THE DAY I HAD LUNCH with JULIA & THE COUNT
And When I had the Greatest Wine I Ever Tasted
BY ALAN GOLDFARB
July 28, 2023
This post has nothing to do with media relations nor does it have to do much with a man I once sat next to at lunch. But it’s more about one of the most wonderful experiences of my career. The way I see it, it’s human relations.
The Count Marquis Alexandre de Lur Saluces died recently. Which put me in mind of the time I tasted the greatest wine I’ve ever tasted; and the day I met him; and had lunch with him and Julie Child, together – the three of us.
This happened – serendipitously really – in the year 2000. It was the occasion of the Masters of Food & Wine, in Carmel Highlands. The Masters – with some of the greatest vintners, wines, chefs and food gathering each year for a weeklong hedonistic debauchery -- was always the best annual wine & food event I’d ever had the pleasure of attending and writing about.
GOLDY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT
Are We Going Nuts While the World Burns?
BY ALAN GOLDFARB
July 17, 2023
One of my winery clients recently sent this email, responding to a New York Times Magazine article you too likely saw, about a most unusual and iconoclastic winemaker. This is what he said:
“I was reading with great appreciation until I got to the tale about hand destemming, via manicure scissors. That's when I knew this article was intended as satire. Or, at best, Ms. Harrison is another frickin' debutante. I don't care how much she is able to sell her wine for, there is no way that is economically viable. Of course, I suppose it is possible that her winery is simply a tax shelter for her wealthy parents, so maybe profitability isn't part of the equation, in which case now I'm really envious.”
IF I GOT THE CONSTELLATION-CURRY PR ACCOUNT
A Hoop Dream Campaign? Not So Fast
BY ALAN GOLDFARB
June 27, 2023
This is my official pitch to become the PR director for Constellation Brands: If I’m lucky enough – and grovel enough – I’m proposing to call the campaign, “The Six Degrees of Separation World Tour” and How I Handle the Curry/The Prisoner Alliance (Or Not).
To wit: I will sit the hologram of Bob Mondavi down in a room specially constructed on the border that straddles To Kalon and Tokolan, and have the Mondavigram smack dab next to the real-life live Wardell Stephen Curry. The latter of whom will be sitting next to his wife Ayesha and sister Sydel – the founders of the Domaine Curry brand. Andy Beckstoffer will be peeping in through an especially made knothole, that for legal purposes (ooh you can count on loads of legal purposes for this event), is situated decidedly on the Tokolan side. (I’ll leave it up to you dear reader to figure out how to spell the T-word; and which entity spells which, what way.)
CHATGPT PR: NOT JUST IDLE CHAT TER
How I Prove Bots Don’t Get Us
BY ALAN GOLDFARB
May 8, 2023
When I was born, I think a came out a doubter. That’s why I believe being a world-class skeptic -- as I trust in my bones -- the faith in that emotion has made me a good journalist.
But, I’ve had to work through my incredulity to be a good PR flack. Because, as in the latter, it’s positive to be positive.
The opening paragraph admittedly, is purposely fraught with oxymoronic words. But hopefully, it will display the manner in which I write – which is to try to be humorous in my approach to writing about serious subjects. It’s an illusion of pulling a punch.
MEDIA OUTLETS: PAY THE WRITERS!
BY ALAN GOLDFARB
April 19, 2023
Admittedly, I was parked where I shouldn’t have. When I came back to my car, someone – astonishingly and somewhat humorously -- had placed four-foot-high baskets of huge rocks in front of and in back of my car. Rocka my soul!
Luckily, I wasn’t stoned at the time, because it proved to be a feeble attempt to box me in. Those unknown stoners didn’t know who they were dealin’ with. I’m from Brooklyn motherjumper! We can deftly get in and out of any spot this side of any johnny pump from Kings Highway to Coney.