Irregular Update
Sydney Time
Copyright © Ric Einstein 2009
Welcome to this week Irregular Update.
There are two articles for your reading pleasure this week. History has shown that one thing that really gets up readers' noses in a big way is shonky, dishonest, or unethical wine marketing practices. That's probably because, in the main, they are educated wine buyers and not your average mug punters, who cant tell the difference between Chateau Bilge Water and a fine bottle of Chateau Rothschild. All the top wine e-tailers have a few things in common, and using shonky marketing practices is not one of them, so its not surprising that Winelist Australia is not on the exalted list of highly respected online wine merchants. Any wine merchant that uses unattributed tasting notes, quoting tasting notes from highly questionable sources, and using notes that make a $10 red look look like its a top shelf, uber-premium wine, will always leave their credibility open to be questioned. This article doesn't just question it, it exposes, in detail, exactly how this e-tailer weaves their web. More Shonky Wine Marketing can be found here.
The second article this week is titled
Jay Miller – The Wine Advocate on Oz Wines. When The Australian wine
category was hot in the US, people waited with bated breath for the release of
the annual Australian Edition. Now, its not even the Australian edition. It
kicks off with tasting notes from Bordeaux, the Southern Rhône, Spain, Austria;
and then Australia, which represents about a third of the issue. The
distributors and retailers phones are not ringing off the hook asking for the Oz
wines; not even those at 97 points. Miller's introduction is titled, "AUSTRALIA
2009: Into The Abyss" and that about sums up the situation. Miller examines
some of the reasons why the Australia segment found itself in this position, and
whilst his comments are accurate, they conveniently miss one of the most most
important parts of the picture. This article examines Millers comments and
puts them into perspective, including the missing part; the influence of
Robert Parker and The Wine Advocate. It can be found
here.
A new Snippet has been added. It is an amalgam of information that was on the home page of TORBWine as well as some new comments that are just in from Winter Creek. The Snippet is titled, Bits and Pieces of 2009 Vintage Information and it can be found here. If you are a grower, please let us know about what has happened to you this vintage, and I will be happy to add it to the Snippet.
A new Funny has also been added. Titled "Three Hillbillies - The Two Bigots and Dr Davo Touring West Oz" It is guaranteed to bring a smile to your dial. It's here.
The News section has been quiet over the past week but stories of possible interest include...
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Fosters to sell 35pc of Coonawarra vines
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Australian protectionist bill dropped
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Wine export values to US down 23pc
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Grape growers let fruit rot on the vine
Those stories and more can be found here.
This weeks quote. "You have only so many
bottles in your life, never drink a bad one" - Len Evans
Until next time .... Cheers Ric
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Copyright © Ric Einstein 2009