Who will be the next critic WTSO unearths?

WINE TALK
1

These guys are my favorites when it comes to retailing using scores by reviewers.

They are of course big on J Newman. On the east coast, he’s vaguely familiar.

Then they came up with someone called VinoVixen. ??? Uh, OK. Some chick started writing a blog one day and the next day she’s “discovered” and is cited as an authority.

Today they sent something rated 91 by Barbara Longue.

Who the hell is that?

Next week it will be “Rated 92 by a guy at Seven-Eleven!”

Funny thing is, I think they’re the way things will be in the future. The specific critic only matters to a select group of buyers. For everyone else, a score is a score.

2

I think this is something movie promoters started.

I’ve actually picked up some wines from them the last few weeks, but went on the wineries reputation and Cellartracker comments. Kind of ignored the referenced reviews

My strategy will be screwed when (and if) they start planting inflated reviews on CT before an offer

3

VinoVixen???

No way!!

4

Has any store used Sadat X yet? It’s GOT to happen…

5

I’ve actually been wary of CT manipulation for a while. Many retailers are obviously very aware of CT’s influence, so it is bound to happen, if it doesn’t already. A few wines I received offers for recently have had only one or two reviews, and from not very active reviewers. One retailer even advertised the CT average for a wine with one review! Unfortunately, I don’t think it is “if.”

6

Greg

Great thread topic.

I saw Vinovixen.

These guys have no shame. But people still buy. Proof that all that matters is the score, not who gave it.

7

If they use a KA rating/review, then you know they’ve hit rock bottom.

8

My small amount of experience shows this to be truer than all of us would like to believe… [suicide.gif]

9

Next think you know, they’ll be quoting reviews and points from WB posters!! [basic-smile.gif] Talk about folks with no qualifications.

10

I’ve heard that Trader Joe’s and Bob Wood are discussing the possible signing of a 5 year contract that would make Mr Wood the in-house wine critic for the Trader Joe’s Corp. neener

11

Well… I am already using the FUF when describing wines to friends. Can’t wait to see that on a shelf talker.

12

For the savvy shopper, there are some amazing deals that pop up there once in a while. If you ignore the ‘house’ critic, and turn right to CT, you get a better chance of a winner.

Mike, Some of the members on WB are much better qualified to actually write those notes. WTSO would be happy to have them.

13

I had dinner a few years ago with an extremely well-know wine shop owner who you all know who told me that as much as 90% of all sales in his store are driven by shelf talkers with points in big letters, or other point sources like customers walking in with Wine Spectator under the arm. So the search for “reviewers” who give 90+ scores is not a surprise. I expect that some online retailers will soon just pick a CT reviewer with a high score and publish that.

14

Barbara Longue? Seriously? She reps brands in NJ, kind of like Newman, but really just does the leg work for wholesalers.

15

It’s really no different than most other industries - ‘best sellers’ sell better because somebody said it was a ‘best seller’ . . .

The general public, in general, are lemmings . . .

Not that there’s anything wrong with that . . . [tease.gif]

Cheers!

16

Saw the VinoVixen rating. lmao. Yeah, right. I’m still waiting for a WIMLXX rating to show up. [suicide.gif]

17

Uh oh. That means nothing will be rated higher than 92 points!!! neener [wink.gif] [wink.gif] [berserker.gif]

18

Amazing.

Todd French called them out on this BS, but many others told him to just ignore it. The problem is that many people who read that review believe that Barbara is a wine critic.

19

Not much of a vixen…

20

From the latest offering:

Dan Berger’s Vintage Express
“Dark fruit, pepper, clove and a complex underbrush note with perfect balance. Fruit is from same Rogers Creek ranch that went into Ramey’s Syrah ($65) that is superb. This wine is near equal and an absolute > > Bargin! > Another stunner from Jon and Susan Pey.” (FWF)

Whoever said a “critic” needed to know how to spell? [rofl.gif]