Jacky wrote a book called Geosensorial Tasting. In it he talks about this.
I’ve probably had 50 meals with him and have yet to see him use anything other than a wine glass.
I remember giving a talk to winemakers of St-Romain in 1981 about California wine. Many vignerons brought their own tastevin. At the Hospices auction pre tasting you will see many Burgundians with their own tastevins…maybe not as many today as 20 years ago.
And now you need to be a whale to get an allocation. Oh what a wurld, what a wurld…
Yaniger put Côte Rotie on my radar back in the day. And isn’t he responsible for “Belle Helene”?
Indeed, he is and that was the basis for the whole WAITING FOR CALLAHAN: A TRAGICOMEDY IN ONE ACT dinner. Yaniger was in down to show Callahan and the rest of us, the first vintage of the Belle Helene and Robert never showed up!
I knew (know?) Stuart Yaniger pretty well, as mentioned he is certainly now off the wine radar, a loss for all who know him.
Yes, when I saw Eric Ifune’s post ‘best tasting note ever’, I didn’t have to look, I knew exactly what was coming.
I’m sorry to say I spent more time in cars with Yaniger than tasting (I once drove him from the Rhone to Paris during a transit strike in France).
Brad Kane, displaying his inimitable, infantile sense of humor, invited me to host a Pegau tasting in New York, without informing me that Joe Dressner was also invited. Yes, it was easy to get on Joe’s shit list, but also easy to get off of it. I think it happened to me about half a dozen times that evening.
Besides wine and science, Stu also liked women, occasionally more than they liked him. I can’t believe he ever got anywhere close to ‘me too’ territory, but at times he might have approached women who were, shall we say, not likely to be attracted to him. Again, AFAIK, he always was a total gentleman when gently informed of this (“I’m sorry Stu, but I’m already dating one rabid baboon”).
Dan Kravitz
That was one of my best moves ever and seating you close to each other. What a fun night that was and the wines were terrific!
My wife and I and our daughters had dinner with Stu, probably 20 yrs ago, at Spiedini(long since closed) in Walnut Creek, a short ride on the BART from San Francisco…It was the first time our girls had ever had Foie Gras…Everyone in the resto knew Stu and you might have thought he was a Mafia Don from the service and attention he got…Quite a character…I originally met him on the Prodigy Board…While I never met Brad Kane, Callahan, the beloved Swillmaster ,Joe Dressner and many of the other colorful characters of the times, the wine boards back in the day were quite entertaining…Glad to see Brad Kane and Dan Kravitz still posting and providing excellent insight.
I went to Spiedini a couple of times with Stuart. An exercise in excess, but what a way to go! In the Steve Young/Jeff Garcia quarterback era for the 49ers, I used to go to either JD’s or Stuart’s house to watch the game. Those guys would cook. We’d eat and drink very well. They loved German Riesling. I had plenty so that worked out nicely. Invariably, some amazing northern Rhone would be opened. It’s through Stuart that I tasted nearly every vintage of Michel Ogier Côte-Rôtie from 1984-1998. But never 1983 which was Ogier’s first vintage. 100% Côte Rozier. That’s the only vintage of regular Côte-Rôtie that was 100% from that lieu-dit. There was very little of it made. Stuart was a personal friend of the Ogier’s. The only time he tried it was at the domaine when Michel was around to drink it.
I miss those days. I’m not sure my liver does…
So far we have ascertained that he lives in Texas, Wisconsin, Chicago and Phoenix and that he will answer to Stu.
The only true information here is he lives in Phoenix.
And he is amused by this thread.
So happy for this thread. Brings back many great memories. I knew Stuart in the late 80’s when he kept his wine at The Wine Box in Southern Cal. He was kind enough to let me tag along to the tasting in Ampuis in 1991. And yes, he did publicly state he could make a 100 point Parker wine BEFORE he did it. I wish him well wherever he is. Cheers ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Is this the Dale I met in Ampuis in 2001 or 2002? If so great to say Hi after all these years.