Pneumonia's Last Syrah
Most of you are probably aware that Syrah faces a challenging marketplace. Even articles complimentary about Syrahs (as nearly all of them are) feel compelled to begin with a story about how hard they are to sell. A recent article by Eric Asimov in the New York Times began "There’s a joke going around West Coast wine circles: What’s the difference between a case of syrah and a case of pneumonia? You can get rid of the pneumonia."
...When mainstream articles about Syrah (which is, after all, as widely planted in California as all other Rhone varietals combined) lead with anecdotes about how hard they are to sell, it's time for more deliberate action. And Asimov's article started a chain of events that we Rhone Rangers hope may help turn around Syrah's fortunes.Asimov’s article spurred a blog on Huffington Post by Dr. Orin Levine, Executive Director of the International Vaccine Access Center at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr Levine, who is one of the world's leading experts on pneumonia and also a wine lover, posted a challenge to Syrah producers and retailers to both promote their Syrah and help eradicate pneumonia by donating $10 of each case of Syrah sold to consumers in November 2010 to pneumonia vaccine dissemination. Why $10? That’s the cost to produce and administer one dose of vaccine. Why pneumonia? It’s the leading cause of death in children worldwide, and is totally preventable. Why November? November 12th is World Pneumonia Day. - Tablas Creek Blog
Labels: Blogger Challenge, bloggers, Pneumonia, Rhone, Rhone Rangers, Syrah, Tablas Creek, Wine
