Raise your glass to Ed Grover
Sep 02 '05
The Bottom Line Honor Ed's contribution to our Epinions community by reading one of his reviews right now. Go.
Ed Grover has cancer. I've said that out loud a dozen times, but I just can't quite accept it. Ed is one of those writers who has been on Epinions forever-- part of the landscape. I've enjoyed his stuff for years. I've participated in his LGBT write-off, I've read his reviews, exchanged a few comments, but I never really got to know him. This has kept me awake two nights in a row, so I set out to learn about Ed through his reviews.
Ed's been on the site for almost six years. He deleted his early reviews during the "Epinions Blows Dog" days. For those of you who weren't here or weren't aware, Epinions briefly removed our ability to edit or delete our reviews. They reinstated those abilities quickly, thanks to the EBD protest, organized by Sordid-1. In the aftermath, though, a lot of people deleted their reviews or left the site completely. Ed wrote over 300 reviews after he deleted his early ones, leaving a journal of his likes, dislikes, and experiences for us. I sat down at my computer tonight to read some of Ed's reviews-- with a bottle of 2003 J.J. Prum Riesling Kabinett.
The Wine
In the world of German Riesling, Johann Josef Prum is one of the premier producers. Among Germany's "quality" wines, the Qualitätswein mit Pradikät, Kabinett is the designation used for wines picked during the normal harvest-- in other words, they're not ultra-ripe wines, and tend to have low alcohol and very little sweetness.
Kabinett wines also tend to be the most reasonably priced; I was able to pick up this Prum for the bargain price of about $18. A riper Spatlese or Auslese would cost two to three times that much.
In the glass, the wine is the palest possible straw, with perfect clarity. Some wine drinkers are very sensitive to sulfur, but my nose is virtually dead to it. Still, straight from the bottle, the sulfur on this wine is so strong that I had to put it down for a few minutes.
Once the sulfur subsides, the Prum Kabinett has a really captivating bouquet of slate, lime, nectarine, and fresh flowers. In the mouth, it's off-dry, and its slight sweetness is nicely balanced by very crisp acidity. The finish has a subtle bitterness to it, but it's very pleasant and lingers for at least 20 seconds.
At $18 or so through winelibrary.com, this is an excellent value. Prum wines are readily available on the internet, and even the inexpensive Kabinett can be cellared for years.
Aged German Rieslings are not for everyone. As refreshing and fruity as the young ones are, they take on an intense flinty, petrol quality as they age. You love 'em or hate 'em. When they're young, though, they're easy to enjoy, and all that acidity makes them very easy to pair with food. If you think white wine can't stand up to red meat, just try it. I had this Prum with a quickie dinner tonight-- a spicy, gloppy Sloppy Joe. And it worked!
Back to Ed
I "found" Ed when he first posted his review of Bird by Bird, a tender, funny, brilliant guide to writing by Anne Lamott. As I read Ed's review, I was struck by how much his style reminded me of Lamott's-- waspish, sardonic, hilarious-- with an underlying sweetness that makes you fall in love and keep reading. From that review:
I have been taking the personalities of some people I know and using their idiosyncrasies to create characters. I made one person into twins (a split personality) and another more outrageous person has just died; that was like finding gold on the street. If I write him into a character, he can’t sue me now, and he would have. Anyway, I changed him into a lesbian activist. She still has all his foibles; she can’t spell and she’s terribly outspoken among other things, but she has a heart of gold.
I've learned a lot about Ed through his reviews over the past day or so. A former alcoholic, Ed's been sober for 21 years. I wish I'd known that before I opened the Prum, but hey-- it's only 8% alcohol, and it just seems wrong to toast his life with cranberry juice.
Ed, though we barely know each other, you impacted my family's life in an important and unexpected way: when you invited me to your fourth annual gay pride write-off a couple of years ago, it gave me the impetus I needed to explain the nature of homosexuality-- and tolerance-- to my (then) six year old daughter. I don't know when or how we'd have read a book like Heather Has Two Mommies if you hadn't included straight suburban moms like me in your write-off.
We still have that book, and I plan to read it to my son in a year or so when he's old enough to understand what it means. Thank you.
Ed, I plan to read lots more of your reviews this weekend. And if it's okay with you, it's going to be with a late harvest Australian Semillon.
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Epinions.com ID:
prfstars
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 - Top 200 |
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Location: The Burbs
Reviews written: 304
Trusted by: 238 members
About Me:
Hi.
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