Gerald Asher
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Gerald Albert Asher (born 18 August 1932) is an English wine personality based since 1974 in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, California. Initially a wine merchant and importer, today, he is a wine writer. Born in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
and raised partly in rural
Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
because of
the Blitz The Blitz (English: "flash") was a Nazi Germany, German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, for eight months, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, during the Second World War. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a co ...
, Asher's career in wine began in 1950, when he took a part-time job at a wine retailer in London's
Shepherd Market Shepherd Market is a small precinct in Mayfair, in the West End of London. Its two business-lined squares are between Piccadilly and Curzon Street; it has a village-like atmosphere. It was built up between 1735 and 1746 by Edward Shepherd on t ...
. He founded his own merchant house, Asher, Storey, and Co, in 1955 to import rare and lesser-known French wines to Britain. Active until 1970, the firm was widely seen as ground-breaking for its introduction to the British market of several previously obscure wines that proceeded to become popular. In 1971, Asher relocated to
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
to take up a senior position at Austin, Nichols, and Co, which imported Bordeaux-classed wines to the United States. The next year he also became wine editor at ''
Gourmet Gourmet (, ) is a cultural idea associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterized by their high level of refined and elaborate food preparation techniques and displays of balanced meals that have ...
'' magazine, a post he would hold for the next three decades, writing the "Wine Journal" column, which eventually became monthly. In 1974, he received the
Mérite agricole The Order of Agricultural Merit () is an order of merit bestowed by the French Republic for outstanding contributions to agriculture. When it was created in 1883, it was second in importance only to the Legion of Honour within the French order ...
from the French government for his contributions to French agriculture. He moved the same year to San Francisco, where he became head of the Monterey Wine Company. He writes that he had "a topsy-turvy introduction to California wine," having never tasted any before a 1967 visit, but he soon began championing it, organising the annual California Vintners Barrel Tasting Dinner along with Paul Kovi and Tom Margittai of New York's
Four Seasons Restaurant The Four Seasons Restaurant (known colloquially as the Four Seasons) was a New American cuisine restaurant in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City from 1959 to 2019. The Four Seasons operated within the Seagram Building at 99 E ...
. The barrel tasting, which started in 1976, played an important role in building the image and understanding of California wines on the East Coast of the United States and, over the next decade, became seen by critics as the wine event of the year. Asher started the Mosswood Wine Company in 1978 within the
McKesson Corporation McKesson Corporation is a publicly traded American company that distributes Medication, pharmaceuticals and provides health information technology, Medical device, medical supplies, and Health administration, health management tools. The company ...
and headed it until 1987 when McKesson sold off its interests in wine and spirits to concentrate on pharmaceuticals. Asher took early retirement to focus solely on his wine writing, which he continues today. He retained the post of wine editor at ''Gourmet'' until 2002, and thereafter contributed a selection of wines to each issue until the magazine discontinued in 2009. Many of his wine essays from ''Gourmet'' have been republished in book form; five volumes of these columns have been published, most recently ''A Carafé of Red'' in 2012. Asher's writing and knowledge of wine are both acclaimed, with British wine critic
Jancis Robinson Jancis Mary Robinson OBE, ComMA, MW (born 22 April 1950) is a British wine critic, journalist and wine writer. She currently writes a weekly column for the ''Financial Times'', and writes for her website JancisRobinson.com, updated daily. She ...
calling him "America's most elegant wine writer".
James Beard James Andrews Beard (May 5, 1903 â€“ January 21, 1985) was an American chef, cookbook author, teacher and television personality. He pioneered television cooking shows, taught at The James Beard Cooking School in New York City and Seaside ...
, an American chef and food writer, says Asher's writing "makes one feel that one is sitting in a room with Gerald, enjoying his ... awesome knowledge and expertise in the world of wine." Asher has received many accolades for his writing and work with wine during his life. He was inducted into the California Vintners' Hall of Fame by the
Culinary Institute of America The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) is a private culinary school with its main campus in Hyde Park, New York, and branch campuses in St. Helena and Napa, California; San Antonio, Texas; and Singapore. The college, which was the first to ...
in 2009.


Biography


Early life

Gerald Asher was born in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
in 1932. The family moved to rural
Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
at the onset of
the Blitz The Blitz (English: "flash") was a Nazi Germany, German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, for eight months, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, during the Second World War. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a co ...
, and Asher was partly raised there, attending
Westcliff High School for Boys Westcliff High School for Boys (WHSB) is an 11–18 selective boys Academy (English school), academy grammar school in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England. In September 2001 the school was awarded ‘Beacon’ status for its breadth of achievements ...
in
Westcliff-on-Sea Westcliff-on-Sea (previously known as Milton, often abbreviated to Westcliff, and in the past spelt as Westcliffe-on-Sea) is a suburb of the city of Southend-on-Sea, located within the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is on the north sh ...
.


First steps into wine

Asher entered the wine industry in 1950, at the age of 18, when he took a part-time job assisting a wine retailer in
Shepherd Market Shepherd Market is a small precinct in Mayfair, in the West End of London. Its two business-lined squares are between Piccadilly and Curzon Street; it has a village-like atmosphere. It was built up between 1735 and 1746 by Edward Shepherd on t ...
, between
Curzon Street Curzon Street is a street in Mayfair, London, within the W1J postcode district, that ranges from Fitzmaurice Place, past Shepherd Market, to Park Lane. It is named after Sir Nathaniel Curzon, 2nd Baronet, who inherited the landholding during ...
and
Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...
in
Mayfair Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...
, Central London. Within a year he had taken a full-time position with a small wine distributor, and by 1952 he was engaged by Blumenthal & Co, a major wine importer. Sponsored by Blumenthal, he attended tastings and lectures held by the Wine Trade Club at the
Worshipful Company of Vintners The Worshipful Company of Vintners, one of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies, retains close links with the wine trade. It traces its origins to the 12th century and received its swan rights from King Edward IV. Its motto is ''Vinum Exhi ...
in London, and in 1953 a scholarship allowed him to spend time working and studying in
Jerez Jerez de la Frontera () or simply Jerez, also cited in old English-language sources as , is a city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Located in southwestern Iberia, it lies on the Campià ...
, the Spanish region that produces
Sherry Sherry ( ) is a fortified wine produced from white grapes grown around the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. Sherry is a drink produced in a variety of styles made primarily from the Palomino grape, ranging from light versio ...
. Further such scholarships over the next two years despatched Asher to
Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...
in eastern France, then the
Rheingau The Rheingau (; ) is a region on the northern side of the Rhine between the German towns of Wiesbaden and Lorch, Hesse, Lorch near Frankfurt, reaching from the Western Taunus to the Rhine. It is situated in the German state of Hesse and is part ...
wine region in
West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
.


Asher, Storey and Co

In 1955, aged 23, Asher founded his own London merchant house, Asher, Storey and Co, to import rare and lesser-known French wines to Britain. The new firm was regarded as ground-breaking, and was for a long time unique in the British market. A 1983 '' Punch'' retrospective described its formation as "a breeze of change through the wine trade here n Britainand the trade of writing about wine." Many of the wines the firm introduced to British consumers, including Beaumes de Venises, Arbois, Bandol, Chateau Grillet,
Cahors Cahors (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the western part of Southern France. It is the smallest prefecture among the 13 departments that constitute the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Region. The capital and main city of t ...
and others, were considered utterly unknown when the company began, but soon became well known and popular. By December 1969, ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
'' was describing the company as "famous for its list of the lesser-known wines of France: wines from the Loire, and the Jura, from Provence and from Savoy."


New York

Asher wound up Asher, Storey in 1971, when he moved to
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
to become vice-president and National Wine Sales Manager at Austin, Nichols and Co, perhaps better known as the distiller of
Wild Turkey The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an upland game bird native to North America, one of two extant species of Turkey (bird), turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic turkey (''M. g. dom ...
bourbon whiskey, but also an American importer of Bordeaux-classed wines from France. He joined the French wine committee of the U.S. National Association of Wine Importers, and became chairman of the Champagne Importers' Association. Around this time he also became interested in
California wine California wine production has a rich viticulture history since 1680 when Spanish Jesuit missionaries planted ''Vitis vinifera'' vines native to the Mediterranean region in their established missions to produce wine for religious services. ...
, which he had first encountered during his first visit to San Francisco in 1967. In 1972, he was invited by Jane Montant of ''
Gourmet Gourmet (, ) is a cultural idea associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterized by their high level of refined and elaborate food preparation techniques and displays of balanced meals that have ...
'' magazine to start contributing essays on a periodical basis as the journal's Wine Editor, a role he would hold for the next three decades. Two years later, he was awarded the
Mérite agricole The Order of Agricultural Merit () is an order of merit bestowed by the French Republic for outstanding contributions to agriculture. When it was created in 1883, it was second in importance only to the Legion of Honour within the French order ...
by the government of France for his contributions to French agriculture.


California

Asher moved to San Francisco in 1974 to head the Monterey Wine Company, a joint venture between the
McKesson Corporation McKesson Corporation is a publicly traded American company that distributes Medication, pharmaceuticals and provides health information technology, Medical device, medical supplies, and Health administration, health management tools. The company ...
and the McFarlane family to market The Monterey Vineyard's wines. He retained this role until 1976. He writes that he had "a topsy-turvy introduction to California wine", having never tasted any before his 1967 visit, but soon came to regard it as on a par with that from France. Surprised that wine from California was, in his own words, "more exotically rare in New York than many European" wines, he hit upon the idea of holding an annual tasting of California wine in New York, using as models the Paulée de Meursault tasting of Burgundy wine and its grander cousin, the Paulée de Paris held at Taillevent, with "the same elegant context ... but with an American flavour". Asher approached several Californian growers with this idea, but most were hesitant to take part. The idea became more real when the winemakers Karl Wente and
Robert Mondavi Robert Gerald Mondavi (June 18, 1913 – May 16, 2008) was an American winemaker. His technical and marketing strategies brought worldwide recognition for the wines of the Napa Valley in California. From an early period, Mondavi promoted label ...
agreed to participate. Paul Kovi and Tom Margittai of the prestigious
Four Seasons Restaurant The Four Seasons Restaurant (known colloquially as the Four Seasons) was a New American cuisine restaurant in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City from 1959 to 2019. The Four Seasons operated within the Seagram Building at 99 E ...
in
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
agreed to organise the practicalities of such an event in return for Asher's coordination of the California wineries' contributions. The first annual California Vintners Barrel Tasting Dinner was held at The Four Seasons in 1976, and soon became hugely popular; though there were only 228 places available for the 1978 tasting, over 2,000 people tried to buy tickets. Asher was vice-president of "21" Brands, a wine and spirits company within the McKesson Corporation, between 1976 and 1978. He then started the Mosswood Wine Company within the McKesson structure to import and distribute European wine across the United States. Meanwhile, Asher's annual California barrel tasting event in New York became highly acclaimed in the wine world; by 1985, it was being described in newspaper columns as the American wine industry's "most prestigious social event". "Everybody who is anybody in the world of food and wine is invited to the annual California Vintners Barrel Tasting Dinner," Ruth Riechl wrote for the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' that year; "Ten years ago it was unclear whether anybody would even show up for the first dinner, held at the Four Seasons. This year the only problem was which one of the 10 people eager to fill each seat would "Invitations are as scarce as Manhattan taxis at rush hour," wrote ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' columnist Kristine Curry. Following the 1985 event, described by two wine writers as "the best ever", the annual barrel tasting moved to California. Since it was still generally considered a runaway success in New York, this came as a surprise to many, and Margittai admitted he was sad to see it go: "This is our pride and joy," he said, "but the barrel tasting needs to go home". The move was in part because of the event's popularity; so many people sought places each year that the restaurant was having to refuse tickets to some of its regular customers. The venue used in 1986, San Francisco's Stanford Court Hotel, could accommodate twice as many guests. "
Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...
may think that going West and dying are the same thing," Asher explained, "but we're going to prove him wrong." The first barrel tasting in San Francisco was also considered a success by most who attended, with the main difference being the atmosphere, which Barbara Ensrud, a wine writer who had attended every barrel tasting so far, said was "a lot more relaxed than it ever was in New York."


Writing full-time

In 1987, McKesson sold off its wine and spirits operations so it could focus on pharmaceuticals. Aged 55, Asher took early retirement, and began to concentrate on his wine writing. His contributions to ''Gourmet'' magazine, which had evolved into a bi-monthly column called the "Wine Journal", now became monthly. Many of Asher's "Wine Journal" entries have been republished in book form as ''On Wine'' (1982), ''Vineyard Tales'' (1996), ''The Pleasures of Wine'' (2002), ''A Vineyard in My Glass'' (2011), and ''A Carafé of Red'' (2012). In 1996, he wrote the ''Wine Journal'', published as a cellar book by
HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...
. A number of the ''Gourmet'' columns were translated and published in the Japanese version of ''
Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...
'' magazine, and in 1997 some of these were published in translation as ''The Secret World of Wine'' by
Shueisha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Shueisha is the largest publishing company in Japan. It was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The ...
of Tokyo. Asher stopped writing for ''Gourmet'' in February 2002, but he continued to contribute a selection of wines to the monthly menu published in each issue until the magazine discontinued in November 2009. In addition to the many accolades he has won for his writing and work in the international wine trade—including "Wine Writer of the Year" from ''Wine & Vines'' magazine in 1984, a 1990 literature achievement award from the American Institute of Wine and Food, the San Francisco Wine Appreciation Guild's Literary Award for 2000, and the 2005 Journalism award from the New York-based European Wine Council—Asher was inducted into the California Vintners' Hall of Fame at the
Culinary Institute of America The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) is a private culinary school with its main campus in Hyde Park, New York, and branch campuses in St. Helena and Napa, California; San Antonio, Texas; and Singapore. The college, which was the first to ...
in
St. Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...
, California in 2009. Asher is generally considered a highly respected authority in the field of wine, and has received acclaim throughout his career for his expertise and writing style, which is widely held to be elegant and enjoyable. In her 1997 book ''Tasting Pleasure'', British wine critic
Jancis Robinson Jancis Mary Robinson OBE, ComMA, MW (born 22 April 1950) is a British wine critic, journalist and wine writer. She currently writes a weekly column for the ''Financial Times'', and writes for her website JancisRobinson.com, updated daily. She ...
calls Asher "America's most elegant wine writer". S. Irene Virbila of the ''Los Angeles Times'' gave ''A Carafé of Red'' a very positive review, describing Asher as a "wonderful prose stylist ... His wide-ranging, astute appreciation is where it's at." In a glowing review of ''On Wine'' (1982), the American chef and food writer
James Beard James Andrews Beard (May 5, 1903 â€“ January 21, 1985) was an American chef, cookbook author, teacher and television personality. He pioneered television cooking shows, taught at The James Beard Cooking School in New York City and Seaside ...
called the book "a delight". "Reading it makes one feel that one is sitting in a room with Gerald, enjoying his personal views, his prejudices, his delightful sense of humour and his appreciation of life," Beard elaborated; "not to mention his awesome knowledge and expertise in the world of wine."


Publications

;Collections of ''Gourmet'' "Wine Journal" works * * * * * * ;Others *


Notes and references

;Notes ;Journal and newspaper articles * * * * * * * * * * ;Online sources * ;Bibliography * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Asher, Gerald 1932 births English columnists English expatriates in the United States English non-fiction writers Living people Wine writers Writers from London Writers from the San Francisco Bay Area Food and drink in the San Francisco Bay Area English male non-fiction writers People educated at Westcliff High School for Boys James Beard Foundation Award winners