Address letters to: wine.bitch@winexmagazine.com

Dear Angelina Malhotra-Singh:

I read your Editor in Chief Comments in Wine X Magazine, Vol. 4.3. I offer either my apologies or congratulations. Apologies if you've been Editor in Chief for some time (which escaped my eyes in previous issues). Congratulations if you're new in that challenging position.

Wine X Magazine is very professionally done, its contents very apropos for the targeted market. Everything is just the way it should be. I had the pleasure of meeting Darryl Roberts a couple of years ago in Seattle and must say that he has assembled a team of associates that perfectly implement his objectives.

Keep up the good work. You're "attacking" a market of young people who, due to your efforts, will be the future wine drinkers of our country. Without you, they would probably stay with Coca Cola or other alcoholic spirits.

Best regards,

Joe Garrigo

Wine X:

Ya know, since reading the wine X reviews via the recent email newsletter (my first one), I'm determined to find more writing that rings of the same witty Gen X rock star/pop culture/catholic school analogies. How brilliant! Who writes these? Are there only these snipits in the form of reviews, or are there whole articles written this way? What else can I read that's written in the same style? By the same author(s)? Lovin' it! More, more, more.

Regards,

Mara

Hi Wine X:

I saw your magazine (The 2nd Anniversary edition), and web site, for the first time yesterday and I wanted to thank you for your refreshing style and approach. Wine needs more folks with your attitudes & philosophy.

BTW, you may be interested (and somewhat amused) by a discussion of your magazine which is currently taking place on the alt.food.wine internet newsgroup.

Having started the discussion by applauding your style, it seems that I am now engaged in a heated defense of your philosophy regarding wine reviews!

If you would like to see the discussion go to:

http://www.deja.com/group/alt.food.wine

and click on the thread "Wine X Rules".

Thanks Again for the fun publication!

Your newest fan (and impassioned defender?!),

Ed

Dear Editor,

I was really disturbed to see that you guys accepted a huge (two pages, inside the front cover) ad from Winston cigarettes. I understand that you guys are in business for a profit, but it always seemed to me that your corporate philosophy would stop you from taking money for a product that you knew harmed, and continues to harm, people as well as the environment.

I especially wouldn't have thought you'd take the money for running the ad when you consider that smoking hurts our ability to enjoy wine. It deadens the palate and alters flavors and you guys know that. At least you should.

Sincerely,
Gavin Fritton
Overland Park, Kansas

Wine X Responds: It was a tough decision on whether to accept cigarette advertising or not, but as you pointed out, it's the bottom line that some times makes that decision for you.

We've given the wine industry almost three years to show their support of our magazine and mission to reach out to a younger generation of wine consumers. They have, for the most part, ignored us. So, we now must seek others who are smart and savvy enough to understand the buying potential of young adults.

We all know that cigarettes are harmful. And we're all adults. We make decisions every day that either help or hurt us. Choosing to smoke (or not to smoke) is one of them. Just as choosing to drink (or not drink) wine is another.

Darryl Roberts
Publisher

Dear Winebitch:

After reading your current issue (as well as those that came before), I think I figured out why you don't seem to be able to get your magazine out on time. You have nothing to say - especially concerning wine.

I thought the idea was to get people interested in wine. I don't believe that what you are doing (though admirable in your intent) is working in any meaningful way. The package is o.k. but I believe that ultimately you are going to need to develop more credibility with your content. Like everything else in this shallow culture of ours, most of the writing in Wine X is all posturing. There just isn't much in your publication that in the long run will make your readers turn to you as a source of good, reliable information in the future. I don't think that straightforward, clear, well researched wine information, the love of wine, and your cutting edge style are mutually exclusive. I wish you luck, but I have been very disappointed so far.

Sincerely yours,

Dave Holstrom
Wine Director
The Heathman Group
Portland, Oregon

The front page of today's Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, CA) has an article titled, "Incoming K-J CEO: Time Ripe for Change." So I prayed to the gods of liquid karma that the ensuing litany of corporate crap will have some semblance of soul. But to no avail. Paragraph one leads with insults hurled over a dinner table, and the next finishes with his [the new CEO] friends teased relentlessly about the unsophisticated wines he served with dinner.

I'm sorry, but if I were reading the article as a person who'd just discovered the joys of liquid karma and saw how this poor waif was ridiculed simply for his choice of dinner wines... I'd be shakin' in my dinner party penny loafers!

With an open mind (well, not really) I continue the read hoping, again, that at some point the crux of the article would be, for lack of a better descriptor, contemporary. But it's the same old pompous diatribe with big business gloss. Quotes from the Expecterator no less!

Just a quick thanks to Wine X for sending positive vibes out in print. Always in need of spiritual guidance,

Fred in Hopland

I've just received your 2nd Anniversary issue and, as usual, am enjoying your refreshing brand of wine journalism! But what's really attention-getting is the cover. Otherwise respectable gentlemen have inquired as to the possibility of obtaining said cover in poster form -- myself included. How about it? Is there a source for such a thing? I know I could sell and/or give away a dozen or two. Please let me know. And congratulations on your continued success!

Sincerely, Chuck Warinner, Proprietor
Dilly Deli Wines & Gourmet
Cincinnati, OH

Editors Note: We're looking into printing our first cover (which is also our 2nd Anniversary cover) in poster form. We'll let everyone know when it's available.

Dear Daryl & Wine X Staff,

I just clicked on your website, being a hopeful wine enthusiast, and WOW! I finished reading many of the articles, including your wake-up call seminar speech. I was impressed. Your article inspired me to become more of a Gen X wine specialist.

Finally, a magazine that understands what it's like not be the SUV/BMW drivin', cellular-glued, laptop carryin' baby boomers. We are Generation X, and my God, we deserve more respect than that! I would like to extend a high-five to you guys and gals for being so informative, critical and honest about all issues relating to wine. I look forward to reading and learning more about wines.

Jonathan Nazareth

Dear Darryl,

Wine X is one of the best fucking magazines I have ever come across.

Sincerely,

Andrew Pickard

Wine X,

What a hoot. Here I am on a seismic boat offshore Borneo and found your site. I enjoy and collect wine at home in Perth Australia. Reading your back issues I found some of the best and most concise reviews ever. I don't know what Cassis tastes like and doubt few people on the planet other than wine critics do. I am pleased to see you gave one of my favorite cheapies, Koonunga Hill, three stars. I have just recently finished the last of my 1993 and started on the 94. It ages beautifully. Sorry about the review on Bin 707. I have 4 bottles which I haven't tried yet. But trust me, some of the other vintages are outstanding. Hopefully with a lot of aging the 94 might do something.

Regards

Les Todd
Leslie Todd
Exploration Consultants

Dear Darryl,

Delighted to see the magazine creating, expanding, evolving... "better but different." Keep it up! In the Wine Bitch section of the June/July 1999 issue, you give a vigorous but unneeded defense of your "X-Rated" evaluations, unneeded because the style you've choosen is worthy and useful. The 100-point (and other point scale) systems suggest that an esthetic question, "How does this wine taste on an absolute scale?" can be given a precise answer that will be meaningful to anyone but the taster. What could be more absurd? Especially since almost all the ratings fall into the upper 20 percent of the possible scores. The Wine X ratings are highly personal - as are all ratings - and they're fun, besides. As you say, it's not about numbers; it's about the total experience.

Cordially,
Jan Wells
Cannon Wines Limited

Darryl,

I was amused to read the article in the recent Spectator about Sammy Hagar's wine collection. I'm sure it was just coincidence that Wine X had a similar (if much more in-depth) feature several months previous.

Good to see you leading Spectator down the path of hipness and enlightenment.

Andy Perdue, editor
Wine Press Northwest magazine
Tri-Cities, Wash.

Darryl,

I read your magazine on the plane back from LA last night and just loved it. The irreverant wine reviews had us in stiches and the confident voices and great writing in each of the stories got me so motivated that I came home and wrote until 2:30 in the morning.

Jan Halper

Darryl,

I just read "Marketing Wine to Generation X" and wanted to let you know that I thought it was an outstanding article (lecture). I just found your site and it was the first thing I read. I only hope that the industry is wise enough to take your message seriously. Keep up the great work, and I look forward to the rest of what your magazine has to offer.

Dan

Dear Mr Roberts,

My name is Cathy Willcock. I'm an Australian baby of wine -- only 22 -- but with a burning passion to change stuff. I'm both overwhelmed and utterly impressed with your magazine, to say the least. First of all, I work at Concilio Vini in Northeast Italy. For the past month I've been pouring over wine books in search of info. How boring are they? I'm so unimpressed with the wine industry at the moment. But isn't everybody? There's only one writer in australia who does it justice, his name is Max Allen. Do you know his work? His first and only book is 'Black and White,' a good read actually, one that you can curl up in bed with. Can you imagine taking hugh johnson to bed? They're all pompous wankers who write for other pompous wankers. That's what I love about Wine X, it's like sitting down with a mate and having a chat over coffee.

Cathy Willcock

Dear Mr. Roberts,

I just wanted to write to say "Thank You" for narrowing my options. I'll be starting the MBA Program at Sacramento State University in the Fall and I've been contemplating what my thesis project will be. I've done a report on the marketing of Zima and done some small business consulting for a hard cider company here in the Sacramento area so I knew I wanted to do something involving the low-alcohol beverage industry. I didn't know what field, specifically (beer, wine, cider), until I read your seminar, Marketing Wine to Generation X, on your website. I'm very interested in the marketing of alcoholic beverages and I found this to be one of the most interesting and insightful articles I've ever read. After I began reading it I knew my thesis would involve wine and Generation X. I don't know a topic, specifically, but I've subscribed to your magazine and I think something will come out of it. Thanks for the inspiration.

Brandon Westling

Mr. Roberts,

An ad-rep at my paper slipped me a printout of your 1996 tirade to the SWE. RIGHT ON, as my generation was wont to say. For the last 10 years at least, I've been nagging my colleagues to start treating wine like a beverage, not a fucking sacrament, with no luck, until this year, when they've finally gudgingly begun to allow me to write about the subject without ever talking about that piquant whiff of oakiness that sends 90 percent of Americans heading for the Coors Light. Your piece will be a great help in getting other writers to see how to approach the subject for a paper aimed smack-dab in the middle of the demographic you describe.

The first piece I wrote, about knockout Washington reds under $10 bucks, generated more fan mail than anything else I've done this year. It also generated a lot of traffic in the local supermarkets and wineshops. I hope this is cheering news for you. It sure was for me.

I look forward to exploring your site. Keep up the good work.

Roger Downey
Senior Editor
Seattle Weekly

Hello,

Just wanted to drop a line about your magazine. I am definitely in tune with what you're trying to do. Being 25, gay, and a wine buyer, I've seen very little of myself in the people around me (whether's it's customers, vendors, or peers at tastings.) I would love to get involved with what you're doing. If you have a tasting board, or any other avenue of involvement, I'm offering my time.

Thanks,
Paul Courtright

Hey guys, I just checked out your site and like what your doing! I hope you can reach more young people and show them what a great thing wine can be. I am 32 and own my own small vineyard in the Temecula Valley AVA in California (South Coast). I've got 12 acres of Cab Franc, Cab Sauvignon, and Merlot which I sell to local wineries (Callaway) at this time. I am working towards opening my own winery someday and with the help of people and publications like yours, "our" generation just might be interested in wine after all the "old wine snobs" are long gone!

Npvineyard

Dear Wine X Staff,

My name is Deanna Wallo. I work for the California based company, Trader Joe's. I'm sure someone in the office has heard of us, so I'm going to chance the assumption that you might be familiar with the "gist" of our company.

I've been a fan of your magazine since I first happened upon it last year. I must admit, I have learned a lot in a short amount of time about wine and I owe a great deal of it to your team's efforts.

Your magazine is a perfect "educational tool" for the likes of us in the Trader Joe's family. Most of our employees are Gen X ers who are somewhat familiar with wine becuase, hey, we sell alot of it. At least most can pronounce the labels correctly, and that's a start. Your magazine could greatly improve the somewhat embarassing, very limited wine knowledge of the greater portion of our crew. In turn, many, such as myself, would greatfully tout the merits of your publication, and suggest reading it to many of our customers. Trader Joe's also carries a lot of the wines reviewed by your staff, and that fact, in and of itself, proves your magazine specifically targets the Trader Joe's employee. The approach your writers take towards reviewing and discussing wine is akin to how Trader Joe's likes to discuss wine with our customers.

Deanna Wallo
Trader Joe's/ Store #3
Palm Desert, CA

Dear Darryl,

If it's "tea and sympathy," it must be a full-bodied red wine and empathy. So I'll drink a glass and toast your publishing efforts.

I'm Dyann Espinosa, editor and publisher of Me!dea Magazine in San Francisco. I just read the SF Weekly article on Wine Brats and Wine X. So much of what was said about the magazine sounded like a reprise of things I've heard at Me!dea over the last 5 years that I felt I should drop a fellow traveller a line. We're a trade magazine covering the media industry -- a traditionally geeky, technical group up until the last 10 years. Technology and maturation of the industry have attracted young, irreverant people who are highly creative to the business. The old guard is still used to pubs with product shots of Sony's new BVW 25, with optional drop or non-drop frame time code or something equally exciting. (They don't even have calendars with babes holding equipment.)

So when we came out with wild graphics, creative layouts, varied fonts and generally messing with the traditional printing concepts, the creatives loved it but the over 40 (even in their minds) group "couldn't read the tiny fonts, couldn't follow the layout of stories, and didn't understand what we were trying to say.

Our "big uproar" was featuring a cover (an award-winning image from the San Francisco Creative Alliance) showing a guy's naked butt and another guy kissing it. The caption was, "Networking Solution #2. #1, join Creative Alliance."

Well, the cards and letters and emails and phone calls poured in. The poor sales guy lost several accounts, never to regain some to this day. Often at big trade shows I'm introduced as the publisher who put that guy's butt on the cover. So I can empathize.

I like your magazine -- a lot. I know that you can have all that wonderful white space because you're not inundated with ads right now, but just in general the colors, the feel of how it flows is pleasing to me. And then the copy. I love the reviews. I quote them all the time. They make perfect sense to me.

I hope you'll be able to overcome some of the hidebound objections to your magazine. It's a hard road. Good luck.

Cheers, Dyann Espinosa
Editor/Publisher
Me!dea Magazine

Editor's Reply: The SF weekly wasn't something I haven't heard over the course of the past year and a half. The writer, Mr. Boulward, or the Weekly obviously had an agenda before the piece was written. And that was to make the Brats out to look like cell-phone wielding, Landrover-driving, suit-clad yuppies who, despite their vast riches, take only a hooliganistic, frat party approach to drinking. Anyone who's familiar with the Brats organization knows this to be not true. In fact, they promote the opposite. But, of course, there's no "hook" in that. So instead of crafting an intelligent article on the truth, they hacked-up a story for shock value.

My main problem with the article is all its misquotes, misinformation and just blatant lack of professionalism concerning Wine X. I could give a shit whether Ron Loutherback or Jeff Morgan (Wine Spectator) or Jerry Mead "get" or like the magazine. DUH! They're not suppose to. But at least print the reason why they shouldn't like it. As I explained to Mr. Boulward, if they did, I wouldn't be doing my job.

The thing that worries me the most, though, is the misinformation. With a circulation of 35,000 (not 40,000), most of my magazines are sold, not given away. Doesn't sound like a big deal to most, I'm sure, except my advertisers pay for paid circulation. And most of my advertisers are in our backyard. Maybe if Mr. Boulward would've opened the media kit that we supplied him he'd have realized this. Or looked at the ZAP program to find we're one of the three major underwriters of the event. Sure, our table was in the back (along with all the other media tables). I guess Mr. Boulward didn't notice that the tables were in alphabetical order.

As I wrote in a letter to the editor to the SF Weekly, the only piece of information Mr. Boulward got right was, although I'm only 36, I do, in fact, look 40 years old. And it's probably because I'm forced to deal with hacks like Mr. Boulward (and the Weekly). It's always a fight to get the old guard to accept new concepts. But you shouldn't have to fight the media to simply print the truth.

Darryl Roberts
Editor/Publisher
Wine X Magazine

As a wine-nerd in training, I read my first (and very likely my last) issue of Wine Spectator today. Now I know what you folks are ranting about. Although Wine Spectator contained some good info, I finished the issue with an inferiority complex! I mean, what good is it to read a gushing review of a 98 point wine only to find out that it costs more than my car payment?! Oh, and I love the auction reports (NOT!) -- who the hell cares about who paid $160,000 for a 15 liter (that's more than I would spend on a house!).

Also, does Wine Spectator assume that all wine drinkers are over 40, white, and male? (I'm 28, Asian, and female -- yeah, I can really relate to the ads they carry showing some yuppie guy showing off his wine cellar to some adoring bubble-headed blonde; you know the ones I mean).

The saddest part is that Wine Spectator sincerely believes that Gen X'ers like me will "grow into" the wine they review when we get older and richer. Excuse me, not to brag, but I'm already in the top tax bracket, and my palate is as sophisticated as any Gen X'er who's ever lived in a college town (complete with gourmet coffee, foods from all over the world, and microbrews). Yep, I'm the kind of consumer that Wine Spectator thinks they'll get "once I'm older", or probably wishes they had now. And yet, with one issue, they succeeded in insulting me.

Screw them. Wine X is the way to go, at least for me. It's FUN to read (like wine should be FUN to drink!) and even more informative than Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast because all of the information is stuff I can "use." Although I know we all want the wine industry to succeed, I have a feeling that the Wine Spectator-types will take the credit for all the hard work that Wine Brats and Wine X have done if Gen X'ers do eventually take to wine. Have you figured out how to address the inevitable "See, we told you that Gen X'ers will grow into wine!" comments from the Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast if you succeed?

Keep up the great work. I only wish you published monthly!

Anna M. Shih