I lately reviewed a rather good wine that would get my vote at twenty dollars. But its liquor store price is thirty-five dollars a bottle and its restaurant price above a hundred. I do not pay for the wines I review. That is an inescapable fact of the industry. Things work that way for a reason. The purpose is to prevent a riot in which people chase each other down the street, reporters demanding their money back from wine sellers, followed by editors hounding reporters about expense accounts, followed by publishers and accountants shouting about the bottom line, and advertising men whining about everyone spoiling their "campaigns." Perhaps one wine in four gets my mention, which is what I do instead of reviewing three wines negatively. I owe good language to the vintners and distributors who have avoided riots by pulling the cork gratis. I hope to offer a good turn, in return, as they say. Let me tell you a story. In the nineteen-nineties, Carribean cigars w...
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