Dear Friends,

As I write this letter on my laptop, I am sitting in my Nuits St. Georges Hotel room in bed. It happens to be way past midnight of the third successive day of tasting over 100 wines per day. I enjoy the time I spend in France. Amongst the many worthy wonders the French are noted for in no particular order, without a doubt, are Richebourg, Hermitage, Edith Piaf, choucroute and late night hotel television selections. Why I am writing this to you instead of taking advantage of what else the night has to offer is one of the most perplexing questions of our time. This unfortunately will have to remain unanswered.

Nevertheless, I find myself wondering how many people who buy and consume our wines really GET what it is that we do, or appreciate the lengths we go to try and prevent them from drinking bad or poorly made wine. Believe me, my aching gums (from tasting pre-malolactic wines) and pounding headache (from over-sulphured wines) tonight prove that they're out there: these so-called vinous "Evil-Doers." They must be stopped, and we are doing our best to see to it that YOU don't have to suffer like we do; as we ferret out the good from the bad, the very good from the excellent, and the excellent from the outstanding and stupendous.

It is our goal to enlist you as our honorary deputies to help us stamp out mediocre, crappy wines made by uncaring winemakers who have no passion or work ethic toward the pursuit of excellence. Help us make the world a safer place. Drink and BUY our wines!

May The Force Be With You! And may spring be right around the corner. Happy Bud Break!

Michael Skurnik