Wine Spectator POSTER OF THE YEAR - 2004

Francis S.!

1) Futronic
2) Board-O
3) Latour 67
4) Pinot Envy
5) High Desert Wine

1. futronic
2. Board-O
3. Wine Wizzard
4. PurpleHaze
5. Vino Me (although he seems to have dropped off a bit since the new format).

1. mjneal - I wish more winemakers would join in the fun
2. pyang - offline master
3. board-o - nothing like a new yorker and I mean that in the positive way
4. dr. darkrichandbold - aka Drab
5. Rhone Warrior

quote:

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I wish more winemakers would join in the fun

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I agree. I'm sure many lurk, more need to post.

I think the Award should be shared equally by Board-O and DRAB.

So many great posts but;

1. Pyang
2. (shared by the dynamic duo) Board-O and DRAB
3. Futronic
4. Purplehaze
5. Grun (just for his great joke--what was it Haziz Kasam (?) )
6. (shared by another dynamic duo) Wine Wizard & Sapril

just a thought

We may have to consider that as a provisional ballot Ca. Kid. Too many hanging chads

additional note;

points lost for any posting to MTH forum

Hunter, you're SWEET. Thanks.

Maybe you ought to consider one award per forum.

I don't know how I'd narrow it down and pick my favorites, but I'll just say thanks to everyone for answering my ignorant posts with thoughtful advice and tips.

(NO, I'm not talking about the MTH threads!)

(I have to admit having a certain affection for those guys - you know who you are - who intelligently argue the other side on MTH, every now and then throwing out some infuriating comment that keeps me coming back for more.)

Also a general thanks to everyone for not teasing me about my less-than-perceptive taste buds and slightly-lacking-tasting-note-authoring skills.

You're all Posters of the Year to me!

pyang
drab
grape ape

I have meet and enjoy some wines and food with them. Great company and friends.

In no particular order---
top 5 for their invaluable contributions;
Pyang
Vino Me
Drab
Tlily
Futronic

Thanks guys for all the info you provide!

Also in no particular order:

drab + board-o: without each other they are a little less than the sum of their parts. I would pay to attend an offline with them together. I'd pay a lot!

futronic: my kind of wine drinker. has helped me incredibly with his notes alone. Cheers, fut! The Il Carb vertical is waiting.

mwagner7700: Anyone who agrees with me this often must be an incredibly intelligent human.

grunhauser: I disagree with him almost all the time in MTH, but love his dining and cooking posts. Come over to the light, grun.....

Sapril Nguyen: Her adventures in the kitchen have made me laugh out loud more than anyone on this site.

PH

I don't really believe in this type of thing, but I enjoy grunhauser's posts in the Dining forum, so he'd get my vote. I only go to MTH when someone emails me that something funny is going on.

I couldn't even come close to limiting myself to 5 people. There are so many wonderful people on these boards. I'll take the chicken way out and not vote.

Actually, the Wine Wizard stole my user name and wrote this.

Hunter, please..no rumors about me. I already have enough fence mending to do here.

I think futronic deserves it more than anyone around. I just beat about the bush all year, while he was posting tasting notes like he was struck by lightning. Good work there, futronic! But then again, it's so frigging cold in Canada, what else have you got to do?

On the other hand, i'm glad you fellas enjoy my culinary ramblings.
And I promise to be nicer next year too. Cheers!

p.s. I'm off to cook lentils and sausages, and will post pictures before i dig in. Hope you had something nice to eat and to drink tonight.

My votes are:

1. Pyang - For being the Napa liason with excellent information and offline guru.

2. Brian Loring - For being the best and most active winemaker on the forum. I know there are some more but that is my choice.

There are plenty of admirable posters on this site, which, by the way, blows the socks off the competition.
To choose one is to ignore too many others...
Still, Wine Wizard is hard to ignore, and even though i would not nominate him as a POY, he certainly knows when to pick up the phone.
Good job there, oh, wise one!

Hunter, great idea.
I’ve posted my opinion below for POTY, but also listed winners, IMHO, from each WS heading and a few other award winners from 2004. But there are sooo many great people on this board offering great wine advice - thanks to you all!

Wine Spectator POSTER OF THE YEAR - 2004
pyang - our “insider” to Napa wineries, the ambassador of good wine related posts, replies, off-lines, buying & selling, and the best wine related thread of the year “The Whirlwind Tour .“ Thanks for sharing your passion & profession with us.

Board-O is a very close runner-up. If he spent less time over at Vinocellar and more here, he would probably have won based on sheer volume alone.

Wine Conversations - pyang
Tasting Notes - Futronic - hands down winner
Dining and Cooking - Board-O - “The Chef” - Knows all, does all, eats all - this man’s been there
Buying and Selling - name withdrawn due to ATF concerns
Off-Line Events - pyang - and his band of Trouble Causing Forumites
Madder Than Hell - Francis S - like a moth to a flame


Special Awards for 2004
Newbie of the Year - Wine Wizard (but see next award)
Sleuth award - Hunter for exposing Wine Wizard aka pepseman
Best 1000th Post - Golf&Zin Nut
“Pin-up” of the Year - Sapril Nguyen
Winemaker Forum participant - MJ Neal, B Loring and P Howland - thanks guys & keep posting.
Special thanks to Howland for his unique sense of humor.


All awards below had to have been from threads created in ‘04
Most Viewed Thread of the Year
“2001 Neal Family-How Much Did This Board Buy??” Created by JimmyV on Jan 14, 2004. 273 replies with over 7200 views. Mark, you owe JimmyV a free case!

Best Wine Investment Thread of the Year
“2004 WS Wine of the year” By Baird 167 replies with 6822 views. As Baird told us in the first post, we all new it was down to the Rieussec vs. Clos Apalta - what were we thinking by not having bought a case of each before the issue came out?

The Polar Opposites Thread of the Year
“Wow, Laube sure was grumpy with some 2001 Cabs in the new issue” By Petrus with 183 replies and over 6974 views. Nobody was sitting on the fence in this one.

Worst Thread of the Year
“Mishy was kicked off ...” With a staggering 242 replies and over 6977 views in two short weeks, it was the worst train wreck by far. Finally came crashing down shortly after when Board-O said to Mishy: "This attention is for all the wrong reasons. Can't you understand that?"

1. I particularly like tlily's dissertations on the Rhone Valley and other abstract wine information.

2. J Henry's Dad for his heroic efforts to reason with the unreasonable

3. DRAB for his ability to start threads that push people's buttons

4. Board-O for his insight into mature wine.

5. Vino Me, which should be self-explanatory.

BTW, this is ranked-choice voting, right? I don't want to spoil the race.

Futronic gets #1 spot. You should see this guy in action. No matter how much we drink, he still diligently writes down notes. And posts them!.

Board-O is #2. Great posts. Informative, interesting, provocative? He makes you think. This guy as seen and done it all.

Green,

You forgot
best continuing thread:
"Please Ignore this Post" in Tasting Notes with 293 posts* (and climbing) in 2004. Nearest competitor being "Funnier than Hell (no blue jokes please)" in Madder than Hell with 159 posts so far in 2004.

*By my reckoning the post count was at 588 on 1/1/2004.

Pauly,
Sssshhhh! I was trying to ignore that post.

Appreciate all, those who we've met in person and those I know only on the board, for information, advice, suggestions, comedy drama etc., if the award must be given, I have to agree with many who have already felt that Futronic deserves it.

From posting the most tasting notes, to single handedly helping so many board members with trips to Italy, he is the man.

I resisted posting on this thread yesterday for the same reasons WIML mentioned. But after further thought I gotta cast one vote for Futronic for all those tasting notes.

I too vote for futronic. Not only for his wine knowledge, advice, passion for wines not to mention his prolific tasting notes.... but anyone who grills outdoors in -25C temperature deserves my vote. Well done fut.

Maybe I'm dense, but I opened this thread to see what we all knew about "posters" -- you know, the kind we all had pinned up on our walls as little kids. For me it was Cheryl Tiegs and Farrah Fawcett.

What a let down.

1969 Mustang GT. You know, "Eleanor".

Seaquam-The wittiest poster on the Board year in & year out.

T-Bird Bass- A lifetime achievement award for the best 1000th post. Retired in perpetuity.

Nirvana94- Our Right-wing voice of reason. He says he's from NY but I believe he's Raffle with a Spell-Checker.

I think Cheryl Tiegs is still a hotty. Classic beauty if you like 'em thin.

For the main thread, there can only be one...

futronic
(for his unwavering ability to taste and report eloquently and succinctly - when considering a purchase, I search his TNs BEFORE checking WS or RP scores! ) fut, don't forget us little guys when you make the deal for those notes!

For the thread within the thread...

Farrah Fawcett
(for bringing so much warmth to so many men/boys on that cold cold day that she posed for that poster )

1. Board-O
2. Board-O

Dick

Racquel in 2,000,000 BC.

Individuals:
1. futronic...hands down!
.
.
.
2. pyang
3. Vino Me
4. tlily
5. DRAB

Groups:
1. Chicago Wine Mafia
2. Toronto Wine Cru
3. the Dutch Gang

quote:

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Originally posted by wineguyinTO:


_Farrah Fawcett_
(for bringing so much warmth to so many men/boys on that cold cold day that she posed for that poster )

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Ever hear Steve Martin's take on how, upon meeting her, she pretty much gave him the brush off?
"...And after all the time I spent holding up her poster with one hand!"

While we're voting, isn't it amazing that the manual recount of votes for Governor of Washington isn't over yet? They have counted 38/39 counties, with King County last.
Back to the topic:
If it is wine related, Board-O, Pyang and Futronic.
If it is politics, it would be cdr11 and grunhauser.
Best European poster: Markus Randall and Kicker

This is a no brainer.
The top 3 Posters of the year are.........

1) Wine Wizard- for in depth wine analysis and noble sharing of wine knowledge 2) Wine Wizard- for best wit and personality

3) Wine Wizard- for perfect use of the Queens English including spelling, grammar and syntax

All joking aside I have enjoyed corresponding with all here during the last few months. Most here are extemely wine savvy and are delighted to help fellow members with queries and quandaries.

The Wizard has not contributed anything on this forum except comic relief. (DA) (Which for some has translated to an annoyance)

I offer my apologies for those who I have offended (how many could there possibly be?) and hope to create a new accord between us, similar to what Nixon did with China.

Hey, Wizard -- I've got a link for you:

Here.

And, if we're talking about the "Queens' English," who are the two queens?

And I was in a "quandary" about whether I should point this one out.

Also, "indepth" is actually TWO words.

Sorry, couldn't help myself.