Mark Oldman and his fan base Credit: Photo by Wes Marshall

Author Mark Oldman drew his normal standing room only crowd to taste some spectacular rosé wines at the Austin Food and Wine Festival. People loved Oldman’s hilarious stories (especially minor run-ins with the law), but they also left with important information about how to sensibly drink pink.

Two off topic comments we heard from several attendees: “He’s so dreamy. I love his blue eyes.” Note the fact that after his presentation, he is surrounded by women.

Mark Oldman and his fan base Credit: Photo by Wes Marshall

The other typically heard comment was grousing (appropriate) aimed at the organizers about the warm temperature of the wine and the fine film of dust covering most of the wines. Given the generous number of volunteers, the wines should have been poured just as Mr. Oldman was talking about them so that the audience could taste them as cold as possible.

Nonetheless, Mr. Oldman fought the high temperatures and dusty breezes to deliver an amazing performance: animated, informative, hilarious and crowd-pleasing.

Note the sweat. He worked for his audience. Credit: Photo by Wes Marshall
It shouldn’t surprise us, those are adjectives that describe his books. It’s just so uncommon to see someone with his credentials work so hard to make the audience happy. Don’t miss him next time he comes through town.

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Wes Marshall is the author of What's a Wine Lover To Do? (Artisan) and The Wine Roads of Texas (Maverick), as well as the Executive Producer of the PBS television series of the same name. Wes has written for The Austin Chronicle since 1999, covering wine, cocktails, food, and travel.