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Monday, July 24, 2006
Wine Spectator restaurant ‘awards’ have little meaning; Marvin Shanken begs to differ
Note: Usually, I write an entry and readers respond to it. In this case, I shared an entry I’d written with Wine Spectator Publisher Marvin Shanken prior to posting it, and he responded. So here’s what I wrote — and what Mr. Shanken had to say in response.
Well, at least Wine Spectator magazine has become a little more transparent about what its restaurant wine list awards mean — or rather, what they don’t.
The most important paragraph in the magazine’s 2006 Dining Guide issue that just hit my mailbox can be found on page 119, under a subhead that should read, “Why this guide has little meaning,” but instead says “Cuisine Type and Menu Prices”:
It’s important to note that our awards evaluate wine lists, not restaurants as a whole. While we assume that the level of food and service will be commensurate with the wine lists entered by award winners, this unfortunately is not always true.
Allow me to translate: “We know our dining guide means little, but we’re laughing all the way to the bank.”
Now, again, the Spectator:
We cannot visit every award-winning restaurant (although all Grand Award winners and many others are inspected by Wine Spectator editors), so we encourage our readers to alert us to discrepancies and disappointments.
Allow me, again, to translate:
“You do our jobs for us, but we’ll keep the $250 entry fee that every restaurant must pay just to be considered for a restaurant award. Deal?”
The magazine says it receives more than 4,000 applications. Let’s see, 4,000 times $250 … wait, there’s smoke pouring out of my calculator … Can’t see the screen … oh, there it is: a million bucks. $1 million.
And for the majority of restaurants that apply, the magazine does little or no independent evaluation of any kind, other than to review the submitted cover letter, menu and wine list to check for misspellings and other perceived shortcomings.
The magazine boasts, however, that of this year’s 847 entries from restaurants that had never applied before, 234 did not win an award — the second-highest failure rate in the last six years. The rejected lists were uninspiring or simply listed several bottlings from only a handful of producers, the Spectator said.
Do you think any of those restaurants got their $250 entry fee back? Nah, me either.
Again, though, at least the Spectator owns up to the guide’s shortcomings, and is transparent about it. For that, we raise a glass and give credit where credit is due.
Cheers! Mark Fisher
Now here is Shanken’s response, via email: (please click on “continue reading)
I won’t belabor the fact that 26(?) years ago we started the awards program to both encourage and recognize those restaurateurs that were willing to make wine an important, in fact integral part of the total dining experience. NO ONE ELSE WAS DOING THIS!!!!!!!!!!! We underwrote all the costs for the first 20 years at considerable expense to us. The program became so successful, with thousands of entries, that we were going under water with it. Staffing, processing, travel, etc. One of our editors suggested that it was quite legitimate to charge for the service as the restaurant was getting the benefit — and attracting many more patrons. So we started charging and the rest is history. It keeps growing because it continues to be a great service to the dining and wine worlds. To personally inspect the 4,000 entries from around the world would cost an additional $40 million. We talked about it, then decided it was just a little more then we wanted to spend this year. Maybe next year though. Have a good summer, Marvin P.S: Our editors have traveled around the world many times to inspect candidates for the Grand Award. Half the time they don’t pass the inspection. Should I send the bills to the Dayton Daily News? Please advise.
So there you have Marvin Shanken’s point of view.
I’m still waiting to hear from the Dayton Daily News accountants about those restaurant reimbursements.
What do YOU think of the Spectator’s dining-guide awards? Do you use them? How? And did you know that Carvers Steaks & Chops in Dayton received an award for the first time this year, joining Jay’s, l’Auberge and the Pine Club as Wine Spectator award winners?
And if the Wine Spectator doesn’t evaulate dining, why does the magazine call it a “dining guide,” anyway?
Questions, questions. But my thanks to Marvin Shanken for shedding some light into the Spectator’s wine awards.
Cheers!
Mark Fisher
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