Winemeisters Weekend—Anthony Dias Blue

I first met Anthony Dias “Andy” Blue www.bluelifestyle.com almost twenty years ago, when I was a “newbie” wine judge (and one of only a handful of women) at a great big wine competition in San Francisco, and he was the guy in charge.

Andy, bless his heart, kind of took me under his wing. He jollied me along (I’m not sure I even knew what a “flight” of wines was in those days!), poured me the good stuff at the Bon Appetit Magazine Tasting Panel events that he held for the media and trade, and introduced me to dozens of local and visiting wine luminaries through the years. And through the years, I’ve picked up dozens of what I’ve come to call “Blue’s clues” from Andy about what to look for in a wine, pro and con, to evaluate its medal-worthiness.

The great big wine competition, BTW, gets even bigger, and under Andy’s guidance more prestigious, every year. Every time I judge it—and I haven’t missed many opportunities—I’m amazed at how much the total number of wines has climbed since the previous year. Thankfully, Andy continues to find more judges, hand-picked from virtually every niche in the food and beverage industry, to cope with all the extra bottles. He calls us “top industry professionals, and internationally recognized journalists and writers.”

The judging itself, which generally spans the three days of Father’s Day Weekend, is now called the San Francisco International Wine Competition. www.sfwinecomp.com It’s the biggest in the country. Andy not only serves as the Executive Director of the SF International, he also heads its sister event, the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. (His many books include The Complete Book of Mixed Drinks, and his recently released The Complete Book of Spirits.)

Anthony Dias Blue won the 2001 James Beard Award winner for his WCBS New York radio show, “The Lifestyle Minute,” and also the “Communicator of the Year” award from the International Wine and Spirits Competition in London. He reaches over 50,000,000 (yes, million!) people a month via print, radio, television and the Internet. Listing all of Andy’s achievements would turn a blog post into an encyclopedia. His “American Wine, a Comprehensive Guide,” fills in both the broad brush strokes and the minutest details. And every November, I still thumb through Thanksgiving Dinner (written with his wife Kathryn) for inspiration.

Andy Blue’s opinions are so highly regarded, at the very highest echelons, that he has become one of the world’s most prestigious and influential arbiters in the “lifestyle” sphere. When Andy speaks, people listen. And learn.

As Wine and Spirits Editor of Bon Appetit Magazine, www.BonAppetit.com during two-plus decades, Anthony Dias Blue helped make wine and other beverages more accessible, more interesting and more fun. A regular contributor to The Robb Report, Decanter, and Celebrated Living, among many others, Andy has written for just about every culinary and lifestyle publication you can name, including his newest venture—as co-owner (with publisher/executive editor Meridith May, whom you’ll meet at our Friday Pinot judging)—of Patterson’s The Tasting Panel magazine. www.tastingpanelmag.com

Andy is direct, and he speaks his mind. He has to. Having strong opinions, and expressing them, is fundamental to critiquing anything: whether it’s a Chardonnay, a hot new restaurant, or a recently upgraded hotel. I really appreciate that he calls ‘em like he sees ‘em.

He also, with very little prodding, reveals a wicked and quirky sense of humor (that's "wicked" in the best sense—see the "Blue on blue" pic, with impish Gerald Weisl and the SF evening fog backdrop, at top of post, plus Gerald's gift of the “Andy Blue: His Nose” schnozz kit, below, both taken at our judges’ dinner last night). Any time Andy and I taste wine together, or I overhear his comments from the judging panel in the next cubicle, I have to be really careful not to guffaw with red wine in my mouth. I’m wearing a white smock, after all. And so are the two judges on either side of me.

You can enjoy Andy’s wit at Blueblog on his Blue Lifestyle website, with recent posts covering oddball topics such as Taco Bell commercials, Japanese wine-tasting robots and ostrich, the meat that’s “sweeping New York restaurants faster than a grease fire.”

To this day, Andy Blue still calls me “doll.” Right back atya, Andy. And thanks for everything, then and now. You’ve helped me launch this career that I love so much, and you’ve been a first-rate mentor from the very beginning.

I look forward to judging with you this weekend, Andy. I’ll be careful with the red wine!

Next week I’ll give you a recap of this weekend’s judging at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. Meanwhile, Happy Father’s Day to all you dads, dads-to-be, and guys who care. Papa, I miss you!

Cheers for now,
Rosina
gilded fork, wine, wine writing, Welcome to Wine Country, Rosina Tinari Wilson