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I'll Drink to That! Wine Talk

496: Sandy Block's Shot at Redemption

I'll Drink to That! Wine Talk

Levi Dalton

Levi Dalton, Spain, Terroir, Napa Valley, Winemaker, Red Wine, Food, Burgundy, Personal Journals, Restaurant, Australia, Sommelier, Journalist, Portugal, Vineyard, Piemonte, Grape, Interview, Arts, Society & Culture, White Wine, Loire Valley, Champagne, Sicilia, Austria, Tuscany, Conversation, Hobbies, Wine Business, Leisure, Bordeaux, Sonoma, Feedpodcast, Wine, Germany, Author

4.81K Ratings

🗓️ 24 December 2023

⏱️ 84 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Sandy Block was a Master of Wine who was also the Vice President of Beverage at the Legal Sea Foods group of restaurants, and an Adjunct Professor at Boston University in Massachusetts. Sandy passed away in November of 2021.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

I'm Levy Dalton and this is all drink to that where we get behind the scenes of the wine business. Oh, you know.

0:13.0

Oh, you know.

0:15.0

Oh, you know.

0:16.0

Oh,

0:17.0

And, and you know,

0:18.0

and you know, When I sat down with Alexander N Block, whom I knew is Sandy Block, I thought that I would have a chance to see him again. But that didn't happen.

0:37.0

He didn't tell me that he had cancer and I was unaware that this recording session would be one of the last times that he would

0:44.0

speak publicly about his life. At the time we spoke, Sandy had a job that he'd held for

0:50.2

over a decade and a half, overseeing the beverage programs for the legal

0:54.0

seafoods restaurants in Massachusetts. The Berkowitz family would go on to sell

0:59.1

those same restaurants to a private equity group and Sandy would pass away all in the span of less than a year.

1:07.1

The Sandy Block that I first met in the late 1990s was a patient teacher, An instructor at Boston University's Metropolitan College, he

1:16.7

facilitated what felt like graduate seminars about wine and ideas, with a handful of chairs grouped in a circle and every participant encouraged to speak.

1:27.0

Sandy, who often sported a nice black turtle neck under a suit, was my instructor in wine courses for several years,

1:36.7

alternating between class sessions in the same program led by Alex Murray and Bill Nesto.

1:43.6

Thinking about those people,

1:45.3

Alex Murray liked to provide a good takeaway,

1:47.5

a principal piece of information

1:49.4

that could illuminate a wine region.

1:53.0

Bill Nesto, whom I've interviewed on this program, is an instructor that likes to challenge

1:57.4

students, quizzing them verbally and testing them on their ability to detect aromas and

2:02.2

to identify wines. But Sandy was entirely different.

...

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