Most deceptive wine business practices to watch out for

[John_Glas]

I’ve never used it, but in all fairness, I do think the average CellarTracker score is by far one of he most truthful scores. Sure, you can game the system by having all your aunts and uncles write fake spoof reviews, but if the reviews are from long standing CT contributors/collectors, then they do carry value. But to use them in marketing is another question. Would I ever do it? Maybe. If I feel it has merit and value and the wine has generally been misunderstood elsewhere - why not?

It is easy to weed through scores. I have about 2 dozen favorite authors but recognize enough of the regulars to determine if their note is useful.

[John_Glas]

Another one is name dropping even if no connection exists whatsoever: “This Selosse influenced winemaker, …” although they never worked with Selosse, their wines tasting nothing like it, but they do have bubbles in it. Extra points if it’s not even Champagne (e.g. Cremant)

‘Close neighbor to a 100 point vineyard’

Fair game if it is within 1 or 2 miles!

[CJ_Beazley]

Another one is name dropping even if no connection exists whatsoever: “This Selosse influenced winemaker, …” although they never worked with Selosse, their wines tasting nothing like it, but they do have bubbles in it. Extra points if it’s not even Champagne (e.g. Cremant)

‘Close neighbor to a 100 point vineyard’

Fair game if it is within 1 or 2 miles!

Or 2 or 3 decades of vine age.

[Michael_S_Monie]

Using Champagne critiques that are years, if not decades old, for current releases. Different disgorgement, different Champagne.

[John_Glas]

Ordering a certain vintage and they ship the next one. I like how some shops have a feature for no substitution vintages.

[Scott_Watkins]

If the wine is a stones throw or a nine iron away from a famous vineyard…yeah no.

[Ethan_A]

Using a vintage report on the wrong color wine. (in this case, advertising a 2018 white burg using quotes about 2018 reds).

[Sean_D_r_i_s_c_o_l_l]

I’ve seen some people puff up CellarTracker scores when only two or three random people have reviewed a wine.

These “people” most definitely include Jon Rimmerman. Does anyone actually buy based on a rando CT review?

[David_K2]

Using Champagne critiques that are years, if not decades old, for current releases. Different disgorgement, different Champagne.

What else are they supposed to do? Despite best efforts, this data is often not available. It’s legally a NV wine. I’m sorry, it’s completely legit to do this.

[John_Glas]

I’ve seen some people puff up CellarTracker scores when only two or three random people have reviewed a wine.

These “people” most definitely include Jon Rimmerman. Does anyone actually buy based on a rando CT review?

Would hope not. Just informed someone yesterday that when you say the wine was slightly corked you should not give it a score and click the flawed feature. They thanked me.

[John_Morris]

Using a vintage report on the wrong color wine. (in this case, advertising a 2018 white burg using quotes about 2018 reds).

If it’s a report on the vintage, as opposed to a specific wine, that’s very odd, since many critics have said is the most uneven, erratic year ever for red Burgundies.

[Ethan_A]

Using a vintage report on the wrong color wine. (in this case, advertising a 2018 white burg using quotes about 2018 reds).

If it’s a report on the vintage, as opposed to a specific wine, that’s very odd, since many critics have said is the most uneven, erratic year ever for red Burgundies.

Yes that makes it even stranger, agreed! Now that I look back it’s even worse than that because he was using a quote from Tim Atkin (who?) “There are whispers that Burgundy 2018 is one of the greatest ever vintages.” that was written 2 years earlier before anyone had tasted the wines at all!

[Markus_S]

Tawny Ports not being their proper age, apparently.

[Michael_S_Monie]

Using Champagne critiques that are years, if not decades old, for current releases. Different disgorgement, different Champagne.

What else are they supposed to do? Despite best efforts, this data is often not available. It’s legally a NV wine. I’m sorry, it’s completely legit to do this.

So if I am following you, you seem to think outdated and possibly inaccurate information is better than no information at all.

[Arv_R]

Tawny Ports not being their proper age, apparently.

The Pope didn’t get them a mandate over Portugal, which leads to these kinds of problems.

[Ryan_W1hera]

One thing I’ve noticed more in physical stores in the last two years has been old stock being mixed in with current releases e.g. I saw a 2013 blanc mixed in with the current release 2018’s over the weekend. This will particularly screw over the person ordering from an Instacart type of intermediary, or perhaps the innocent spouse dispatched to the store, and instructed to come home with a favorite estate.

Or they might hit a home run with some bottle age?

I had this happen at a local wine shop where I thought I grabbed a Pierre Peters Cuvee de Reserve but found the one Reserve Oubliee mixed in there that wasn’t in their inventory. Still rang me out with Reserve Oubliee pricing that I didn’t notice until I got home.

This sort of thing happens all the time in retail, similar thing happened to me a few years back when I bought a bottle of Taupenot-Merme Gevrey Chambertin 1er Bel Air (typically really hard to find, tiny vineyard) expecting to pay 180+, I just handed the guy my card and didn’t even look at the receipt until I’d drank it that night and he’d rang me for a “Taupenot Merme Gevrey” which was the only SKU title on the receipt for about 70 bucks… attention to detail folks!


As far as deceptive wine practices, I’ve had a few friends get screwed by ordering wines from listings not properly marked as 375ml bottles… seemed like a good deal at the time I’m sure!

[Jon_Drummond]

1. The benchmark namedrop. Eg. Regarding a Loire red: “The next Clos Rougeard”.

2. The unrealistic RRP/discount sales trick. The winery setting a high/false RRP for its wine, and selling the bulk of it out the back at 60-75% off via discount outlets. The winery basically never sells anything at RRP. This strategy is employed every vintage, and the winery makes a tidy profit selling at the lower price. Used a lot for South Australian wines, specifically from the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale. People get sucked in by thinking they are getting a great deal - 60-75% off!

3. The fishing pole tactic. Contact a retailer to ask whether they have a certain wine (usually a difficult to procure one), they’ll say they’re waiting for confirmation (when they’re not - they definitely have the wine)…meanwhile, they’ll try to cross-sell you something else in the meantime. The unspoken implication being that if you don’t bite on the cross-sell, you won’t get a chance at the wine you’re asking for.

4. Work experience benchmark namedrop. New producer previously had swept the driveway of Chateau Margaux for 2 weeks, or does a bit of yard work at DRC…those wineries are in lights on the producer’s profile as if they were the assistant winemaker and learned all the secrets of those producers.

5. The price anchor trick . Produce one wine of limited quantity, and set a ridiculously high price. It doesn’t matter if the wine does not sell. The winery gets lots of attention, and makes the rest of the portfolio appear reasonably priced in comparison…consequently, more sales generated from the rest of the portfolio.

6. The Domaine Leroy trick. Retailer has the Maison Leroy wines, markets them as Domaine Leroy. The marketing of negoce wine as domaine bottled happens often, eg. Dujac, Meo-Camuzet.

[markjchambers]

By far the most common deceptive practice I encounter is merchants listing wines they do not have on wine-searcher.com. So many times I follow the link to the retailer ands the wine isn’t there any more. That is fair. But too often, I see a certain wine available on their website and I go to the trouble of setting up and account and buying the wine. Two weeks later I’m wondering what happened. I contact them and find out the wine was sold out when I ordered. When I start looking for it again, it’s sold out everywhere else. So the sloppy (or dishonest) retailer has caused me to miss out entirely.

If you sell wine on line, there is no excuse for not having reasonable inventory control. The best retailer websites actually say how many bottles they have in stock. If I miss out on a particular wine, it’s usually because a retailer sold me bottles he didn’t have.

[Ian_Sutton]

Hi Mark
One otherwise excellent wine shop on the outskirts of Edinburgh still have a wine listed on their website well over a decade since I enquired about it, but was told they had none left. A half accurate online list is a frustrating beast indeed.

[Tom_G_l_a_s_g_o_w]

By far the most common deceptive practice I encounter is merchants listing wines they do not have on wine-searcher.com. So many times I follow the link to the retailer ands the wine isn’t there any more. That is fair. But too often, I see a certain wine available on their website and I go to the trouble of setting up and account and buying the wine. Two weeks later I’m wondering what happened. I contact them and find out the wine was sold out when I ordered. When I start looking for it again, it’s sold out everywhere else. So the sloppy (or dishonest) retailer has caused me to miss out entirely.

If you sell wine on line, there is no excuse for not having reasonable inventory control. The best retailer websites actually say how many bottles they have in stock. If I miss out on a particular wine, it’s usually because a retailer sold me bottles he didn’t have.

I think some list the distributors stock as their own inventory. I think a clue is if it takes a week of lead time to get the wine, but some retailers do have warehouses.