Wine Outlook

A co-worker of mine at the winery has a friend who, despite his acts of heroism, is not doing so well himself right now. Already a hero several years ago, Michael James Keenan jumped into the SF Bay to save a woman from a car that had gone over the edge. Then last week, he was house sitting for a longtime friend when a fire broke out in the apartment early in the morning of February 6, 2007. He went back in to save Bobby, a Jack Russell Terrier. Both made it out, but Michael is hanging on, in critical condition at San Francisco General.

Friends have started a website for Michael, where people can read about him and donate money to help chip away at cost of the many surgeries which will be necessary to deal with the massive burns he suffered.

Members of the wine community are doing what they can to help out, as well. Steven Sherman is putting together a fundraiser for next Wednesday, and many restaurants and wineries are giving freely.

Details
Location: William Cross Wine Merchants (2253 Polk St)
Time: Feb. 21 from 6-9 PM
Donations by: Silver Oak, Taittinger, Miner, Young’s Market, Thomas Fogarty, Antica, Pesce, Cheese Plus… and more as more calls are made. Steven says no one is saying no.
Cost: $25 (all proceeds go to Michael)
Contact: 415-346-1314 or wcwm @earthlink.net

There will also be a silent auction for items such as restaurant gift certificates and a VIP wine tour of Napa, including lunch at Etude.

If you can’t make it to the fundraiser, you can still donate or at least send some prayers Michael’s way.

Michael James Keenan, fire victim, hero

This news story is floating around today. The quick version is that a New Zealand wine submitted for competition (and it won accolades) was found to be different than the wine available for public consumption. This was proven through lab tests, though two audits showed the incident to be unintentional.

So now everyone is wondering what this means about the possibilities of wineries cheating to get higher scores, medals, etc. Others (such as Harvey Steiman over at Wine Spectator online) have pointed out that with so many people writing about wine in so many venues, the chance of getting away with such an act is slim to none. (more…)