By Frank J. Prial New York Times NEW YORK - Robert Lawrence Balzer, an early champion of American wines and a widely read critic of them for more than 60 years as a journalist and author, died Dec. 1 at his home in Orange, Calif., at 99. Largely self-taught about wine, Mr. Balzer began his career in the 1930s, after the end of Prohibition. He went on to write more than a dozen books, including ``Balzer's Book of Wines and Spirits'' (1973) and ``Wines of California'' (1978). He was a
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