I watched an interesting documentary the other day on the Good Grape wine blog entitled "Robert Parker's Bitch". The mini documentary explores the phenomenon of scoring in the wine world, assessing the influence (some would say domination) of wine critics like Robert Parker. As in any debate there are two sides, and this documentary does a good job of representing both. On one side you have the old salty dogs from the good old days of winemaking, making the legitimate point that the opinions and taste buds of a small handful of critics have largely determined who succeeds in the industry and changed how the majority of wines taste. On the other side you have the young buck winemakers just trying to make a living and voicing the obvious that wine - just like any industry - cannot survive without paying attention to the marketplace. Just because a winemaker makes something they think is good, does not mean that it deserves to be automatically loved by the public.
This documentary got me thinking about the "scoring" debate. I decided to see just what the reaction would be in the rest of the wine blogging community. Would the wine blogosphere eschew the scores of Parker in favor of a groovy new alternative? The answer, quite sadly, seems to be: No. While everyone seems to shake their fist at the mighty overlords like Parker and Laube, everyone still seems to be doing the exact same thing. Wine blog after wine blog, Youtube videos both professional and amateur, and article after article in Food and Wine sections in local newspapers all seem to follow the Parker model: drink a wine and score it.
With a few exceptions, the majority of wine blogs I have come across all seem to serve the exact same purpose; giving the person blogging an opportunity to shove wines that they like at a viewing public. Of course there is nothing inherently wrong with this. I would imagine that most wine bloggers and critics got into the business of reviewing wines because they like certain things and want others to like it as well. But what for? Even the most authentic and upbeat blogging personalities can't make everyone buy a certain bottle of wine. When Gary Vaynerchuk gushes about a bottle of Barbaresco on WineLibrary TV, I'm sure there are some people who rush to purchase if it's a good value. But for the most part the bottles he reviews are too obscure and unavailable for an everyday purchaser. He often throws in a disclaimer that people shouldn't even pay attention to his scores, but he's still a business man and he largely gets a pass because he often focuses on education and increasing people's interest.
Or take this video from DrinkThisTV.com. (The name of this blog alone was enough to turn me off to whatever the hosts were about to say). These two people are so thoroughly annoying that I wouldn't ever want to drink wine with them anyways, let alone go out to BevMo and buy a bottle of wine on their recommendation. Watching them react with surprise at the two Clos Du Bois wines in the Chardonnay tasting is classic. You can almost see the wheels in their head turning as they try to justify saying nice things about a wine that their entire wine experience has told them to hate.
If the wine bloggers are so upset with the scoring system of Parker and the "negative" impact it has on the industry, then why do so many repeat the same model? Its almost like walking through Berkeley, CA and seeing all the guys on the sidewalk trying to make money with their bumper stickers and tee shirts saying "down with Capitalism!" Irony so thick you can spread it on toast.
So my main observations from looking at these sites are:
1. Scoring is here to stay. It's a part of the industry for better or for worse and people should truly not bother to score or review wines if they think it's silly. My main problem with much of what's out there on the internet in regards to wine and scoring is that a) it's all the same, b) there's so many wines and brands that I wonder why people even bother and c) it's contradictory to complain about Parker being the big bad guy when everybody wants to put in their own two cents about their favorite wines.
2. The few wine blogs out there that actually have something to say are those who turn their focus away from the wines themselves. Fermentation, the number 1 wine blog according to the Top 100 wine blogs list, is an interesting example because it focuses on the politics of the industry.
3. The reason why people like wine is romance. The great majority of people enjoy beer in this country because it's more about what you're doing than what you're drinking. There's nothing to think about while you do it. With wine there is a whole story out there about where it came from, what went into it, who made it, and the beautiful places around the world where the process is repeated again and again. What is interesting to me are blogs that focus on that romance -- that delve into the world of wine because it's interesting.
Anybody can tell you what they think about a bottle of wine. Some people have more pull than others but they're essentially all saying the same thing. The truly interesting people are those who tap into the romance of this beverage, selling the soul behind wine rather than just what they taste in the glass.
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