Sixty-fiveCharles Krug, one of the Golden State’s best-liked and respected wine growers, had agreed to be the master of ceremonies for the Golden Gate Symposium finale, and as the ladies and gentlemen who’d paid $50 a head to sample the evening’s selections over a fine dinner made their way into the Occidental ballroom, his steady presence lent the occasion much-needed gravitas.
A man further removed from the poisoned-wine disaster of a few nights ago couldn’t be imagined. The German had enjoyed a reputation for making superior wine in Sonoma for nearly a decade, but he was even more highly valued for his unwavering integrity and encouragement of better wine quality and higher standards. As the wine commissioner for Napa County he was one of the industry’s key men, and the elect group arr
