Believe me, no one is more surprised about this than I am. The Wine Curmudgeon has made the alawine.com top 100 blogs list, which ranks blogs by readership and is about as definitive a list as there is for this stuff. And there I am, with all the big boys (and they're mostly guys) -- Heimoff, Yarrow, Wark, Gary V. and all the rest.
I'd like to think that it's my incredible palate and immense writing ability that got me here, but I know better. The credit goes to everyone in the cyber-ether who reads the blog. You have made the difference, because you share my vision of wine: That it should be fun and not intimidating, and that we should drink what we want, and not what people tell us we're supposed to drink. Knowing that so many of you feel that way is enough to make a cranky ex-newspaperman more than a little sentimental.
I started writing the blog on Nov. 16, 2007. That first month, the audience was smaller than at a restaurant on a Tuesday night. These days, I'm at chain restaurant levels. Frankly, that's an amazing achievement in less than three years, especially since I'm all I have doing this. There are no flunkies or minions -- just me and my keyboard, five days a week, and for more than 800 posts.
So thank you. Ironically, I gave up my Fort Worth newspaper wine writing gig last week -- there just wasn't enough for me to do any more, given the changes in the newspaper business over the past couple of years. I guess there must be something to this blog stuff after all.
Congratulations, Jeff, on this honor. I just wanted to stop by and tell you I have been listening to you weekly on the Art of Living internet radio show and I really appreciate all your great wine tips!!
Posted by: Jack | July 26, 2010 at 10:38 PM
Good things come to those who blog?!
Posted by: Tish | July 27, 2010 at 08:39 AM
Thanks for the kind words. This has been a revelation for cranky ex-newspaperman, and in so many ways.
Posted by: Jeff Siegel | July 28, 2010 at 07:48 AM