Archive for the ‘Rating Wine’ Category

Sep 19, 2019

My Response to a Former Reader

Dear Tom…I read your rant supporting wine scores. This has to be the most dundleheaded opinion I’ve ever seen. How can you justify using wine ratings to market wine when we know that the 100 point rating scale is a fraud. These “critics” who use the 100 point scale want to be seen to be objective and use 100 points to try to be seen as objective. And you know (so do they) that you can’t ever justify the difference…

Sep 12, 2019

Why Reviews and Wine Scores ARE Good Winery Marketing

Recently Simon Solis-Cohen, founder of Highway 29 Creative, posted on the company blog a story entitled, “Wine Scores Are The Worst Marketing Technique – So Stop It!” First, let me just say this…The folks at Highway 29 Creative are GOOD! Take a look at their work. Take a look at their approach. Impressive. They are wrong about wine scores being the worst marketing technique. An even worse marketing technique is submitting your wine for review, getting 95+ points from a…

Jul 29, 2019

Donald Trump, French Wine and the Task of Tying One’s Own Shoes

I don’t think it’s ever a good idea to mock the American president. One can disagree with a president. One can support an American president’s electoral defeat. One can urge others to oppose a president’s policies and initiatives. But mocking a president almost always seems imprudent and juvenile and destructive of democracy.  Or not. I’m a chauvinist. Why I’m a chauvinist I can’t say. Nevertheless, I’m almost always going to be inclined to come to the defense of the…

May 21, 2019

The Best American Chardonnays By Region (Plus HG)

Tuesday, May 21, 2019, is “Chardonnay Day. It is also my son’s birthday. The two are not connected in any way. However, I do know why May 21 is Henry George’s birthday. I just don’t know why it’s also “Chardonnay Day. Chardonnay is America’s favorite varietal wine. Annually it sells more than 30 million cases, according to Nielsen. (There is, however, only one Henry George, making him a far more valuable commodity on a bottle v. baby basis) On the…

Feb 6, 2019

Here is the Ultimate Beverage Publication Conflict of Interest

The sine qua non of publications that review and critique wines such as The Wine Spectator, Wine & Spirits, Wine Enthusiast, Wine Advocate, Vinous and others is integrity. They must be seen as incorruptible. Readers must believe their reviews are untainted by conflict of interest. So, imagine the following. One day you read that E & J Gallo Winery has purchased, say, The Wine Spectator. In the announcement by Marvin Shanken, who is staying on as publisher, we learn that…