I don’t mind flowery language, or some producer background/accolades. But it’s pretty ugly when you are downright deceiving your customers into thinking they are looking at a deal for a 100 pt wine. For the record, Kapscandy’s 2013 Grand Vin received the 100 pt score, but this offer is for their lower tier (2014) wine, a 96pt score from JS. I’m not arguing the different between the two scores, my issue with the email marketing technique. I don’t ususlly buy wine based on a score, but if I recieve an email with “100 Point Masterpiece” in the subject line, it’s going to pique my interest!
Interesting post - and yep, this is deceptive.
One of the things I’m starting to see more and more are flash sites pumping up ‘no name’ wines from Napa with 95 points listed next to it - and yep, that’s the ‘overall vintage score’ from some publication, NOT for this particular wine.
Of course, with so many reviewers out there and so many scores being bantered about . . .
Cheers.
Years ago I had a problem with a website selling the 2002 Billecart Salmon Cuvee Elizabeth for $99 and when you clicked on the photo of the wine it redirected you to the sale of the NV Rose for that price…which I usually pay about $65. People (in this forum) that were long-time shoppers with the retailer told me I was over-reacting…but it felt “wrong” to me. I completely agree with you that it seems like it’s intentional deception and that never feels good to a customer.
Definitely misleading, and almost certainly intentional. This sort of thing used to tick me off. I guess I’ve become inured to it and I just assume all vendor statements need to be verified.
Of course, with so many reviewers out there and so many scores being bantered about . . .
Yep. Somebody somewhere gave that wine a good score. I couldn’t care less if I get a message touting a 99 or 100 point wine, because you can always find a great score from somebody. For example, looking at the 90+ wines on the Wine Library website, you have this group that I’ve at least heard of, although I’d basically ignore all but a few:
Tim Atkin
Joe Czerwinski
Ian Dagata
Decanter
Jeb Dunnuck
Antonio Galloni
John Gilman
Jamie Goode
Guía Peñín
Luis Gutierrez
James Halliday
International Wine Challenge
International Wine Review
Monica Larner
Natalie MacLean
Luca Maroni
Neal Martin
Allen Meadows
Jay Miller
Robert Parker
Lisa Perrotti-Brown
Josh Reynolds
Mark Squires
James Suckling
The Tasting Panel
Steve Tanzer
Ultimate Beverage Challenge
Vinous
Wine Advocate
Wine and Spirits
Wine Enthusiast
Wine Review Online
Wine Spectator
Gary Vaynerchuk
And then it just turns ridiculous - people and “publications” I’ve never heard of. Maybe they’re amateurs who’ve attended a few trade tastings, maybe they have cult followings on Facebook or something, or maybe they’re respected by somebody somewhere for whatever reason. In any event, they’re utterly meaningless to me:
Huon Hooke (whoever that is!!!)
Sam Kim - Wine Orbit (whoever and whatever that is!)
Campbell Mattinson - The Wine Front
Richard Jennings
William Kelley
Stephan Reinhardt
Gary Walsh - The Wine Front
Wine Cellar Insider
Pinot Report
Daniele Cernilli - The Ultimate Guide to Italian Wine
Gilbert & Gaillard
Mosel Fine Wines
PinotFile
Beverage Testing Institute
Catherine Fallis
Lots of deceptive marketing / promotions out there.
I find even more dishonest/annoying - the “xx% everything on our site” sale. But most of the good bottles are hidden and when the sale is over immediately appear in search again.
Isn’t Wine Cellar Insider the nom de guerre for Jeff Leve?
Who the heck is Laura Burgess?? For the record, I’m also WSET Advanced (I scored with distinction in both theory and tasting), does that make be qualified to score wines? I share my personal wine suggestions with family and friends, but I don’t score anything on an arbitrary scale of 100 points, where nothing receives a score below an 80! 
It helps that I assume EVERY piece of marketing is deceptive 
Wow…it’s almost like these marketers have some ulterior motive beyond informing us of wine critic scores!
you’re kidding, right?
Sam Kim; let me google this for you: http://www.wineorbit.co.nz
I’ve seen his reviews of NZ wines, along with reviews from Raymond Chan, Bob Campbell, etc., quoted by K&L.
and Mosel Fine Wines, William Kelley (who posts on this forum, and wrote for Decanter and now Wine Advocate), Richard Jennings, others, hardly seem like amateurs or meaningless voices in the wine media industry, but to each their own.
Huon Hooke (whoever that is!!!)
Campbell Mattinson - The Wine Front
Gary Walsh - The Wine Front
Probably three of the biggest Wine Reviewers in Australia. Have gone past James Halliday in terms of relevance.
Huon’s Website