points
February 22nd, 2008
I’m thinking of banishing all references to points on our web site and promotional materials. How can I justify their usage when I don’t believe in the scoring of wine? I am not sure my staff will agree with me. And perhaps some of our customers find the points useful to them. But still…if I don’t believe in scoring wines how can I then turn around and use them, thereby perpetuating a system I don’t like. Of course no one gets hurt by their use…but still…
David Bowler
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2 Comments Add your own
1. Charlie | March 5th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Maybe you should banish all references to critics and journalists whose palates you don’t respect and whose status in the wine world you don’t believe is deserved? Maybe you should banish the sales of all the wines in your portfolio that you wouldn’t drink yourself on occasion but happen to sell well and profit from. Maybe you should banish Australia? Where do we draw the line between useful financial tool for running a viable business and soul sucking compromise of our true values? Hmmmmmmm…..Points are definitely a shortcut for sales that retailers appreciate and help them to keep their businesses running against the competition. So is cheap Austrailian plonk but can you in good conscience recommend (inclusion in your portfolio is a tacit endorsement) it as good wine? These retailers are your partners, can you in good conscience hold back useful information from them (90+ pt. critic scores)? Can you in good concscience deny your sales staff the information that helps them to earn a living and feed their families? Publish the points or starve the babies! You are going to hell either way!Arrrgh!
2. bill adams | March 8th, 2008 at 9:46 am
I couldn’t agree with you more, David. While I find great utility in your designation of organic, biodynamic, et cetera (i.e. things that are actually factual), the point system seems to reward the least subtle, authentic and honest wine more often than not. Per Charlie’s post, believe me that those folks motivated by scores are already scouring wholesale pricelists for producers they recently read about in the Big Three wine rags; why accidentally indoctrinate those less inclined into the cult of mock-objective falsehood? The point system is terminally flawed, kind of like the “science” of phrenology. I say let it die a natural death…
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