The article in the SF Chronicle today by W. Blake Gray does a good job of explaining the dynamics of an industry driven by recommendations. It also does a good job of pointing out what can happen when a handful of gatekeepers serve as the main source of those recommendations.
But sentiments like this irk me:
Winemakers and some oenophiles like to complain about the “Parkerization” of wine, implying that Parker’s personal taste for dramatic, powerful wines has taken over the world…
“We’ve gone from 13 percent alcohol to 15 percent because of this,” says importer Neal. “For some people in the wine business, if a wine gets a 95-point score, it’s a tip that the wine will be disgusting to us.”
…
“We’ve moved away from people making their own artisan wines with their own vision to people saying, ‘I thought I was doing pretty good until I got an 87 on this Pinot Noir,’ ” says Sebastiani’s Lyon.
Rubbish! It’s pretty disingenuous for folks to claim that the producers getting the high scores, or the ones that want high scores, are somehow “forced” to make wines that they themselves don’t enjoy. Everyone needs to align their product with a market, no matter how small. If you choose to go after the mass market, then you’re going to have to contend with the mass market’s preferences.
Here’s a flowchart I made that explains how wine really gets made.
So much hate, and for what? This rating system and these reviewers have led to an expanding market for wine and countless cases of wine sold!
I’ve beaten this example about to death, but Jordan Winery has gotten almost exclusively mid and low 70’s from Parker, and yet they are the number one most requested brand in restaurants. How to explain it? Easy: The path to wine sales doesn’t go through Parker and WS exclusively.
If you view a high score from Bob or Jim as simply a nice bonus – if it happens – and conduct the rest of your marketing, PR and branding as if your life doesn’t depend on their opinion of your wine, you should do fine. The trick is to be creative and make your wines and winery remarkable to your particular market.
Still not convinced? Check out the new study on consumer purchase decisions Steve at Vinfolio posted about yesterday. For wines priced over $20/bottle, 72% of those surveyed said that knowledgeable friends were their number one source of wine recommendations. Even more striking, 24% said they got wine related info from wine blogs – double that of Parker.
Find the people your target demographic listen to and make them like your wines. Likely this will mean getting your hands dirty and creating relationships with a lot of unwashed bloggers, or being extra-sweet to the folks that come into your tasting room. Who knows, you might forge some friendships along the way. And hey, you might even get in on the ground floor with the next Robert Parker.
You never know.
“For some people in the wine business, if a wine gets a 95-point score, it’s a tip that the wine will be disgusting to us.”
This comment made me laugh out loud, because I often do find that to be the case. The type of wines that get the 90+ scores tend to be made in a style that I don’t care for–meaning, over-extracted, high-alcohol, jam-o-rama blockbusters. Of course, that doesn’t mean that Parker has made winemakers into his bitches. Hmmmm, sounds like a great t-shirt slogan: “ROBERT PARKER’S BITCH.” Any takers?
Genius!
I’d buy it in a heartbeat. Then I’ll sport it around town right before I release my thin, acidic pinot!
If I send you one, will you send me a picture of yourself wearing it, so I can put it on my blog??
I’d be honored
Hi, Josh. Insightful post (and the same topic of some discussion on the “Unfiltered” podcast I recorded with Tim Elliott of WineCast this afternoon).
In fact, I think the 90+ score is more important for the boutique wine maker selling at $50+ per bottle. He or she really does have to sell out at their price.
Here’s an industry-related question: do most wineries sell all their production at their price? What happens when they don’t?
LTM. So the Nationality is the antecedent eh? (Flowchart IV)
Hey Mike,
If they don’t sell out, then they hold on to the wine until they do. Not too many wineries sell out every vintage, and if they sell almost entirely direct then the wine simply becomes inventory or they might try and dump into the hands of a distributor.
I would disagree that a 90 point plus score is crucial for boutique wineries. The problem is getting noticed at all. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a score, though that’s the most direct route to success.
Thanks for the kind words and the comment! I’ll have to keep on the lookout for the new Unfiltered.
What’s up Jud!
Yeah, the French have been threatening to blow crap up recently unless the government subsidizes the wine industry (even threatening to kill folks! :0 ), so I was having some fun at their expense.
Comment here anytime bro!
There is an error on State Va – there is no exit, it just loops back on itself….
Scores and awards can get you attention, but most people in a tasting room environment don’t seem to care either way – though they do enjoy the pretty ribbons covering one wall….
Cheers to you, Josh, for taking my “Parker’s bitch” t-shirt dare! It looks fabulous on you:
http://www.winebroad.typepad.com.
[...] As I wrote in a previous post a year ago entitled “Bashing the 100 point scale”, if you decide to make a wine in a style that the market doesn’t want, you really only have two choices: you can either go broke, or you have to somehow create a market for your preferred style. Alice’s book is her attempt to do the latter. [...]