Vintners Hall of Fame ballot is out

The ballot for the Vintners Hall of Fame is out. Here are the nominees:

General category:
Gerald Asher
Robert Lawrence Balzer
Andy Beckstoffer
Jack & Jamie Davies
Paul Dolan
Gary Eberle
Randall Grahm
Jess Jackson
Jerry Lohr
Zelma Long
Carole Meredith
Justin Meyer
Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Richard (Dick) Peterson
Richard & Robert Sands
Stephen Spurrier
Bob Thompson
Warren Winiarski

Pioneer category (dead 10 years):
Leon Adams
Frederick & Jacob Beringer
James Concannon Sr.
Eugene Hilgard
Charles Kohler
Hamden W. McIntyre
Frank Schoonmaker
Albert Winkler

Wine writers and critics will vote on these nominees, and the winners go into the Vintners Hall of Fame next spring.

My first thought is that the Beringers are absolute shoo-ins. Eugene Hilgard was an important professor, but who has heard of him outside of wine academics?

Last year, Mike Grgich got in, but Warren Winiarski -- who also won the Judgment of Paris tasting, in the red-wine category -- did not. If Winiarski doesn't get in this year, it's a travesty. The guy is in his 80s and deserves to enjoy it.