Hi Bill -
I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your 2009-2010 Wine for Newbies 101 video podcasts, Lessons One to Six.
In fact, I just finished Lesson Six and was dismayed to find that there was no Lesson Seven+, especially since it truly sounded like you had planned more. I even got concerned about your health since you had mentioned that scratchy throat in Lesson Four. (I promise I am not a stalker; I am happily married and own an education consulting business. I found your e-mail address at your typepad.com page.)
With the help of Google, I was relieved to see that you are alive and well on Twitter. Any plans for more video lessons in the future? Also what did you mean on today's Twitter post that starting June 1 the Wine For Newbies podcasts will only be available at archive.com? I went to http://www.archive.com and got automatically redirected to a site called "www.arabs.com" that proclaimed "Freedom of Speech is a Human Right," in both English and Arabic writing and did not look like it had anything to do with wine....
Thanks again for being such a generous wine educator, and I guess I'll start in on those older audio podcasts at winefornewbies.net, unless you have another suggestion for me.
However, on the same day I sent the e-mail, some hours later, I saw a new post appear on WineforNewbies.net:
May 10, 2011
After several years and over 2.2 million downloads (!), I have decided that it is time to take Wine For Newbies out of iTunes and other RSS feeds. Simply put, the number of current downloads is trickling closer to zero, and it no longer justifies the cost.
The good news is that I will submit all of these to Archive.org, where they will live so long as that project lasts.
Wine For Newbies has been a blast, and it will always be something I look back on fondly. I’ve received many, many emails from listeners who have learned more about wine, and I know this podcast has served its purpose.
So, while the episodes will no longer be available here or in iTunes as of June 1, 2011, you’ll still be able to get them at Archive.org. I will post a message with the details when the migration is complete.
This was the first post to his site since May of last year. Note also that the archive site appears correctly here as "archive.org," as opposed to the erroneous version, "archive.com" that he'd put in his Twitter post.
Coincidence? I don't think so.
I wonder why he did not e-mail me back with a personal reply. Maybe he somehow found this blog and was offended that I had compared him with the Happy Days dad.
On the other hand, his own e-mail address contains the phrase "winegeek," so how mad could he be?
Bill, if you are reading this, I am sorry I compared you to Howard Cunningham. Tom Bosley passed away last fall, and I don't know how suave he was in real life. But after spending more time with your podcasts, I am now convinced that you are much more suave than Richie's father ever was. Truly.
Just please don't give up your dream of becoming a full-time wine critic/wine educator. I believe in you.
Another reason I value Bill Wilson's podcasts is my discovery that there are a tremendous number of wine names that are difficult to pronounce.
Like Gewurztraminer. It looks like a cross between something you say when a person sneezes and a Weimaraner. Turns out it is neither a German dog nor a God-bless-you; it's a white wine grape, and I will apparently be learning much more about it in Lesson 13. Hearing Bill say it in the audio podcasts is my first step toward mastering all those syllables.
But what if I'm studying my notes or flashcards and forget how something is pronounced? I found three things to help:
1. Wines.com has a special page of wine pronunciations. Look up the name in alphabetical order and you can read the phonetic spelling as a guide to pronunciation. For example,
Gewurztraminer Guh-verts-tra-mee-ner
2. Inogolo.com includes not only the written pronunciation, it also has an audio clip so you can hear the word. Inogolo's agreement with the pronunciations listed at wines.com is similar but not identical:
Gewurztraminer guh-VOORTS-truh-MEE-ner
By the way, don't try typing "Gewurztraminer" into the Inogolo search box: that wine name actually has an umlaut above the "u" and for some reason that messes up the search. (Anyone know how you type an umlaut on an American keyboard while on the web?) Instead, go to the Pronunciation Guide page and scroll down to find the Guide for Names of Wine.
As you'll see, Inogolo doesn't just help with wine names; there are all sorts of categories. Like artists. Ever wonder how to pronounce the name of Swiss abstract painter Paul Klee? Turns out it rhymes with "play" not "knee." French painter Edgar Degas? (Hint: Last name does not rhyme with Las Vegas.) German artist Albrecht Durer? (Another umlauted name - I wonder if he drank Gewurztraminer?) I do think it's interesting that on the Pronunciation Guides page, under the main category of "Arts and Literature" the site lists two subcategories. One is "Artists," and if you go to that page, you can explore the famous names above and many others from the fifteenth to the twentieth century. The second -- and only other -- subcategory is "Pronunciation Guide to characters and places in the Lord of the Rings trilogy." Clearly the site creators have strong opinions about the rightful place and weight of Tolkien in the arts/literature canon. Maybe they are still working on an "Other Authors" page.
3. The Mental Case flashcard app allows you to record and add audio to the flashcards you create. I plan to try this feature out as soon as I can actually say "Gewurztraminer."
Soon I'll need to stop spending all my time on memorization and pronunciation and start practicing physical skills, like gracefully opening a wine bottle and balancing drinks. Time to shop for a waiter's wine key and a cocktail tray....
No comments:
Post a Comment