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This ridiculous outburst from a Ebober.
quote:

Originally Posted by Vera L.
Well, I don't know. Did you see the list and the "reserve" list? I think it would mean you could send them a wine that they scored horribly low before, but the same wine now gets an award. I know you think the WS is great, but Brian any which way you want to turn this fiasco, it simply shows how disingenuous that entire silly award program is and to me at leat, the entire WS. As others have pointed out, there is some useful information in that mag and all the gossipy wine stuff can be fun at times, but as critical wine journal it has zero credibililty and this sting was just one very visible proof of that. You obviously disagree and I am not particularly fond of these type of sting operations either, but the proof is in the pudding...or apples...or whatever.


SD-Wineaux's good response.
quote:

Disingenuous?!? You want to talk about being disingenuous while being tucked safely within Squire's site while you (and others) cast aspersions on WS ratings of wine over this 'sting'?

I've personally called into question the value of the WS awards program for restaurants (SD-Wineaux over there, in case you're interested). But to stretch this into questioning their credibility as a wine journal is ridiculous. Does Parker purchase all of the wines that he reviews or does he charge the wineries for the cost of their wines to submit them? Does he conduct research to ensure that the submitted wines represent what is available to the general public and don't come from Parker-barrels? No, and neither does Spectator.

The degree of homerism in this thread is appalling. Up to now, I've only ever posted in the Offlines section (and yes, just one offline so far at that). If this post costs me the opportunity to offline with more of you, then I can live with that.
Could 'we' please refrain from an 'us vs. them' tirade on WS vs Ebob boards? Please?

There are enough of us who frequent both who tire of these quickly.

The fact is that there are many in the wine world who relish the fact that WS gets slammed in any way possible - but not everyone on that board (or this) is that shallow . . .

Again, please shut this thread down unless we can continue to discuss the facts at hand.

Cheers.
Chicago Tribune August 24th tells the rest of the story and it's not pretty.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-sun-wine-hoaxaug24,0,7875970.story

The most damaging accusation: "This year, nearly 4,500 restaurants spent $250 each to apply or reapply for the Wine Spectator award, and all but 319 won the award of excellence or some greater kudos, Matthews said. That translates to more than $1 million in annual revenue".

Sure sounds like the advertising department has a pretty solid control over these awards. What a shame.
quote:
Originally posted by SD-Wineaux:
In the spirit of how wine related this thread has become...

Chuck Norris destroyed the periodic table, because he only recognizes the element of surprise.

Chuck Norris can kill two stones with one bird.

Chuck Norris' tears cure cancer. Too bad he has never cried. Ever.


Big Grin

Chuck Norris was born in a log cabin he built himself.

Chuck Norris doesn't do pushups, he pushes the earth down.

There is no theory of evolution, just a list of creatures Chuck Norris has allowed to live.

Chuck Norris doesn't sleep, he waits.
quote:
Originally posted by midwesterwine:
...
The most damaging accusation: "This year, nearly 4,500 restaurants spent $250 each to apply or reapply for the Wine Spectator award, and all but 319 won the award of excellence or some greater kudos, Matthews said. That translates to more than $1 million in annual revenue".

Sure sounds like the advertising department has a pretty solid control over these awards. What a shame.


Not much brain needed to explain the results.
To me it sounds very logical that most restaurants get an award: Restaurants with a bad wine list won't participate. Only the Restaurants feeling their wine-list might fit the WS conditions, will pay the 250$ fee.
quote:
Originally posted by midwesterwine:
...
The most damaging accusation: "This year, nearly 4,500 restaurants spent $250 each to apply or reapply for the Wine Spectator award, and all but 319 won the award of excellence or some greater kudos, Matthews said. That translates to more than $1 million in annual revenue".

Sure sounds like the advertising department has a pretty solid control over these awards. What a shame.


Which would you prefer:
Eliminating the awards (and the income that WS gets from this) and increasing the cost to subscribe to the magazine or the internet sites by a factor of, say, 5?
Eliminating the awards and keeping the sites at the same cost, but eliminating all reviews of any wine that costs more than $5 per bottle.
They have to earn money somehow. If the restaurants wish to part with $250, which seems like a small annual fee, then why would you oppose that?
quote:
Originally posted by larry schaffer:
All I've got is some leftover General Tso's Chicken and fried tofu with asparagus . . . Not the best match of flavors, but I was aching to break into my 'lesser' bottles tonight and see what this one held - and open a spot in the cellar for something us to sneak in (-:

Cheers!

I’ve always heard that Gruner Veltliner matches well with asparagus. Personally, I’ve found that Sauvignon Blanc works well. However, neither of them masks the odiferous urine that comes an hour later. What did you end up drinking?
quote:
Originally posted by larry schaffer:
I truly, honestly hope they close this thread sooner than later.

I enjoyed the thread for awhile - different points of view were shared in a relatively civil manner.

Not any more . . .

FWIW, I really don't care how many posts someone has. If they are new to a board, civil, and respectful, I will listen . . .

And this goes for those that have been on this board for awhile, as well. Tenure does not give you the right to be nasty to others . . .

Just my $.02 - back to watching the rest of the olympics, cleaning my garage, and enjoying a glass of 01 Lesec Cotes du Rhones Beaumes with some chinese food . . .

Cheers!


I very much appreciate this voice of reason.

As well as what sounds like a killer match with the Chinese food!
quote:
Originally posted by yhn:
quote:
Originally posted by Walla2WineWoman:

And the difference between a blogger's so-called drivel and your drivel is that the majority of the bloggers, especially wine bloggers, do not hide behind convenient anonymity such as yourself. Sure, it's easy for you to spout off such "drivel" because you are an anonymous coward that won't take responsibility for your words.

So therefore, I think your comments are basically worthless. If you don't like what I have posted regarding your poltroon anonymity, at least you are welcome to send me an email, which you will find available on my blog if you want to discuss the topic of "blogger drivel" any further. That is certainly more integrity than you have given to this discussion.


I should remind you that you, too, are using an alias. That is not the same thing as being anonymous. You just assumed that, ironically.

Many of us post under our real names on another forum. Many of us have met in person. Many have links to their blog, winery, etc.


Catie McIntyre. She's not hiding her identity.
Catie (Walla2WineWoman) you know absolutely nothing about the members of this forum. I have no idea why you're attacking any member that disagrees with you other than perhaps you're trying to gain exposure to your amateur career as a blogger or drive up sales of cheap wines you sell out of your store but regardless of reason your comments are not welcomed at the minimum. Why don't you go back to emptying spit buckets. I'm betting you were much better at that.

Look forward to meeting you in person the next time I visit Walla Walla so that you can have the priviledge of personally kicking me out of your store.
quote:
Originally posted by wineismylife:
Catie (Walla2WineWoman) you know absolutely nothing about the members of this forum. I have no idea why you're attacking any member that disagrees with you other than perhaps you're trying to gain exposure to your amateur career as a blogger or drive up sales of cheap wines you sell out of your store but regardless of reason your comments are not welcomed at the minimum. Why don't you go back to emptying spit buckets. I'm betting you were much better at that.

Look forward to meeting you in person the next time I visit Walla Walla so that you can have the priviledge of personally kicking me out of your store.


Classic Big Grin Good for you, wineismylife.
At the request of several forum participants, we are temporarily closing this thread.

We posted our statement on this forum as a way to make it available to everyone and encourage discussion and questions so that we could clear up misperceptions and misstatements of facts. We appreciate all the spirited discussion of the issues and the contributions of those in the community who have shared their knowledge of Wine Spectator and its programs. However, as the most recent sets of comments have moved off-topic, we will halt this until more constructive dialogue and more clarification of the issue can take place.

Robert Taylor
Associate Editor/Forums Moderator
WineSpectator.com
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