Tom Black is author of the wildly popular book The Boxcar Millionaire and he exemplifies the essence of the American dream. His rags to riches story will amaze and inspire you.
Tom began life in a railway boxcar. He grew up in extreme poverty and worked his way up the free enterprise ladder known as America. Today, Tom is recognized as the "Greatest Sales Trainer in America" and is also world-famous as owner of the greatest wine collection in the United States, with some of the rarest and oldest wines in existence. As one of the world’s most knowledgeable and well-known wine experts, Tom Black has been featured in international food and wine magazines and he is honored to count the best chefs and winemakers among his personal friends. A tour around his plantation style estate in Nashville, TN, reveals numerous treasured snapshots taken while entertaining famous guests like Martina McBride, LeAnn Rimes, Sheryl Crow, Ashley Judd, Brooks and Dunn, and legendary music producer Tony Brown.
Tom now dedicates his time to teaching others everything he has learned through business-strategy coaching in his signature no-nonsense manner that rivets his audiences. Tom is passionate about sharing his secret to success and he travels the globe bringing hands-on sales tools to business owners and their employees through his sales mentoring enterprise called the Tom Black Center for Excellence. He is an entrepreneur who has founded, purchased, sold, and taken companies public.
He says, “I believe that success is not something you own, it’s something you rent. And when you stop paying the rent on success you immediately start paying the rent on failure.”
Tom Black’s personal and professional story is a message of hope and it moves us to reach beyond our current circumstances and bring our greatest vision of ourselves to reality. Mark Victor Hansen, author of the New York Times No. 1 Best Seller Chicken Soup for the Soul, says, “He is going to show you how to sell yourself rich, my dear friend Tom Black.”
Tom’s story is about a boy who was born and raised in a boxcar. He had a dream to be the best at whatever he set his mind to. “I didn’t set my goal to be No. 1 if my car didn’t breakdown, because it did. I didn’t set my goal to be No. 1 if I didn’t get sick, because I did. I didn’t set my goal to be No. 1 if I didn’t run out of sales territory, because I did. I set my goal to be No. 1 despite my circumstances,” says Tom Black.
Today his dream is to share his story with others in the hope that it will transform someone else’s life with the knowledge that we can make our inspired dreams come true.
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Missouri State University Commencement
JQH ARENA
685 S. John Q. Hammons Parkway
Springfield, MO
Contact:
Sherry Stringfellow
Tom Black Center for Excellence, Inc.
sherry@tomblackcenter.com
615.263.2833
May 14, 2010 - Springfield, MO. Missouri State University has selected Tom Black (The Boxcar Millionaire) for their commencement address Friday, May 14th. Tom graduated from then Southwest Missouri State University with a degree in Rhetoric and Public Address. He was a nationally ranked debater and was active in student government. He is a significant contributor to the University and remains in close contact with the current debate team.
His business career is a true rags to riches story. Born in humble circumstances, he has built several large nationally known companies in the banking services industry. Recently he created the Tom Black Center for Excellence to teach and coach sales and sales management. He has been asked to deliver keynote speeches around the world, and is the author of the wildly popular book, “Boxcar Millionaire”. Tom says, “The highest honor I have received in a lifetime of honors is being asked to give the commencement address at my university”.
Missouri State University was founded in 1905 originally a “normal school” to train teachers and prepare them for the public school systems in the southwest region of Missouri. In 1945, it became Southwest Missouri State College to display the school's expansion beyond teacher education to liberal arts and sciences. It became Missouri State University in 2005 to reflect an institution with tens of thousands of students as well as higher admissions standards and increased graduate programs. It has grown into Missouri’s largest undergraduate business school. Serving students from every state and over 100 countries, Missouri State University continues to provide a high quality of education for the world. Known for both its excellence in sports and academics, its alumni have achieved success in every field.
Missouri State University will confer 2,539 degrees during the spring commencement ceremony May 14 at JQH Arena.
For more information about Tom Black, visit www.tomblack.com. For more information about Missouri State University, visit http://www.missouristate.edu.
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
June 17, 2010, Reims, France – The Ordre Des Coteaux Has Recently Announced Promotions for Three Americans; Bruce Fingerett, Todd McGowan, and Tom Black. Bruce Fingerett and Todd McGowan Were Inducted into The Order as Chevaliers. Tom Black, a Member for Over 11 years Was Promoted to The Office of Chambellan. Only a Handful of Americans Have Ever Received this Designation and it Truly Sets Tom Black Apart as One of America’s True Champagne Authorities.
Tom Black has been given numerous rewards in the food and wine world. Being a member of the Commanderie de Bordeaux, on the National Board of the Chaine des Rotisseurs and an officer in the Order de Conteaux separates him from most gastronomiques.
Unlike other champagne wine fraternities, which confine themselves to the promotion of a particular “cru” or variety of grape, the very special feature of the ORDRE DES COTEAUX DE CHAMPAGNE, is that it extols the wines of Champagne in general and in their diversity.
The role of the Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne is to promote the wines of Champagne, their unique features, their ways of consumption and everything which contributes to their reputation and their image as the most prestigious symbol of success and celebration.
Around 1650, young aristocrats at the court of Louis the XIVth, amongst whom were Mortemart, Ollonne, Brousse and the satirist Saint-Evremont, founded an elegant academy dedicated to good wines. They were all famous wine connoisseurs and were particularly fond of the champagne wines from the three "coteaux" (hillsides) Ay, Avenay and Hautvillers. Hence the name given to this association "Ordre des Coteaux". It disappeared shortly before the revolution.
In 1956 a group of "champenois" led by Roger Gaucher and Francois Tatittinger in particular, who did the historical research, decided to revive the original "Ordre des Coteaux". The first champagne firms to open their doors to the new Order were TAITTINGER, LAURENT-PERRIER, MERCIER and MUMM.
Since 1956, four thousand members have joined the Order, headquartered in the Champagne province of France.
Pierre-Emmanual Taittinger, the current Commandeur of the organization says, “The Ordre des Coteaux has several thousand members worldwide and celebrates the unique place Champagne holds in the world”.
Tom Black says, “I never set out to get all this recognition in the food and wine world. I only set out to be informed”. As Tom’s friend, Michael Broadbent says, “The aristocrat of the table, the gentleman of the cellar…the deeply knowledgeable, is rarely, if ever, a snob”.
For more information on Ordre Des Coteaux, visit: http://www.ordredescoteaux.com/english/index.php
For more information on Tom, visit: www.tomblackwine.com and www.tomblack.com
Contact:
Sherry Stringfellow
Tom Black Center for Excellence, Inc.
Phone: 615.263.2833
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jon Sturgeon, Club Organizer & Host, 214 Overlook Circle, Suite 152, Brentwood, TN 37027 615-812-8611 jon@tomblackcenter.com
Sales Managers Forum Launched - A New Professional Development Club
Nashville, TN – May 20, 2009. The newly formed SALES MANAGERS FORUM, a professional development club exclusively for managers of sales people launched in April. A monthly luncheon meeting is held the last Thursday of each month from 11:30 - 1:00 at Carrabba’s Restaurant next to the Mall at Green Hills.
“The idea for this club was borne out of the need to address the unique issues that managers of sales people have,” says Jon Sturgeon the club host and organizer. Sturgeon says, “There is nothing like this in Nashville and the response has been great. We had barely started to get the word out and had 20 managers attend the first luncheon meeting in April. Our current location can accommodate 70 people.”
At each monthly luncheon meeting attendees have a chance to network with other sales management professionals over lunch and give a brief introduction of themselves and their company. A notable keynote speaker each month presents the topic of the day which is followed with small group table discussions on that topic. A volunteer from each small group then reads the list of best practices gleaned from their group discussion and this information is later distributed.
The Keynote speaker this month (May 28th) is Tom Black, the author of The Boxcar Millionaire. His topic is Sales Reporting: Metrics that matter - How to use them to motivate your team and increase sales. Black is one of Nashville’s top entrepreneurs and sought after keynote speakers with a long history of building great sales organizations.
Each quarter the club will also host an After Hours Mixer at Carrabba’s.
For additional information contact Jon Sturgeon, 615.812.8611 or jon@tomblackcenter.com www.tomblack.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Sherry Stringfellow, Tom Black Center for Excellence, 615.263.2833
Inaugural Sales Excellence Awards Winners Recognized
Nashville, TN – May 8, 2009. The Tom Black Center for Excellence revealed Nashville’s top sales people and runners-up in eight industry categories at the first annual “Sales Excellence Awards” ceremony and luncheon at F. Scott’s on May 1, 2009. A crowd of businesspeople from many of Nashville’s foremost companies attended in support of the nominees.
In the inaugural year of the Sales Excellence Awards, The City Paper and the Tom Black Center for Excellence joined forces to highlight great sales achievements for 2008. Winners were chosen based on their percentage increase in growth of their business over the previous year. The results were tabulated and vetted by Lattimore Black Morgan & Cain, PC and Associates. “Sales is the gas and oil that drives the free market enterprise our country was built on. We wanted to do something positive and champion the hard work and dedication of Nashville’s top sales people,” said Tom Black. Black is one of Nashville’s leading entrepreneurs and has a long history of building great sales organizations. He is the founder and CEO of the Tom Black Center for Excellence, a sales consulting, coaching and training company based in the Nashville area. http://www.tomblack.com/
Award winners were nominated in the following categories:
AUTOMOTIVE: Bradley Snyder, Mercedes-Benz of Nashville and Rick Rardon, Crest Cadillac Hummer Saab
COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE: Richard A. Fleming Sr., Cushman & Wakefield and Andrew Robinson Jr., Cushman & Wakefield
RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE: Patricia Straus, Fridrich & Clark and Anne McGugin, Fridrich & Clark
INSURANCE/FINANCIAL SERVICES: David Adams, Southwestern Investment Services, Inc. and Jason Gornicki, Liberty Mutual
MEDICAL: Chris Stewart, Stryker and Graham Young, Surgical Resources Network
MEDIA/ADVERTISING: Evan Owens, center Interactive Strategies and Amanda Durand, Paramore|Redd
TECHNOLOGY: Carrie Bain, Simplex Grinnell LP and Brent Clements, Nuvox
OTHER: Ashley Johnson, Tom James Company and Odie Caduff, Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce
For the full story and information about each nominee, see the Monday, May 5, 2009 edition of The CityPaper. For additional information contact Jon Sturgeon, 615.812.8611, jon@tomblackcenter.com
My Passion for Wine
The frank Tennessee businessman talks Howard G. Goldberg through his advice for Barack Obama, and his 20,000-bottle cellar
Tom Black, 49, owner of around 1,000 bottles of Champagne, made a whirlwind visit to New York in February to attend a fellow collector’s Champagne tasting. I asked: ‘If you could have just one bubbly for life, what would it be?’ A quick reply: ‘1979 Salon Le Mesnil or 1979 Cristal.’ Is there a US sparkler he likes? Quicker: ‘No.’
Direct, quietly intense, informal, Black can be wry. Why did he become a collector? ‘Women have large wardrobes and lots of shoes so they can pick and choose what they want to wear. I wanted to pick and choose what to drink.’ The Boxcar Millionaire, Black’s self-published book, evokes Horatio Alger novels that inspired 19th-century youths to strive for rags-to-riches lives. Born in a small Kansas town, he first lived with his family in a railroad boxcar split into two bedrooms and a living space; the bathroom was outside. During an early life of deprivation and struggle that generated self-reliance, he vowed to escape into wealth. Today, his 20,000-bottle cellar – mostly at his home in Nashville, Tennessee – testifies to his success, achieved through artful salesmanship and ownerships in businesses, among them banking services.
Aside from 5,000 bottles each of Bordeaux and Burgundy, Black has 3,000 from Italy, 2,000 from the Rhône, 3,000 from America and 1,000 from Alsace. ‘I love steely, dry Alsace Rieslings,’ he says. ‘I love Hugel. They may be France’s best winemakers. I like Zind-Humbrecht, Trimbach, Kreydenweiss. Alsace Pinot Blanc is amazing.’ Black, divorced, drinks wine six days a week, but ‘never during a workday lunch’. What’s the downside of being an aficionado? ‘You bore people: A wine question turns into a drink from a fire hose. You spend a lot of money. You can’t find good wine in many restaurants.’
His immersion began when his first boss asked him to learn about wine to entertain bankers. He began collecting in 1986. His first wine book? ‘Michael Broadbent’s Wine Tasting.’ Best tastings? ‘60 vintages of Haut-Brion with (winemaker) Jean-Bernard Delmas and Serena Sutcliffe MW (head of Sotheby’s international wine department); 63 vintages of Pétrus with Serena and (her husband) Bordeaux expert David Peppercorn MW; 67 vintages of Pichon-Lalande with (owner) May-Eliane de Lencquesaing and Serena; 43 Rousseau Burgundies with Jim Clendenen (owner/winemaker at Au Bon Climat) and (Burgundy expert) Clive Coates MW; tasting every vintage of Stag’s Leap Cask 23 with (winemaker) Warren Winiarski.’ It’s fair to say Black moves in the right circles.
Blue chips aside, Black’s wine interests are global. Asked for his standout lower-cost bottles, he reels off a list. Bordeaux: Château de Pez, Ormes de Pez, Bellegrave, Chasse-Spleen, Phélan-Ségur, Belair. From Burgundy: ‘Bourgogne Rouge from great or good producers; whites from great producers in Mâcon like Lafon’. Elsewhere in France: Château Jolys in Jurançon. Germany: JJ Prüm. Washington: Chateau Ste Michelle, Bonair, Hogue. Chile: Concha y Toro, La Playa. New Zealand: Greystone, Pegasus Bay, Muddy Water. California’s Central Coast: Au Bon Climat and Talley Pinot Noir, Qupé and Alban Syrah. Australian sweet wine: Campbells. Canada: Inniskillin.
Black buys and sells at auction, only in America, mainly through Sothebys and Zachys. Any disappointments? ‘I bought lots of Opus One and Diamond Creek. They never came around. I sold them all.’ His hesitations? ‘I don’t feel confident when I buy German wines. I don’t know how dry they’ll be.’ Except for Sancerre, he’s ‘ambivalent’ about the Loire. The most promising New World country? South Africa. He thinks the 100- point scoring system is a 15-point system because only 85–100 points have market clout. He rates wines using the 20-point scale, for comparison’s sake, in group tastings; casually, he mostly desists.
Black has recommended wines to Al Gore, Bill Clinton’s vice-president. So, amid the recent debate, if he were the White House wine adviser, what would he suggest? ‘100% American. The whole gamut: wines from Virginia, Texas, Missouri.’ Warming to the political theme, he decries America’s interstate shipping laws as crazy. ‘We scream free trade to the world but don’t allow it. I’d let people buy direct from the winery and have it shipped home.’ And his thoughts on wine and health? ‘The benefits are enormous. But who really drinks for health?’
Decanter magazine, May 2009
“Is this the Boxcar Millionaire?”
Chicken Soup for the Soul, Art Linkletter and Tom Black come together for one dynamic day of inspiration
by Beth Alexander
Author of Chicken Soup for the Soul, which along with dozens of Chicken Soup iterations has sold more than 144 million copies, Mark Victor Hansen is looking forward to coming back to Nashville. His April 17 seminar, Building Your Mega Success: Take a Day to Invest in Yourself, will take place at the Presidential Ballroom of Opryland Hotel and will also feature powerful presentations not only from Mark, but from famed and beloved television icon Art Linkletter (author of 28 books, from Kids Say the Darndest Things to How to Make the Rest of Your Life the Best of Your Life) and long-time Nfocus columnist, entrepreneur and oenophile Tom Black.
Tom has been a significant player in several well-timed IPOs, was the founder and CEO of Private Business and is now the CEO of Bancsource, Inc. “Tom is exploding,” Mark says, “in terms of what he offers in salesmanship and entrepreneurship. He is the classic rags-to-riches story, started out selling books door-to-door, became their highest salesperson and then their best trainer.” Mark packs a lot into a sentence, skipping over unnecessary descriptors and barreling on to his next point. My advice: If you’re coming to the seminar, brush up on your shorthand.
A friend sent Mark a copy of Tom’s book, The Boxcar Millionaire. “Mark called me on my cell phone when I was in the airport on my way to France,” Tom says. “I ducked into a men’s room to get away from the announcements and noise, and his first words were, ‘Is this the Boxcar Millionaire?’ From there, I flew out to meet with him. We formed a partnership, and he asked to publish my book.”
According to Tom, the seminar will provide “motivation, inspiration and education, with takeaways that anyone can apply to their own lives. Most people spend thousands of dollars every year on technology, but never invest even $1,000 in their own personal development.” Mark Victor Hansen bills it as an invitation to spend a little time making your life fuller, more meaningful, more romantic, more successful. “It’s about how to make yourself into a masterpiece,” he says. Tom will share his proven sales success system, along with applicable sales, marketing and entrepreneurship strategies in a segment titled, “Think, Act and Sell Like an Entrepreneur: Multi-Millionaire Secrets of Business Success.”
Art Linkletter, an abandoned orphan in Saskatchewan, grew up to befriend presidents and host TV shows on three major networks. Now 95, his latest collaboration with Mark (they’ve trained together for more than 30 years) is a love letter to baby boomers, How to Make the Rest of Your Life the Best of Your Life, printed by Thomas Nelson with sales in the millions of copies. “He’s totally against letting people age and retire,” says Mark. “He is the most smoking guy I know. He’s building the world’s biggest planetarium in Myrtle Beach, he has 38 great-grandkids, and he’s heading up Alzheimer’s research because of his friendship with Reagan. People come up to him and say, ‘You look like Art Linkletter, but he’s been dead a long time!’”
Four Mega Success seminars are planned per year, Tom says. “Art Linkletter wants us to do one per month, but not everybody has as much energy as he does.”
Mark will attack (that’s how he speaks) the power of focus. He cites Pareto’s Principle, the 80/20 rule, as old-fashioned thinking. “We’re saying one percent determines the other 99 percent. I’m going to show people how to do this, so that what they are doing is highly profitable.” Human beings began as hunter/gatherers, he says, then moved into the agricultural age, then the industrial age, then the computer age. We’re now entering the conceptualization age of intellectual property. We may be facing tough times, “but there are brand new opportunities out there, and we have to wake up to them and conquer” current negative economic indicators. “The recession will only hurt those who aren’t awake,” he says.
Mark Victor Hansen has an evergreen mind. Aged 60, he says, “I’ve been doing this for 34 years and have another 60 or 70 to go. We had a neuroscientist in here last week who said that when you scan the brain, it’s either red,if it’s dying, or blue if it’s still growing. We’re here to be learning machines; we’re knowledge workers, and I am learning at a full-time level. I’ve never learned so much so fast!”
The average American has a vocabulary of about 1,500 words he says, maintaining that “you can’t think any deeper than your vocabulary.” With an elastic, growing vocabulary, you can convey messages more accurately and more powerfully. “Words give you a level of discernment,” Mark says. “What I’ll be teaching is how to use focus to create your fortune. Everyone has a fortune inside that is invisible until they come to a seminar like this one. People will realize, ‘I’ve been sitting on my personal power!’”
Other presenters at the all-day seminar are Dr. Denis Waitley, author of The Psychology of Winning, and Loral Langemeier, who wrote The Millionaire Maker, each of whom have equally impressive portfolios of achievement. On April 16, all the presenters will come together for a special dinner at Sunset Grill to benefit two local nonprofit groups. If you’d like for a little of the magic of this infectious group of overachievers to rub off on you, for just $1,500 per couple you can be a part of something pretty spectacular. And if you’re a wine-lover, you know that when Tom Black is involved, the vino is top flight, as well.
Mark recently visited Andrew Carnegie’s home, now the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, a 60,000-square-foot, 64-room mansion, at 91st and Fifth Avenue in New York. Understandably awed, he said Carnegie’s favorite quotes were painted on the walls of his library/study between the frieze and the ceiling—such thoughts as, “No man can get rich without enriching all others,” and, “The gods send thread for the web begun.”
If you’ve begun your web, there’ll be plenty of thread—and plenty of inspiration—at the Mega Success Seminar on April 17. For information on tickets, visit markvictorhansen.com
FIRST ANNUAL SALES EXCELLENCE AWARDS
Nominate Your Best Salespeople Today!
Presented by the Tom Black Center for Excellence
The City Paper and the Tom Black Center for Excellence are looking for the city`s best salespeople.If you manage salespeople in the Nashville MSA, we want you to nominate your top achiever. Three Finalists and the winner in ten different industries will be honored at an awards banquet and in the March 31st edition of The City Paper.
Finalists will be chosen based on percentage sales gains for 2008 over 2007 and vetted by LMBC.
Complete rules and a nomination form can be found at www.salesawards.nashvillecitypaper.com
TheCityPaper, Tom Black Center for Excellence, LATTIMORE BLACK MORGAN & CAIN, PC and Affiliates
America’s Greatest Sales Trainer to Hold Leadership Seminar - Learn How to ‘Sell Yourself Rich’
For Release: Immediate
(Nashville, TN – December 5, 2008) – It turns out there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow after all. Tom Black is author of the wildly popular book The Boxcar Millionaire and he exemplifies the essence of the American Dream. Black was born in the small town of Nickerson, Kansas, where he lived with his family in a railroad boxcar – yes, a boxcar.
Well, Toto we’re not in Kansas anymore! While the road to success isn’t exactly paved with yellow bricks, it is paved with hard work and a commitment to following a proven sales system. Tom Black worked his way up the free enterprise ladder known as America and today, this Nashville based entrepreneur and author is recognized as the greatest Sales Trainer in the Country.
Black is passionate about sharing his secret to success and he travels nationwide and overseas bringing his hands-on sales techniques in his signature no-nonsense manner to business owners and their employees through his sales mentoring enterprise called the Tom Black Center for Excellence.
On Thursday, December 18th, Black is holding a Sales Leadership Seminar at the Cool Springs Marriott Conference Center in Franklin, TN. The event is a full-day of interactive training commencing promptly at 8:30 a.m. and concluding at 4:30 p.m. Mark Victor Hansen, author of the New York Times No. 1 Best Seller Chicken Soup for the Soul, says, “He is going to show you how to sell yourself rich, my dear friend Tom Black.”
The event is designed for sales managers and company leaders and is presented at an investment of $500.00 per person. Attendees will learn how to recruit, select and hire quality salespeople, set clear expectations to help increase performance, improve management effectiveness, de-hire salespeople who aren’t performing, and gain knowledge of the best practices from thousands of top sales leaders across the globe.
To register call the Tom Black Center for Excellence at 615-377-7752. You may visit www.TomBlack.com for more information.
For more information or media interviews, please contact:
Tom Black Center for Excellence Inc. 214 Overlook Circle, Suite 152 Brentwood, TN 37027 Tel: (615) 377-7752 Publicity@TomBlack.com www.TomBlack.com
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www.PenelopeJean.com
Tom Black Chairs Wine Auction to Benefit the French-American Cultural Foundation
For Release: Immediate
(Nashville, TN – November 26, 2008) - For the first time ever, all 61 châteaux listed in the historic 1855 Médoc classification and all 26 châteaux listed in the 1855 Sauternes classification will donate a bottle of their wine to compose two rare and unique auction lots. All are from the remarkable 2003 vintage, making this the trophy collection that will transform your cellar into the talk-of-the-town!
These unprecedented offerings will be auctioned on December 3, 2008 at an extraordinary black-tie fundraising dinner to be hosted by the French Ambassador Pierre Vimont taking place at his Washington, DC residence. The Chairman of this exciting event is Nashville entrepreneur and renowned sales trainer and author, Mr. Tom Black. The Tom Black Center for Excellence is among the numerous ventures in which we have come to know this dynamic businessman. Black is internationally recognized as one of the world’s top wine experts and is the owner of the largest wine collection in the United States, approaching 30,000 bottles. Black has staged wine auctions for charity for nearly two decades.
Proceeds from the event will benefit The French-American Cultural Foundation (F-ACF) which is a nonprofit organization that supports and encourages cultural, artistic and educational exchanges between France and the United States. In addition to presenting visual and performing arts at the French Embassy, the F-ACF collaborates with major cultural institutions like the Kennedy Center and the National Gallery of Art to bring French programming to the United States, and helps to foster a healthy relationship between the two countries. The F-ACF also publishes France Magazine, an elegant and upscale quarterly magazine showcasing the best in French culture, travel and art to readers throughout the United States.
“On behalf of the French Ambassador to the United States, and myself, I would like to express our gratitude for the honor of hosting this prestigious event,” says Tom Black, “Let’s make a memory together and experience the magic of time and art captured in a bottle.”
The guests of honor will include Philippe Castéja, President of the Conseil des Grands Crus Classés en 1855; Jean-Michel Cazes, owner of Château Lynch-Bages and other famous estates; Jean-Paul Kauffmann, a renowned author and wine expert; and celebrated wine critic Robert Parker.
This spectacular soirée will also feature guest chef Thierry Marx of Pauillac’s famous Château Cordeillan-Bages who will cross the Atlantic to prepare the dishes that have made him one of the most lauded chefs of his generation.
In addition, a silent auction will offer guests a chance to pick up some fabulous holiday gifts, including premier grand cru wines, many with 100-point ratings; a weekend at a Relais & Châteaux property; and Baccarat crystal stemware.
This celebration of terrior and talent will be an experience of a lifetime that no serious wine enthusiast will want to miss! Tickets are open for sale to the public at $1,000 per person and $12,000 per table. It is no surprise that so many are traveling to Washington, DC next week when we consider these words from Tom Black, “Your participation also represents a donation that will help to strengthen French-American cultural ties and friendship.”
To be included among some of the best in the wine business and be present for your opportunity to own a piece of Bordeaux’s legendary history, you may reserve your seat by contacting Karen Taylor of the French-American Cultural Foundation at (202) 944-6042.
For more information or media interviews, please contact:
Tom Black Center for Excellence Inc. 214 Overlook Circle, Suite 152 | Brentwood, TN 37027
Or
The French-American Cultural Foundation (202) 944-6042 (615) 377-7752
www.TomBlack.com Publicity@TomBlack.com
BRIEFS - nFocus, March 2009
Tom loves wine and wine loves Tom. That`s pretty clear now that Tom Black has, in essence, been knighted by the gods of the wine world, the Chaine des Rotisseurs, the world`s oldest and most prestigious food and wine society. Tom was named to the rank of Vice Conseiller Gastronomique Bailliage des Etas-Unis. Cool.
The guild is a non-for-profit society officially founded in Paris in 1950, with written history which has been traced back to the year 1248. At that time, French King Louis IX assigned the task of bringing order into the organization of gastronomic traders, developing young apprentices and improving the technical knowledge of its members. Today, this storied French royal guild of food and wine afficionados continues in its efforts to educate and unite those who love the good life.
If that weren't enough, Tom is also an officer of the Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne, an organization established in 1656 by King Louis the XIV (these French kings named Louis sure do like their wine!) to manage global communications for the wine of Champagne, France.
So know this. If you`re going to dinner at Tom`s and you want to take a gift, box wine probably won`t go over that well.
America’s greatest Sales Trainer receives ‘Royal Promotion’ In the most prestigious symbol of success and celebration
For Release: Immediate
(Nashville, TN – December 1, 2008) - Established in 1656 by aristocrats in the court of French King Louis the XIVth, the Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne is responsible for managing a global communications policy of essential information concerning the wines of Champagne, France through a worldwide network of highly-knowledgeable staunch supporters. These individuals are prudently chosen from all over the globe and include renowned restaurateurs, sommeliers, connoisseurs and international personalities in politics, media, stage and screen.
Entrepreneur and author Tom Black is one of America’s top wine experts and collectors and has been a representative of the Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne for the last decade. At a prestigious ceremony held at the Saint Regis Hotel in Manhattan on Friday, November 21st, Black was promoted to the rank of Officer by a delegation of the Grand Chapter of New York. “There are only a few of us in the Country with this distinction and I certainly feel honored to receive this promotion and be recognized by the Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne”, says Tom Black.
Black has become a celebrity in the world of wine and has been featured in countless magazine articles. He is privileged to be one of America’s most extensive and recognized wine collectors. His personal wine collection approaches 30,000 bottles, and he owns some of the rarest wines in the world. Black counts the greatest winemakers, chefs, and wine critics among his closest friends and he has conducted some of the most comprehensive and famous wine tastings in America.
First making his mark in the corporate world, Tom Black is author of the wildly popular book The Boxcar Millionaire and he exemplifies the essence of the American Dream. Black is passionate about sharing his secret to success and he travels internationally bringing hands-on sales tools to business owners and their employees through his sales mentoring enterprise called the Tom Black Center for Excellence. You may visit www.TomBlack.com for more information.
For more information or media interviews, please contact: Tom Black Center for Excellence Inc. 214 Overlook Circle, Suite 152 Brentwood, TN 37027 Tel: (615) 377-7752 Publicity@TomBlack.com www.TomBlack.com
Release prepared by Complete Image Consulting LLC
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Libération de Mass-média
Le plus grand Entraîneur Des ventes de l'Amérique reçoit ‘la Promotion Royale’
Dans le symbole le plus prestigieux de succès et de célébration
Pour la Libération : Immédiat
(Nashville, TN – le 1 décembre 2008) - Établi dans 1656 par les aristocrates dans la cour de justice de Roi français Louis le XIVth, l'Ordre des Coteaux du Champagne est responsable de diriger une politique de communications globale de renseignements essentiels concernant les vins de Champagne, la France par un réseau mondial de supporters dévoués hautement-bien-documentés. Ces individus sont prudemment choisis de partout sur le globe et incluent des restaurateurs illustres, sommeliers, des connaisseurs et des personnalités internationales dans la politique, les mass-média, le stade et l'écran.
L'entrepreneur et l'auteur Tom Black sont un des experts supérieurs de vin de l'Amérique et des collectionneurs et ont été un représentant de l'Ordre des Coteaux du Champagne pour la décade dernière. À une cérémonie prestigieuse tenue à l'Hôtel de Saint Regis à Manhattan vendredi, le 21 novembre, Noir a été promu au grade d'Officier par une délégation du Grand Chapitre de ew York. “Il y a seulement quelques-uns d'entre nous dans le Pays avec cette distinction et je me sens certainement honoré pour recevoir cette promotion et être reconnu par l'Ordre des Coteaux du Champagne”, dit Tom Black.
Noir est devenu une célébrité dans le monde de vin et a été présenté dans les articles de magazine sans nombre. Il est donné le privilège pour être une de l'Amérique la plus étendue et a reconnu des collectionneurs de vin. Sa collection personnelle de vin s'approche de 30,000 bouteilles et il possède certains des vins rarest dans le monde. Les comptes noirs le plus grand winemakers, les chefs et les critiques de vin parmi ses amis les plus proches et il a accompli certaines des dégustations du vin les plus complètes et réputées en Amérique.
D'abord en signant d'une croix dans le monde d'entreprise, Tom Black est l'auteur du livre extrêmement populaire le Millionnaire de Wagon de Marchandises et il exemplifie l'essence du Rêve américain. Noir est passionné du partageant de son secret au succès et il voyage dans le monde entier en apportant des instruments des ventes de terrain aux propriétaires d'affaires et leurs employés par ses ventes mentoring l'entreprise ont appelé le Centre de Tom Black pour la Vente. Vous pouvez visiter www.TomBlack.com pour plus d'informations.
Pour plus d'informations ou interviews de mass-média, contactez s'il vous plaît:
Tom Black Center for Excellence Inc. 214 Overlook Circle, Suite 130 | Brentwood, TN 37027 Tel: (615) 377-7752 Publicity@TomBlack.com
www.TomBlack.com
Libération préparée par Complete Image Consulting LLC
www.PenelopeJean.com
Tom Black exerce les fonctions du Président pour Profiter le Fondation Culturelle Française-Américaine
Pour la Libération : Immédiat
(Nashville, TN – le 21 novembre 2008) - Pour la première fois jamais, tous 61 châteaux énumérés en 1855 historique la classification de Médoc et tous 26 châteaux énumérés dans la classification Sauternes 1855 donneront une bouteille de leur vin pour composer deux lots de vente aux enchères rares et uniques. Tous sont de la vendange de 2003 remarquable, en le faisant la collection de trophée qui transformera votre cave dans la "conversation de la ville"!
Ces offres sans précédent seront vendues aux enchères le 3 décembre 2008, à une tenue de soirée extraordinaire fundraising le dîner à être accueilli par l'Ambassadeur français Pierre Vimont survenant à son Washington, résidence de courant continu. Le Président de cet événement excitant est notre très propre, l'entrepreneur de Nashville et l'entraîneur des ventes illustre et l'auteur, M. Tom Black. Le Centre de Tom Black pour la Vente est parmi les nombreuses aventures dans lesquelles nous sommes venus pour connaître cet homme d'affaires local. Noir est dans le monde entier reconnu comme un collectionneur avide de vin qui a organisé des ventes aux enchères de vin pour la charité depuis presque deux décades.
"De la part de l'Ambassadeur français dans les États-Unis et moi-même, je voudrais officiellement étendre cette invitation (à la communauté Nashville) pour nous rejoindre le 3 décembre dans le Capitole de notre Nation," dit Tom Black, "faisons une mémoire ensemble et connaissons la magie de temps et d'art capturé dans une bouteille."
Les invités d'honneur incluront Philippe Castéja, le Président du Conseil des Grands Crus Classés demi-cadratin 1855; Jean-Michel Cazes, le propriétaire de Château Lynche-Bages et d'autres états réputés; Jean-Paul Kauffmann, un auteur illustre et un expert de vin; et critique célébré de vin Robert Parker.
Ce soirée spectaculaire présentera aussi le chef d'invité Thierry Marx du Château réputé de Pauillac Cordeillan-Bages qui traversera l'Atlantique pour préparer les plats qui l'ont fait un des chefs les plus loués de sa génération.
En plus, une vente aux enchères silencieuse offrira aux invités une chance de ramasser quelques cadeaux de jour férié fabuleux, en incluant de grands vins cru premiers, beaucoup avec les estimations de 100 points; un week-end à un Relais et la propriété Châteaux; et cristal de Baccara stemware.
Cette célébration de terrior et le talent sera une expérience d'une vie qu'aucun enthousiaste sérieux de vin ne voudra manquer! Les tickets sont ouverts pour la vente au public à $1,000 par personne; et $12,000 par table. Ce n'est aucune surprise que si beaucoup voyagent à Washington, le courant continu la semaine prochaine où nous considérons ces mots de Tom Black, "Nous avons une des communautés les plus grandes et les plus significatives de vin du pays juste là dans Nashville, Tennessee et nous serons représentés bien le 3 décembre."
Pour être inclus parmi un peu de meilleur dans les affaires de vin et être présent pour votre opportunité de posséder un morceau de l'histoire légendaire de Bordeaux, vous pouvez réserver votre place en contactant Karen Taylor de la Fondation Culturelle française-américaine à (202) 944-6042. Votre participation représente aussi une donation qui aidera à renforcer des liens culturels françaisaméricains et une amitié.
Pour plus de renseignements ou interviews de mass-média, contactez s'il vous plaît:
Tom Black Center for Excellence Inc. 214 Overlook Circle, Suite 130 | Brentwood, TN 37027
www.TomBlack.com (615) 377-7752 Publicity@TomBlack.com
Tom Black’s life began in the tiny town of Nickerson, Kan., a long way from the corporate offices in Middle Tennessee where he served as CEO of two public companies — Private Business and Open Solutions.
Black’s parents weren’t members of the local country club. They were dropouts who worked low-paying jobs and were so destitute the family lived in a railroad boxcar.
Surprised that he even made it through high school, Black got his first introduction to selling at Nashville’s Southwestern Co., where he peddled books door-to-door in the summer while he worked his way through college at Southwest Missouri State Teachers College.
Thus began his escape from a hard-scrabble life.
Black’s journey from poverty to wealth has become more public since he stepped down as CEO at Open Solutions Inc. in 2003. He frequently talks about it at sales training and public speaking events, and he writes about it in his book, “The Boxcar Millionaire.”
The self-help sales guide was published in 2007 by the Tom Black Center for Excellence, the small Brentwood-based company Black started after retiring from the echelon of corporate life in 2005.
Black, 49, started the company to satisfy his urge to help small businesses succeed, not to grow a company in the traditional sense.
He made $330,000 last year, a pittance compared to the fortune he’s amassed, but that’s not the point.
“When you’ve decided you’ve accumulated enough money,” he says, “then you should ask yourself what you can give back.
“I’m doing this because I didn’t want to retire and because I love teaching.”
Black says there’s a lesson in it for others like him who’ve reached a career pinnacle and might be at a loss for what to do next.
“Focus on what you know you do best and on what helps other people,” he says.
Black has offered sales training to the agents at Fridrich & Clark Realty LLC, a Green Hills-based residential real estate firm.
Steve Fridrich, managing partner of the agency, says he’d shied away from hard-core sales training before tapping Black to talk to his staff.
“A lot of people do motivational speaking, but Tom gives more than that,” Fridrich says. “He gives sales people something they could work with every day. He’s pretty convincing.”
Practical techniques Black shared with Fridrich and Clark agents included tips on effective communication with clients in the moments before they make a decision, breaking down goals in manageable bits and using simple, effective language in sales interactions.
The bottom line, Black says, is that sales gets a bum rap because there are so many people who are either bad at it or unethical in their approach.
“No long-term success will come from anything but honesty,” Black often says to participants at his workshops and seminars.
In recent years Black has found more time to travel and network around the globe. In the process, he’s linked with some well-known entrepreneurs and high-profile inspirational speakers.
Earlier this year, he was a participant in Mark Victor Hansen’s “Building Your Mega Success” event at the Opryland Hotel, and he has teamed with the author on other projects.
Hansen, a friend of Black’s, is the co-author of the mega-successful “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series, which has sold more than 144 million copies.
Joining Black on stage at the Nashville event were famed TV personality Art Linkletter, sports psychologist Denis Waitley and financial strategist Loral Langemeier.
Such alliances illustrate another post-corporate career lesson for Black — seek out your heroes and join them.
Black is unashamed of his belief in positive thinking. He surrounds himself with inspiring people and motivational material. Last year he self-published a book of inspirational quotes.
“I’ve been to every motivational seminar I can find,” he says. “But I have also found out something in the process. You can’t just be inspired. You have to act.”
In September, Black spoke at a large conference in Japan where several internationally known motivational speakers gave presentations. He was inspired, but felt something was missing.
“They offered a lot of hope, but I realized they didn’t talk about the importance of having a plan,” Black says. “I want to give people a plan for their hope.”
Fridrich says Black’s approach is practical.
“A lot of people do motivational speaking, but Tom believes in giving sales people something they can work with every day,” he says.
“His message is that consistent work pays off.”
But it’s not all about work in Black’s post-CEO world.
A wine connoisseur, he has a wine cellar with over 30,000 bottles, considered one of the best in the world.
He also has a charitable fund managed by The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee that specializes in helping those impacted by poverty.
lbryant@bizjournals.com | 615-846-4258
STAG’S LEAP WINE CELLARS
News Fall / Winter 2008-09 Volume 40
Collector’s Corner
By Tom Black
I started collecting wine in the mid-1980s, during my second visit to Napa Valley. I had the opportunity to taste some older vintages at a winery there and realized how much more interesting and satisfying the wines were when aged and cellared properly. It was on that trip that I put down my first wines for later consumption. Among them was a 1984 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars CASK 23 Cabernet Sauvignon.
Over time I have put down over 30,000 bottles of wine and tasted what most people judge as the greatest wines of all time. For many years I collected only California wines, and at one point I had approximately 5,000 bottles. Since then I have opened some and sold some, and my California palate has widened to include European wines. But all throughout my 22 years of passionate collecting, I could never part with my Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars wines.
Why Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars? Simply put, because they compete with the greatest wines in the world. I’ve been at many tastings and dinners that have proven this out. In 2000 I was at a tasting of over forty wines considered to be the greatest wines made in Napa Valley before 1985. Two of the top three were Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars CASK 23 – the 1985 vintage was 1st and 1978 was tied for 3rd.
Last Thanksgiving my friends and family shared a 1959 Lafite, 1982 Petrus, 1970 Vega Sicilia, and 1985 CASK 23, all out of magnum. Of 16 guests, eight preferred the ‘85 CASK 23. I thought the best wine was the ‘59 Lafite but the CASK 23 was clearly 2nd for me. (Had to tell the truth.)
I’ve also experienced my own little “repeat” of the Paris tasting. I was at Alto in New York at a dinner with the winemaker and the director of Château Palmer. I served a CASK 23 blind and both judged it as Bordeaux. This year Château Palmer served CASK 23 at its own tasting of American wines. Not surprisingly, it was the guests’ favorite.
Every Christmas, Tom Black opens a bottle of 1973 S.L.V. to share with friends and family. He has 6 or 7 bottles left in his cellar.
“Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars is just great wine. It’s at the top of the wine pyramid among American wines almost every year, and at the top of the wine pyramid worldwide in certain years.”
One of my fondest wine memories is a comprehensive tasting of CASK 23 – every vintage from first to last – that I did with Warren Winiarski in 1999. On that day, the ‘94 was judged best with ‘85 and ‘78 close behind. When I pulled out the 9 liter bottle of 1990, Warren said he had never seen one opened. Well, we not only opened it, we drank it, but I must say it was still too young for my taste.
All of these tasting experiences, and many more, have reinforced my belief that Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars is just great wine. It’s at the top of the wine pyramid among American wines almost every year, and at the top of the wine pyramid worldwide in certain years. My personal belief is that it has to do with the philosophy of wine making – using only the best grapes and letting the wine speak of the site rather than an over-extracted caricature of itself.
Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars makes wines for the long haul. That’s the kind of wine I like to drink and the kind I’ll continue to collect for many years to come.
About Tom Black
Tom Black’s first interest in wine was born of necessity. As a young sales manager early in his career Tom was required to entertain clients, and his boss told him to learn about wine so he could order intelligently in restaurants. He learned (and tasted) a lot, but Tom’s real awakening to the world of wine – his first “epiphany” as he likes to call it – came in 1986 when a colleague took him on a weekend visit to the Napa Valley. There he had the opportunity to taste library wines, and was struck by the difference aging made. He immediately began to collect California wines and to organize tasting dinners with friends back home in Nashville.
After his time as a sales manager, Tom forged a successful career founding, buying, developing and selling several banking services companies. As his career progressed, so did his wine cellar, and by the late 1990’s he had amassed one of the largest and best-rounded collections of wines in the world. He traveled to all the major wine regions, meeting and tasting with many of the wine industry’s luminaries. Today, his cellar has strong verticals from many of Bordeaux’s and California’s most famous and well-respected wineries, including Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars.
As one of the first wines he purchased for his cellar, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars always occupied a special place in Tom’s heart. Describing his first visit to the winery, he says “it was like going to the Mormon Tabernacle if you were a Mormon.” He and founder Warren Winiarski struck up a friendship early on, and have shared many a dinner and bottle of wine at each other’s homes. Says Tom, “I love to drink great wines and share them with friends. It’s as simple as that.”
Tom is active with the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs and the Commanderie de Bordeaux. For the past 10 years, Tom has also been an active member of the Executive Committee of l’Eté du Vin Wine Auction, which contributes not only to the important work of the American Cancer Society, but also offers grants in financial support of other cancer related non-profit organizations.
SEE TOM BLACK AT HIGHLY-ANTICIPATED ENTREPRENEUR MEDIA CONFERENCE IN MIAMI BEACH
For Immediate Release
(Nashville, TN – June 3, 2009) – Tom Black, well-known as one of Nashville’s most successful entrepreneurs, the nation’s best sales trainer, and author of the wildly popular book, Boxcar Millionaire, will speak at Entrepreneur Media’s 2010 Growth 2.0 Conference presented by the UPS Store on January 26, 2010 at the Miami Beach Convention Center.
Tom was specifically asked to present his incomparable “Secrets of Sales Success” sales training to over 500 entrepreneurs and small business owners. “It is an honor and a privilege to be associated with an organization like Entrepreneur Media,” said Black. The Growth 2.0 conference is an opportunity for entrepreneurs to get hands-on, business-building advice. The content offered in the seminars is specifically designed to offer fresh ideas, hands-on tools, powerful insights and strategies that work for the small business owner.
Entrepreneur Media Inc. is the premier content provider for and about entrepreneurs. Their products engage and inspire thousands with the advice, solutions and resources that fuel the bold and independent way entrepreneurs think. After 30 years, nobody reaches more growing businesses. As the original magazine for the small and midsize business community, Entrepreneur continues to be the definitive guide to all the diverse challenges of business ownership. Entrepreneur.com is the most widely used website by entrepreneurs and emerging businesses worldwide. Entrepreneur Press publishes the books that turn entrepreneurial skills into business success.
Black began his sales career while still in college as a door-to-door book salesman for the Nashville-based Southwestern Company. After setting sales records, he was asked to become a full-time sales manager. More records fell, and Black was on his way to a remarkable career that included successful ventures in the banking industry and the launch of public companies. Tom now dedicates his time to teaching others everything he has learned through business-strategy coaching in his signature nononsense manner that rivets his audiences. Tom is passionate about sharing his secret to success and he travels the globe bringing hands-on sales tools to business owners and their employees through his sales mentoring enterprise called the Tom Black Center for Excellence. He says, “I believe that success is not something you own, it’s something you rent. And when you stop paying the rent on success you immediately start paying the rent on failure.”
For more information about Tom Black and the Tom Black Center for Excellence, visit www.tomblack.com.
About the Tom Black Center for Excellence
Based in Nashville, Tenn., the Tom Black Center for Excellence, a member of the National Speakers Association (NSA), offers customized sales training services to national clients of all sizes in a wide range of fields. Areas of specialization include basic sales skills, key account strategies, sales management training and keynote speeches. For more information, visit www.tomblack.com or call (615) 377-7752.
- END -
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Lesa Eden Executive Director Tom Black Center for Excellence 615.377.7752
TOM BLACK INVITED TO SPEAK AT THE MEGA EVENT 2009 IN TOKYO, JAPAN
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – April 1, 2009 – Tom Black is well known as one of Nashville’s most successful entrepreneurs, the nation’s best sales trainer, and author of the wildly popular book, Boxcar Millionaire.
Black has recently been invited to speak at Team James Skinner’s business/personal motivation, and leadership conference, MEGA EVENT 2009, in Tokyo, September 19–26, 2009. Tom was chosen from thousands of sales trainers to present “Secrets of Sales Success” at this highly acclaimed event. Black will take the stage along with Dr. Stephen Covey, Mark Victor Hansen (Chicken Soup for the Soul), John Gray (Men are from Mars…), Hyrum Smith, and others. “It is an honor and a privilege to be associated with an organization like Team James Skinner,” said Black. This special 8-day intensive course will change attendees’ perspective of life by teaching important skills for communication, leadership, male/female relationships and business in order to redesign attendees’ lives and reach ultimate goals.
Team James is a unique group committed to create dramatic changes to individuals and organizations. Their mission is to help their customers achieve success by offering the most valuable information, knowledge and learning processes in the world.
Black began his sales career while still in college as a door-to-door book salesman for the Nashville-based Southwestern Company. After setting sales records, he was asked to become a full-time sales manager. More records fell, and Black was on his way to a remarkable career that included successful ventures in the banking industry and the launch of public companies. Tom now dedicates his time to teaching others everything he has learned through business-strategy coaching in his signature no-nonsense manner that rivets his audiences. Tom is passionate about sharing his secret to success and he travels the globe bringing hands-on sales tools to business owners and their employees through his sales mentoring enterprise called the Tom Black Center for Excellence. He says, “I believe that success is not something you own, it’s something you rent. And when you stop paying the rent on success you immediately start paying the rent on failure.”
About the Tom Black Center for Excellence
Based in Nashville, Tenn., the Tom Black Center for Excellence, a member of the National Speakers Association (NSA), offers customized sales training services to national clients of all sizes in a wide range of fields. Areas of specialization include basic sales skills, key account strategies, sales management training and keynote speeches. For more information, visit www.tomblack.com or call (615) 377-7752.
Wine Spectator Magazine, June 15, 2007
Collecting
A Life of Wine Lessons
Businessman Tom Black`s Cellar-Building Strategy Stresses Classics By Peter D. Meltzer
Tom Black has a spectular 20,000-bottle wine cellar (with an additional 9,000 bottles on consignment to Alto, an upscale Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence-winning Italian restaurant in New York), but you`ll never hear him boasting about it. He firmly believes that collectors should appreciate the scope of what they have and not try to impress guests with trophy bottles all the time.
"I probably have 100 vintages of Chateau Latour," he says, "but I don`t feel compelled to brag about it. I`m happy drinking Chateaus Haut-Bailly, Batailley and Grand-Puy-Lacoste. Wine is an art form, and I enjoy learning what the winemaker-as-artist has accomplished."
Black, a 48-year-old Nashville, Tenn, businessman (his company, Bancsource, sells and repairs ATMs nation-wide), began collecting in a methodical yet somewhat unorthodox manner soon after he graduated college. "It was 1986 and I had just landed my first job. One day, my boss asked, 'Do you know anything about wine?' I said no. He explained that I was expected to do a lot of business entertaining and would have to learn the ropes of a wine list." So Black gave himself a crash course in wine.
Initially, he focused on California "because the French labels were a bit intimidating." He was living in San Francisco at the time and made regular excursions to Napa Valley, tasting wines from established producers such as Sterling, Beringer and Ridge, many of which he would ultimately lay down for his personal use. "I started with California, and I would start with California again. You have a platform there to build on. I think everybody should experience labels like Caymus, Shafer Hillside Select, Montelena and Stags Leap to establish a baseline."
Cult wines are another matter. Black says he still buys them, but is not a true fan. He feels that Harlan is doing the best job in the category, but with vintages such as the 1994 now priced at more than $1,000 a bottle, they are beyond most people`s reach. "I`ve done several tastings of the cults. In my opinion, most are not developing well. I also feel that if a neophyte sampled young vintages that haven`t had the benefit of age, he`d get the mistaken impression that this is what wine is supposed to taste like-which would leave the rest of the world`s great wines tasting a little hollow."
Black always enjoyed wines from Bordeaux, but he didn`t start collecting them seriously until the early 1990s. May-Eliance de Lencquesaing ( then owner of Chateau Pichon-Longueville-Lalande ) came to Nashville, where Black by then resided, and he attended a tasting of older Bordeaux. "It was an epiphany. We sampled vintage classics like 1959, 1982, and 1985, and I remember thinking,'This is really different from what I have been drinking. This is great.'"
To bolster his stash, Black began buying at auction. At Butterfields, he acquired what remained of the late actor George Burns` exemplary celllar, including treasures like Chateau La Mission-Haut-Brion 1961. He is regular at Manhattan`s major commercial wine auctions, bidding either in person or by phone. Then as now, Black tries to taste examples of his prospective purchases or to seek out advice from trusted palates before placing a bid. "If I`m going to spend $1,000 (for me that`s the threshold) on a bottle of wine, I`ll ask the auction specialist for a very detailed background report. They will tell you, but you often have to ask. Most people don`t."
Black says fellow collectors have the mistaken impression that he doesn`t like Burgundies. "I love Burgundies," he says, " but don`t like them as much as Bordeaux. I have a lot of great Burgundy from top producers like Rouget and Roumier. When Henri Jayer died last year, I opened his Vonse-Romanee Les Beaux Monts 1985. That`s probably a $2,000 wine that we drank casually around the kitchen counter in memory of the man."
Looking back on his collecting strategy, Black says he would still want to acquire the great wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy, although probably not as many of them. His collection now takes up three cellars on his Nashvile property, all maintained at 53 degrees F and 70 percent to 85 percent humidity. "They are strictly utilitarian - not show pieces," he insists.
If he had it to do over, would he have chosen a different strategy? "If I were starting out again," Black says, "I'd determine a budget and decide what I want to drink. And stick to it. My approach was to proceed wine region by wine region. I didn`t stray into another area until I felt I'd mastered the previous one. I`ve just now begun to explore Spain in depth."
Black tracks his collection with a simple spreadsheet, and every bottle is tagged. His major regret is that in his largest cellar, the wines are stored double deep - a system he would never employ again, because it`s easy to lose track of what you have.
Black finds the rise in hammer prices at auction over the past couple years troubling. "Every collector must realize that to enjoy a collection you must deplete it. Yet given today`s going rates, I`m sometimes reluctant to go down to the cellar and uncork one of those bottles. It`s so funny to me, because I didn`t think that would ever happen." To counteract any reticence about enjoying his stash, Black says now and then he`ll spontaneously open something very special, such as a Quinta do Noval Nacional 1931 (a vintage Port which has a market value of $5,640 per bottle, according to the Wine Spectator Auction Index).
Black is a firm believer in thinning out a collection when it becomes unwieldy. But things don`t always work according to plan. Recemtly, he consigned an array of large format bottles to a Zachys evening auction of fine and rare wine. He sold the equivalent of five cases, but ended up buying 30 cases more.
Now, that`s a collector.
