It is with profound sadness that I am writing this to announce the passing of one of my oldest and dearest friends, Ed Lazarus.

I first met Ed some 50 years ago at a wine event. I was just learning about wine and got to talking to him, and he started telling me about his involvement in wine. One of the things he said was how good the 1870 Bordeauxs were. I was astonished, and we began talking. It seems he was buying old wines at Christie’s Auction in London. So we joined together buying old wines. Soon there were several people who got involved. Then in 1978 I founded The Underground Wineletter. Ed became a major contributor, and we bought old and new wines. Also we began doing regular tastings with other people who participated and shared the cost. Then I wrote and published the wineletter. From that point on we visited wineries in California and France as I gathered material to publish in The Underground Wineletter. We also did many wine and food dinners and often visited Richard Wing’s Imperial Dynasty Restaurant in Hanford, California. That restaurant is long gone, but not forgotten as I will always remember it as one of the greatest restaurants I have ever experienced. Other memories included dinners at great restaurants in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Other friends also often attended.  These were magical times, and I will always also remember them. We drank a lot of great old wines, enjoyed wonderful food, and thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company.
In January 2000 my wife Laurie and I moved into a new house we had built in Montecito, California and had a millennium dinner which Ed and other friends attended. After that Ed wanted to have a birthday celebration on his birthday in January (the same day as Martin Luther King which became a national holiday) which we did the next year. He then asked if we could do his birthday dinner at our house every year. Laurie and I were delighted to do it, and from that time forward Ed would invite a few friends and we would have a dinner on his birthday where everyone contributed great old wines. Ed was particularly fond of old Bordeaux so he set aside magnums, and we would have one each year along with Champagne, White Burgundy, and Red Burgundy, as well as other old Bordeaux and an occasional old California Cabernet Sauvignon. These are memories we will always cherish.

So RIP my great friend. You left a loving and very positive impression behind you, and you will always be remembered. Roll Tide Roll!

Your old pal,

John