It’s almost as if people don’t believe in him.
Hmmm, I always though hard work led to more success than luck.
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What happened to all of the posts from between February 1st and June 3rd? Or am I confusing this with another thread?
the other thread on the bourbon project is here
https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=157723&p=2743724&hilit=saint+cloud#p2743724
Post moved to The Asylum.
It’s the same guy who was posting in the thread Suzanne linked to above. Speaking of which, can we please keep the bourbon-related discussion in that thread?
A sad update. Merrick Dowson, the owner of Adventures in Wine and the guy who got in the middle (literally) of this sh*tstorm with Maison Ilan, passed away from coronavirus complications. I just found out a couple of hours ago. I worked for him during this whole saga (I packed up all the Ilan shipments and got tendonitis to show for it). During the Maison Ilan affair, he tried to do the right thing. Really. I knew Merrick for 30+ years. He was a great guy. ![[cry.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/853b6e76c6e8406be77a6727c2a27ad1672678b3.gif "cry"){kind=small}
Sad news. Merrick was our distributor in California for the first 10-11 years or so of our operations. He was a subtly funny and wonderful guy.
Condolences Larry - that sucks
so sorry. I knew Merrick. Damn virus.
OMG, this is horrible news. Merrick was a good man. Such a shame.
I couldn’t quite remember where I had heard his name, then saw Larry’s post. I remember working with him, good man.
About 15 years ago, Merrick put a trip together for several retailers and sales people to tour wineries in Washington and Oregon. Carrie got to go while I watched the store. You might remember meeting Carrie when they visited Patricia Green.
There’s now a Merrick thread, which would be a better place to post remembrances.
If you met Carrie, you’d remember… 
I think WINEBID needs to update their info?
PRODUCER
Maison Ilan
Maison Ilan is a Nuit-Saint-Georges negociant with a made-for-the movies backstory. It was founded in 2009 by a young American named Ray Walker who had been a stock broker until his late 20s, when he fell in love with the wines of Burgundy. A native of the Bay Area, he was introduced to wine by the woman who is now his wife and in 2008 he started washing barrels in a Sebastopol winery as a way to learn about winemaking. In 2009 he moved to Burgundy and purchased some Charmes-Chambertin grapes, which he vinified by using methods he read about it classic 19th century French texts on winemaking. Walker’s debut 2009 vintage of 11.5 barrels was sold to mailing list customers. Since then he has continued to produce the Grand Cru Charmes-Chambertin and added the Grand Crus Chambertin and Mazoyères-Chambertin. He also produces numerous Premier Crus. All wines are produced in small quantities and available generally only by mailing list.
BH rating for Maison Ilan?
So, first Allen rates wines which are delivered—but might not be real.
Then, he rates wines which are real—but might not be delivered.
When does Ray Walker invite Allen to speak at a Maison Ilan wine auction on Zoom?
I’m writing Russ on this one
Buying or selling a wine is one thing. Giving favorable publicity to a maker with documented misbehavior is another.
Totally unwarranted and incorrect shot here. There was no reason not to rate these wines.