Intowine.com’s Top 100 Most Influential Winemakers List Strikes a Cord

Santa Barbara, CA, August 16, 2013 --(PR.com)-- International wine writer Michael Cervin has just released his Top 100 Most Influential U.S. Winemaker’s list. This list follows his controversial Top 100 Most Influential People in the U.S. Wine Industry list (now in its second year) but has seemed to create less division than his other list. One of the reasons the list is being so widely embraced? There is a diversity of notable winemakers from regions outside of California, Oregon and Washington.

“It’s a big deal that there are so many regional winemakers on my list,” Cervin says. “There’s a paradigm shift underway, and it has been going on for a while,” he admits. Winemakers from states like Texas, Missouri, New York, Georgia, Michigan and Idaho are included on the list, showing the breadth and diversity of where American wine in coming from.

Cervin, who writes for wine publications in the U.S., London and China, just didn’t rank winemakers based on his opinion, but received input from retailers, sommeliers, winemakers and other wine professionals, including Master of Wine and Master Sommelier, Doug Frost, Joe Roberts of 1 Wine Dude, and wine writer Richard Jennings. Cervin’s standard for ranking: The winemaker had to make a range of great wine, and had changed the perception of wine made in his or her region.

“It’s important that every state is given its due,” says Cervin. “If you dismiss wines simply because of where they are made, you’re doing a complete disservice to wine as a whole.” Jeff Siegel of The Wine Curmudgeon was one of several who praised the list: “I figured this would be another winestream media glorification of California cult wine. Shows how much I know. The list was so well done,” Siegel said.

The Top 100 Most Influential U.S. Winemaker’s list is available at Intowine.com, and Cervin is available for comment or interviews.