in public domain by now. He encouraged me to do so, but I haven't had the time to pursue it. In addition, after leaving the Finger Lakes, I believe he was involved in running a winery in Niagara County, NY in the early '70s. One of these days I have to meet him.

Reminds me of a cartoon I saw many years ago. The Supreme Court Justices were all seated at the bench and one of them says "I may not know what pornography is, but I know what I like".

I went to a seminar once that had a section of it called "everything there is to know about sex." Not why I went, but I was of course curious as to what they were going to tell us. The answer was, "when you're hot you're hot; when you're not, you're not." Period. Not another word about it. And from then on I never pondered any such issue.

In my earliest days in the wine business, back in the early '70s, I learned more from the WORLD ATLAS OF WINE than from any publication since...

Agreed. We've got the fifth edition. The Wine Bible was our first wine book purchase, and the World Atlas of Wine, by Johnson and Robinson, was our second.