Disqus - Latest Comments for jimbudd

Re: BT (British Telecom) in Spalding, Lincolnshire, England outage or service down? Current problems and outages

jimbudd — Thu, 10 Jun 2021 03:46:43 -0000

SE23 3XH no internet since @2am 10.6.21

Re: Loire 2017 harvest shows mixed fortunes after frost

jimbudd — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 08:49:01 -0000

Chris. Indeed balance may well be a hallmark of 2017 like the 2014 vintage.

Re: Wine firm Montevino Partners Ltd collapses with million-pound debts

jimbudd — Fri, 02 Jun 2017 15:28:54 -0000

David, There have undoubtedly been and are scammers within the fine wine trade both in wine investment and probably even more in counterfeiting. However, the vast majority of the 'wine investment' companies I have looked at the scammers came from outside the wine trade. They happened to flog wine but equally it could be and would be land, coloured diamonds, carbon credits etc.

Your point about people doing their due diligence is spot on along with refusing cold calls. Unfortunately a major target of scammers is the elderly and they can be very much at risk for falling for these scams. Fraudsters will have no compunction targeting someone with dementia, Parkinson's etc.

BW Jim

Re: Wine firm Montevino Partners Ltd collapses with million-pound debts

jimbudd — Thu, 01 Jun 2017 04:31:32 -0000

I agree David. However, the sum owed to trade customers by Montevino Partners Ltd was small – just under £10,500. In contrast it was much larger for Spirited Ventures Ltd, the first company that traded as Montevino Partners, around £233,000. The majority of creditors listed for Montevino Partners Ltd are individuals, who were persuaded to invest in wines that they they have not received.

At the time that Spirited Ventures Ltd went into liquidation in July 2016 Thomas White was the sole director. The other director resigned in May 2014 having been appointed in July 2013.

The liquidator should now establish whether orders were placed for the wines ordered by investors and why have these individuals not received them. If orders were not placed what happened to the monies that investors paid. We already know that £76,000 worth of Barolo that one investor bought was never ordered.

The best way of stopping these scams is by people refusing to accept cold colds. No reputable company cold calls about alternative investments.

Re: The Finalists in the 2012 Wine Blog Awards Are Announced

jimbudd — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 11:58:13 -0000

Very honored to be a finalist, although it would be good to have an additional 'd' to my surname please?

Re: Tim Atkin MW | Articles | The end of en primeur or business as usual?

jimbudd — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 03:52:54 -0000

Tim: 'Perhaps the Bordeaux wine trade should take an en primeur holiday and show its 2012s in April 2014,' Excellent suggestion but so are flying pigs.

Re: EWBC 2011 Language Ambassadors

jimbudd — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 05:44:46 -0000

Brett. Delighted to see that you are now the Official EWBC Estuary English Ambassador. Like you happy to offer help with translating from English to French and vice versa.

Re: La Remise, cold and sunny

jimbudd — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:00:30 -0000

Hi Alice. Sorry not to have been able to make Milly Bio but look forward to seeing you are Renaissance and the Salon. Jim

Re: The value of a tasting note

jimbudd — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:38:08 -0000

As Wink says Martin has successfully sued twice already – firstly Concha y Toro and then Direct Wines. In both instances the total settlement I believe ran to six figures or close to it. Of course a substantial chunk of this would have been legal fees.

Firstly I would have expected better from Majestic to use a tasting note on a 2000 wine and then apply it without permission to 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. Whether people have heard of Martin Isark is rather beside the point – if the quote had no effect on sales then presumably Majestic would have used another quote from a different writer. Incidentally I understand that his www.supermarketownbrandguid... garners a very considerable number of visitors.

Robert raises a very interesting point – the value of a tasting note. Commercially it would be fascinating to see what difference, if any, quotes made to sales of wine across of supermarket chain. Do they increase sales and, if so, by how much? Sadly these sorts of figures would be very hard to come by, I fancy.

I'm intrigued that Martin's action tends to provoke horror and derision and, yes, it does raise ethical issues. However, is this use of a tasting note very different from an endorsement on a famous sports star's shirt or using a celebrity chef like Jamie Oliver to promote your food? I suspect that Jamie charges a tad more than £15,000.

Furthermore having already won twice does suggest that Martin is in step with the law.

Re: The future of wine writing

jimbudd — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:51:56 -0000

I agree Ryan. That's how I see it.

Re: The future of wine writing

jimbudd — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:08:22 -0000

Fiona Beckett: Journalism and blogging are two very different activities, neither inherently superior to the other.

Fiona: I'm intrigued. Are they really different and in what ways?

Re: The future of wine writing

jimbudd — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:35:09 -0000

'Unless retired, Circle members have to complete an record of work as the organisation is keen that its members are bona-fide wine communicators, which until recently has involved some sort of payment.'

This should read: 'an annual record of work'

Wink is right – it is the medium or the media that are different with opportunities open to many more people but the message is broadly the same.

Re: The future of wine writing

jimbudd — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:17:00 -0000

I certainly hope that the Circle will continue to evolve and include bloggers amongst its members as indeed it already does – Gabriella Opaz being one fine example. I would hope now for calm discussion rather than heated debate.

I think it is important to be aware until now The Circle has been for writers who were paid for their work, albeit often poorly. There was also a time in the late 1980s and 1990s when the Circle was seen as a joke by a number of writers, particularly the younger ones. I was amazed to discover when I joined the Circle in late 1989 that people like Tim Atkin, Robert Joseph, Charles Metcalfe and Joanna Simon were not members and instead had some members who did little or no writing.

It took many years for that perception to change and involved weeding out members who did not write or communicate about wine. Unless retired, Circle members have to complete an record of work as the organisation is keen that its members are bona-fide wine communicators, which until recently has involved some sort of payment.

So having repaired its reputation, I think a certain wariness is understandable but I'm sure that the Circle's committee recognises that we are now in much changed times

Clearly there are now wine bloggers/ website owners who do a large amount of independent writing and communicating and who reach a far bigger audience than many trade wine/spirit magazines do. Speaking or writing personally I would certainly like to see them eligible to join the Circle – NB my personal view.

Just as there are membership criteria for people in the traditional media, so there will have to be criteria for applicants from the new social media. I suspect that the criteria will not be very different: how often to you write, who for etc. The Circle has always been more likely to accept an application from the wine correspondent for The Times than the writer with an occasional column in The Penge Electrician. Thus someone with a established blog/site with a substantial audience would be a far stronger candidate than someone whose recently launched blog is read only by their grandmother and her pet dog.

The new social media/net does offer one big advantage here – an applicant's/members work is easily visible.

As I say I hope a time for calm discussion and reflection

Re: The future of wine writing

jimbudd — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:16:21 -0000

Robert. I think if you look at the Circle's objectives these still largely apply or are still as relevant for the new social media as for more traditional forms:

The objectives of the Circle of Wine Writers are:

* to improve the standard of communication about wines, spirits and beers
* to contribute to the growing knowledge and interest in wine
* to promote wines and spirits of quality and to comment adversely on faulty products and dubious practices
* to establish and maintain good relations with the news media and the wine trade
* to provide members with a strong voice with which to express their views
* to provide a forum for the exchange of information
* to provide a programme of workshops, meetings, talks and tastings

I'm not really clear what you mean by its charter – criteria for membership?

Re: The future of wine writing

jimbudd — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:26:30 -0000

Good post Robert. In her short speech on the future of wine writing following on from Gary Vee, Jancis said that the reason she started her site was that it allowed her to tell the many wine stories that she wanted to tell but didn't have space in her printed output. For me this is one of the great things that the net and blogging, because it is so easy to manage, allows. Jim's Loire permits me, perhaps, obsessively to write about wines, producers, events in the Loire that would be impossible in the traditional media.

As a member of the Circle of Wine Writers for 20 years I believe and hope that it will continue to be an adaptable organisation. It is already quite unrecognisable from the small group founded by Cyril Ray back in 1960.

Re: Flashback from EWBC La Rioja 2008

jimbudd — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 07:25:10 -0000

Taxis in Lisbon are cheap or should be. The conference hotel is no more than 10 minutes from the airport and a ride even with luggage shouldn't cost more than 10€. Make sure the meter is running as occasionally drivers try to overcharge for rides from the airport to hotels.

Re: Flashback from EWBC La Rioja 2008

jimbudd — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 07:22:45 -0000

Lisbon taxis are cheap or should be. The taxi ride from the airport to the conference hotel is only about a 10 minute ride and even with luggage should be less than 10€. Make sure the meter is running as occasionally taxi drivers taking people from the airport to a hotel overcharge.