**Wine Spectator's Wine Merchant Awards??? Why Not????

Each year, with Wine Spectator’s Restaurant Awards issue, I am left wondering WHY IS THERE NO WINE MERCHANT AWARDS??? Many of us work our asses off to deliver the best possible portfolio to our customers, not to mention merchandise our passion for the product/producers who inspire us… It would be kinda cool, not to mention the obvious boon to business, to be recognized for our efforts…

I am posting this question to gauge other people’s thoughts…

Because the Spectator has a vested interest in consumers looking to THEM for what to buy and considers retailers to be mere service bureaus for their consecrated wines whose job is to argue over allocations and pricing once the wines have been blessed?

Recognizing truly independent minded retailers who seek out their own finds and are passionate about them would be VERY counterproductive for them.

Roberto-Ugh-You know that’s only gonna just fire me up!!! I would really like to believe otherwise…

Plus, you KNOW that the restaurant awards are far from transparent, no?

Stephen,

Fix your avatar. WS might notice it and take you out of the running. [oops.gif]

I know, but despite people’s opinions about the credibility of the WS, and these types of “awards” in general, I think there needs to be a starting point to recognize “best practice” type models of retail that would challenge current paradigms. I know this is shaky ground, especially considering the billions of differing regulations/laws state to state.

But, from THEIR point of view, “best practice” is lowest price in the wines they bless. Those like us, Kermit, North Berkeley, Woodland Hills, K&L, Moore Bros and many more who go and FIND great wines well ahead of the magazine curve and therefore have overhead connected with the search and carrying inventory without reviews while they hand sell it are NOT gonna get rewarded.

Would these be just like the restaurant awards, where all that is required is some money and a lie?

I’ve been there, actually. Probably the finest osso bucco I’ve ever had, and absolutely divine panna cotta. The wine list was remarkable and worthy of the award.

Not to mention the complimentary peeled grape plate! We could probably use the large patio in the back – the one with the grape vines growing throughout the lattice-work that provides shade for the outdoor diners.

Speaking purely as a consumer (I have no wine trade affiliation at all), Wine Spectator could do a ton more to link itself to the retail community, especially through their web site. The current offering is abysmal. The wine shops search gives no information on what types of wine the store specializes in. In NYC, where I live, the search doesn’t return Italian Wine Merchant or Burgundy Wine Co, much less places like Crossroads, so really it amounts to a joke. And, of course, there is no link between the wine ratings search and stores that sell the particular wine you’re looking at, as on eBob, which should be the standard for a site of this type.

Now, I do know that their retail relationships define how they operate, but not having this information and especially not having the link to retailers gives their site substantially less value to me than eBob and I spend a lot less time reading their site (eBob isn’t perfect by any means, but, really, what’s more interesting than finding new places to buy wine?)

Your reward? Never having to explain why you charge $0.30/btl more than the grocery store for KJ Vintner’s Reserve.