Gone are the days when This Week in the Wine Corner was must-hear radio — when my predecessor, mentor and BFF Edward R. Murrow (above with mike and ciggie) intoned the Formaggio Kitchen news from CBS studios in New York.
Families all over America gathered around the wireless to hear our most respected broadcast journalist warn about the threat posed by the rise of oaky Chardonnay and mass-production Merlot. Ed was way out in front on that.
When I succeeded Murrow, the first thing I did was shift the whole business over to the Internet, so that I could dispense with the white shirt and tie, work from home and not have to account for my time. Ed, I think, would have approved of it all, except for maybe the shirt and tie that he was never seen to be without.
How well my body of work stands up to Ed’s is for others to judge, of course, but I like to think that, were he alive today, he’d be asking me for some tips to improve (among other things) his decanting technique, which was always shaky at best.
Good night and good luck, America. Your correspondent has the week off.