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Thursday, September 14, 2006
Can words sell wine, or is it all about the Parker score?
A couple of weeks ago, I praised a piece written by Dorothy Lane Market’s Todd Templin about his wine travels in Germany, and suggested that wine retailers ought to do more of this.
Well, that earned a sharp rebuke from an obviously frustrated Ann Boucher, who recently jumped from the wholesale end of the wine business to the retail end with Serendipity — A Wine Shop for the 21st Century in Columbus. Here was Ann’s written spanking:
Forgive me for feeling a bit cynical, Mark, but what’s the point? Thanks to your God-given talent, I’m sure that writing comes easy for you, but for many of us lowly wine merchants, its hard work. If we sold lots of wine, as a direct result of our efforts, it would be worth the time and energy, but, in my short time as a retailer, I’m not seeing it. As you know, I put lots of time and effort in to producing a catalog. My customers, thus far, have been men who don’t really read my catalog. Believe it or not, instead of reading it, they bizarrely cross reference Parker scores with the wines appearing in my catalog. If they find a favorable rating for the same vintage, they buy a few bottles. Wouldn’t it be infinitely easier, less depressing and more profitable for me to just send out a list of wines with Parker scores and say, “Get ‘em here!�
Retailers, distributors: Is our friend Ann right — is it this bad? Have we wine consumers really devolved to this point?
Ann did, indeed, put incredible time and effort into her catalog, and her descriptions of wines (and of those who produced those wines) make me want to buy them, pure and simple. Just as catalogs such as The Village Corner in Ann Arbor and The Winds Wine Cellar do. Sure, Parker’s dreaded 100-point ratings scale has affected whether I buy or don’t buy a wine on occasion. But to me, other people’s opinions DO matter, and how they express those opinions can have an impact — sometimes greater than a Parker score’s impact — on my wine-buying decisions.
Am I alone in this?
Is it all about Parker, the whole Parker, and nothing but the Parker, so help us God?
Let us know what you think by clicking on the “Post Your Comment” link.
Cheers!
Mark Fisher
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