Mr. Marvin Shanken
Publisher

Mr. Thomas Mathews
Editor

Mr. James Molesworth
Writer

Dear Mr. Shanken, Mr. Mathews & Mr. Molesworth:

This letter is in response to your 8/31/2007 issue of Wine Spectator that arrived in my mail today. This issue includes the 2007 Dining Awards.

I am the owner of a 76 seat wine bar & restaurant in Wilmington, Delaware. Our wine program consists of approximately 50 wines by the glass, all of which are available in 1.5, 3.0 and 5.0 oz pours. In addition, we have a separate bottle list with approximately 300 selections.

Since we opened in November, 2005, I have made a conscious decision to not submit our wine list(s) to Wine Spectator for consideration in your Dining Awards program. The reason? I believe that the current policies and procedures for determining the basic level of Award of Excellence are fundamentally flawed and the corresponding results lack credibility. At present, all a restaurant has to do to potentially achieve an Award of Excellence is submit a cover letter along with a copy of their wine list and dinner menu and pay an application fee.

There are currently no inspection processes or visits from Wine Spectator for basic Awards of Excellence. In my opinion, giving a wine program an Award of Excellence without physically visiting the establishment is tantamount to writing tasting notes on a wine without actually tasting it.

I would like to propose that the application fee be raised from the current amount of $250 to $1,000 (or more), with the increased fees used to pay for support staff to physically visit, re-inspect on a random, surprise basis and verify that a restaurant’s wine list is actually what was submitted. Restaurants that are genuinely serious about their wine program would easily pay the additional fee to be recognized for an award that truly does recognize Excellence.

I would also like to propose that the criteria for determining Award winners be more than just a review of the wine list. Stemware, storage conditions, serving temperatures, knowledge of the staff about the wines and selections that truly compliment the restaurant’s menu are all very important, critical and mandatory components of a wine program recognized for Excellence.

We proudly display an archive of 5+ years of Wine Spectator in our restaurant/wine bar’s library area. The tasting notes and related articles are very well written and, in my opinion, truly represent Excellence. I’d like to see the Dining Awards program garner the same respect that the wine reviews and the rest of your magazine do.

I know several other restaurant owners who have also elected to not submit their wine lists for consideration in your Dining Awards program for the same reasons described above. If this trend continues, the Award winners will merely consist of those who simply want to be recognized by you for marketing purposes, not those who want to truly achieve Excellence.

Before I opened my restaurant/wine bar, I traveled extensively in my career in the corporate world. When traveling out of town, I used to refer to the Dining Award winners on your website. Many times, when dining at these establishments, I found the actual number of wine selections to be substantially less than what was listed on your website. I also found myself having to call the restaurant ahead of time and ask them about their stemware, storage conditions, etc. to ensure that they would meet my minimum standards. I stopped referring to the basic Award of Excellence winners on your website as they often disappointed more than they met my desires.

I strongly believe that instituting the above changes to your criteria for determining Excellence will result in a Dining Awards program that is recognized by your informed readers as one that has the same, impeccable respect and admiration that your magazines tasting notes do.

Mr. Matthews, I do want to acknowledge the correspondence we had with you last year about the 2006 Dining Awards issue of Wine Spectator. We raised similar concerns at that time. You did acknowledge our concerns and I appreciate that. However, since the issues we raised last year were not addressed or implemented, we are respectfully requesting that you re-consider adopting the above changes to your Dining Awards program.

Thanks for listening.

Tom

Bravo! Let's have the WS Dining Awards really mean something!

I concur

I'm not optimistic that what cuffthis suggests will happen. We've been down this road before.

Interestingly, we both started threads on the 2007 Awards at almost the same time, although in different directions. One thing that appears to be "new" is for subscribers to be able to post reviews on award winning restaurants. Althought this wouldn't have the same value as having a WS editor do the review, it would at least help weed out restaurants that completely misrepresent their wine programs. I'm still not sure how that'll work, but am keeping an eye out.

PH

On another note, cuffthis, I'm not really sure why you don't participate. Your wine program would certainly qualify for an award.

I share your concerns about the Award of Excellence level and its lack of accountability (especially for folks who are geeky enough about wine to lurk or post here,) but strictly from a marketing standpoint I have to believe that you'd benefit from being able to claim an award winning program. The average guest at your establishment would undoubtedly see it as a plus.

Are you cutting off your nose to spite your face?

PH

quote:

Originally posted by PurpleHaze:
I'm not optimistic that what cuffthis suggests will happen. We've been down this road before.

PH

This is somewhat the crux of my antithesis. The informed readers of WS realize that the Dining Awards program is flawed and no one speaks up.

Change happens because of discourse.

quote:

8/31/2007 issue of Wine Spectator ... 2007 Dining Awards

Easily the most useless issue of the year. It's a giant waste of paper.

quote:

Originally posted by PurpleHaze:
Are you cutting off your nose to spite your face?

PH

PH,

I will answer this ASAP. I will not be available on-line for about 3 hours, but will promise to respond immediatly afterward.

Tom

Amen!

Put it online and give us something interesting to read about.

quote:

Originally posted by cuffthis:
This is somewhat the crux of my antithesis.

Well, we all know what the crux of the biscuit is, don't we?

PH

Dopey me, I always thought the awards reflected an "in person" experience.

I agree with Mr. Hudson's ideas.

Service, stemware, etc...all play an important role in the wine tasting experience.

It'd be cool to keep the list on a forum and allow members to post photos and give updates.

I don't know if wine price is a factor in the awards, but it should be. Give any knowledgeable sommelier an unlimited budget, and he'll put together an impressive list that will please the superrich or anybody on an expense account. In my opinion, no restaurant that gouges their customers more than average should be rewarded with recognition. The trick is in finding undervalued wines that give great QPR, and the awards should concentrate on those establishments which offer exciting wines at relatively reasonable prices.

Good luck with that.

Let's see if this gets removed again...

quote:

8/31/2007 issue of Wine Spectator ... 2007 Dining Awards

Easily the most useless issue of the year. It's a giant waste of paper.

mwagner,

Funny, your post appeared twice prior to this post. Now one is missing and one remains.

Whoever is editing these posts, identify youself. That's pretty weak, folks.

PH

Whatever happened to Robert-whatshisname the moderator???

Nervous breakdown after 3 months of reading these posts?

quote:

Originally posted by cuffthis:

I would like to propose that the application fee be raised from the current amount of $250 to $1,000 (or more), with the increased fees used to pay for support staff to physically visit, re-inspect on a random, surprise basis and verify that a restaurant’s wine list is actually what was submitted. Restaurants that are genuinely serious about their wine program would easily pay the additional fee to be recognized for an award that truly does recognize Excellence.

Tom, I have no argument with saying that the Award need to be worth much more than a mail in diploma or degree. The distinction is nothing more than a marketing tool.

But I really question if your proposition is feasible. With over 3,131 winners of this level of award, the costs in time and travel would exceed $750 per restaurant. To keep the crediblity, the support staff would need to be qualified to do the inspections.

Unless you mean that only a randomly selected portion of the applicants would be inspected. Its a bit mind boggling to try to envision all finalists actually receiving on on-site review by someone approved by WS.

To me this issue has always seemed like an easy way to get another issue in during the summer that requires relatively little creative work involving the main "editorial" staff. The primary other benefit is to provide a promotional avenue for restaurants.

I've really never seen it as much of a benefit to consumers (maybe a bit to find restaurants when one travels). Of course, I'm one of those people who rarely buys wine at restaurants due to the typically-exorbitant pricing approach of most.

quote:

Originally posted by PurpleHaze:
I share your concerns about the Award of Excellence level and its lack of accountability (especially for folks who are geeky enough about wine to lurk or post here,) but strictly from a marketing standpoint I have to believe that you'd benefit from being able to claim an award winning program. The average guest at your establishment would undoubtedly see it as a plus.

Are you cutting off your nose to spite your face?

PH

It costs us about $1,000/month to run a 1/4pg ad in the local free magazine. Paying $250 a year for mention in WS magazine and WS online is a no-brainer. But paying even $1 is an absolute NO for something you don't believe in.
All I'm asking for is to change the policies and procedures so "Awards of Excellence" winners represent what you and I consider Excellence. And I think we both know, understand, and appreciate what that is.

From past years' questions:

The Award of Excellence and Best of Award of Excellence (98%) are simply an advertising tool. You pay to play.

I believe the Grand Award (2%) actually has on-site review.

You can easily judge from the % what the "value" is for use as a serious dining guide.

In the future, I would vote for a lot fewer award winners and higher scrutiny of each. As it is, I don't pay attention to it when selecting a dining choice.

I also agree with mwagner. Least favorite issue of the year.

Unlike some, I still enjoy the physical magazine. When I pull this issue out of the mailbox, it's a disappointment and a QUICK read.

At 4,000 x 250 it is not going away. But having been burned a number of times I'm do my own research, thank you.

Tom, if I'm ever in the neighborhood, you'll have my business. Bravo!

I dislike Top 100 more, but this is definitely 2nd most disliked.

The rest I pretty much enjoy.

what everone needs to do is to post your finding's
it will makeboth of them (winespectator and the restaurants)look good or bad!
some one then will wake up!
i have all ready started ! 20 rateing's
an that's only one state so far!