The patchwork quilt of wine retailers across America and traditional (print) wine media enjoy a rather peculiar relationship. It began to take shape, like the wine boom itself, in the 1990s, when several magazines decided that their primary role was to respond to the burgeoning supply of wines by pouring on the ratings. Many (but not all) retailers grew content to pluck scores (usually without tasting notes) and use as a sales tool.
The 20th-century crescendo of the phenomenon has continued into this century. Ratings-dependence remains common in retail venues as huge as Costco {see post here} and as small as the corner store; as established as Morrell & Co. (whose catalog has a boxed guide to the initials representing multiple rating sources) and as mod as Wine Library (sure, Gary V. is all about passion, but 9 out of 10 email blasts from Wine Library re-trumpet wines already blessed with a 90+ by WS and RP).
While this media-retail relationship works to a degree—in the sense that many very good wines are “highly rated” and sell well—in the process, a few things have happened:
- It has encouraged the widespread and wholly unrealistic impression that wine quality can be boiled down to numbers
- As a result of both grade inflation and a profusion of sources, the 100-point scale in general has lost its edge; these days, it’s 90 or not {no matter whose 90 it is}
- Certain wines (e.g., rosé, Chenin Blanc, Pinot Grigio), whose inherent characters rarely earn widespread 90+ scores, have become de facto second-class citizens
- Less expensive wines, which are usually less intense and/or complex than pricier ones, have become numerically inferior as well.
Perhaps most important of all, however, reliance on ratings has led retailers to surrender their own sense of authority. Rather than make their own standards evident in their merchandising, many (not all, but yes, too many) wine merchants let the broad and steady stream of EZ ##s do their (shelf-)talking. In short, they seem to have assumed the role of {pardon my French} bitch to the various points-wielding media.
As this dominant-submissive relationship has worn on, magazines have consciously promoted the status quo. They stand tall and self-important upon the pedestal of blind tasting, basing their authority partly on sheer volume of reviews. They also aggressively promote the use of ratings at the point-of-sale, then point to the proliferation of such usage as validation of their efforts.
The attitude the traditional media heavies have developed toward retailers is, not surprisingly, dismissive. Think about it: when was the last time you read in a major wine publication anything about the experience of wine shopping? Maybe a tidbit here or there in Wine & Spirits. But don’t expect to see a magazine like Wine Spectator covering wine shops, because to do so would undermine their position of superiority. You see, magazines with buying guides are actually “selling” the same things as retailers: inside information, hot stuff, which wines to buy now. To cover the people who actually sell the stuff would be the equivalent of saying to their readers: you don’t really need us.
The net result of the bitchy relationship between wine mags and wine merchants is that precious few drops of ink are being devoted to great wine shops. Shops that have an ear to the street and an eye toward the table. Shops that offer a point of view. Shops that encourage wine-buying as an interactive process.
I see blogs as being able to fill a much needed role in casting some light, some love and some real-world attention on independent stores. Today, I’m showcasing three true indies, one on each coast and one in the middle. I have set foot in each store exactly once, but each has proven particularly memorable. I bought wine at each and would not hesitate to do so again.
Li’l Shop of Wonders
Frankly Wines. 66 West Broadway, NY NY 10007; 212/346-9544
http://franklywines.com; @franklywines on Twitter
Not yet two years old, Frankly Wines is the domain of Christy Frank, whom I first met when she helped run the Columbia Business School wine club, and who worked for LVMH before opening up this matchbox-sized shop in Tribeca (320 sq. feet). The store leans a bit toward southern hemisphere wines, but Christy’s greatest strength is good, old-fashioned editing with an eye on value. She has jammed the store with value, even at higher price points. Lack of size is no problem here; still plenty to suit diverse tastes, tightened budgets and even the most jaded collector. She turned me on to a great Artazuri Navarra rosato for $7 and a Roger Perrin 2007 Côtes du Rhône 3L BOX for $39 that I milked for about four weeks. She has a knack for shaking some real deals out of the NYC woodwork (a Chateau Musar vertical comes to mind; and 1985 Lafon Roche for $50). And she is always ready to suggest something just a leetle bit different, à la the Altos Las Hormigas 2007 Bonarda ($10) from Argentina. Nice blog and judicious email blasts, too.
Mondo Italia Gone Gonzo.
Wine Expo. 2933 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90404; 310/828-4428
http://www.wineexpo.com; @WineExpo on Twitter
I was smitten with the Old World SoCal of WineExpo years ago based on its old school newsletters, filled with raucous descriptions, eclectic music references and food popping up just about every other wine. When I finally got there in 2001, it was a genuine thrill. I can’t recall being in one shop whose dual foci—Italian wines and bubbly—were so broad yet so deep. Humble wines, fancy wines, freak wines… wines with names as long as your arm. The inventory at Wine Expo is not so much assembled as curated. How else to explain the presence of 13 {yes, 13} fizzy reds. The man behind the wines, Roberto Rogness, snags many of these bottlings to be Wine Expo exclusives on pilgrimages to VinItaly. Roberto has been Expo’s wine director since it opened 15 years ago; he only loves one thing more than vino: his customers. If you are into bubbly and/or Italian wine, go to the website right now; cruise the write-ups; check out Roberto’s rants. All it takes is a few clicks to realize that Wine Expo is about as close as you’ll find to a vinous version of Alice’s Wonderland.
Ommmmm Wine in Chi-Town
Just Grapes. 560 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago, IL 60661; 312/627-WINE
http://www.justgrapes.net; @JustGrapes on Twitter
Situated in a neither here-nor-there part of downtown Chicago, Just Grapes exudes a sort of calm confidence. When I went there in 2005, its second year, to give a Bordeaux seminar, I was immediately struck by the browsability: not a ton of wines (about 300), handsome racks, clean signage, contemporary design, spot-on lighting, and a flow that just plain worked. It worked because the managing partner, Don Sritong (previous stints for K-J, Constellation, Kobrand), had a plan that took the vast, potentially confusing universe of wine and sorted it out as if each wine was like a brick in a complete house. He explained that when a wine sold out of its designated slot or rack, if he could not get the exact same wine he would replace it with something as similar as possible in style and price, maintaining an almost Zenlike simplicity of the overall plan. Judging from their website, Just Grapes has evolved nicely since I visited, adding an automated self-serve tasting bar and ramping up the classes and events. I see from the site that they also have a section devote to 90+ point wines, but I suspect that is mostly to keep up with the other, much larger retailers (Sam’s, Binny’s). The staff picks, rotating weekly are the real deal: well-chosen, well-written and well-priced.
I’m happy to devote some cyber-ink to these folks. They are, for me, agents of true independent thinking in wine today. They talk the wine talk, walk the wine walk, and they are adept at steering people the right way, based on style, taste and context.
20 comments
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June 19, 2009 at 7:08 am
Jeff Siegel
Tish, this is genius. You’re right — those of us who aren’t wine magazines need to tell the world about great independent retailers. I had one of the best wine shopping experiences of my life in a store in Anchorage, Alaska, called Downtown Wine and Spirits, where they stocked half bottles of Domaine des Baumard Savennières, no less.
This is much food for thought.
June 19, 2009 at 10:33 am
wrtish
Weird coincidence, Gretchen left a comment last week on my “Anti-Costco” post praising another store called Dowtown, but in Knoxville. Fortunately for the Anchorage one, Saviennnieres is one of the great white-wine agers, in case they have those half-bottles sitting around for a while.
June 19, 2009 at 10:10 am
Jim Caudill
Nicely done Mr. Tisherman.
June 19, 2009 at 10:33 am
Ken Payton
Excellent post, Tish.
June 19, 2009 at 2:27 pm
Jim L.
Very good story. It does remind me of that 4 panel cartoon I once saw about the customer who walks into a wine shop and the retailer is sampling a wine. The customer says its tastes terrible.
And the retailers says “But it got a 95 in the wine magazine. “Well then give me 2 cases”, the customer replies.
Old joke, but it hits the nail squarely in the head.
June 19, 2009 at 2:33 pm
tom merle
Wine mag reviewers are being replaced by Internet driven consumer ratings a la Trip Advisor. Yelp/Chowhound users will identify the best wine stores in their area. In 2007, the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that about one-third of all American Internet users rated something online. CellarTracker/Snooth are the new Robert Parker/Steve Heimoff/James Laube, etc.
June 19, 2009 at 7:29 pm
Morton Leslie
For a wine merchant who isn’t into appearances or decor, has never posted a score, but is just about personally finding the customer classic wines of value that taste good, you can’t beat Darrell Corti in Sacto. (and he has done it the last forty years.)
He and his business is a national treasure.
June 19, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Enobytes
Here are a few of our favorites in the Portland region: http://blog.oregonlive.com/wine/2009/05/wine_savvy_local_wine_stewards.html — although I have to admit our story didn’t focus so much on the independent wines stores but rather giving kudos to the local wine stewards in the area. The sad news? Most of our independent wine stores are going out of business due to slow sales. Support your local wine store!
June 20, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Aimée Lasseigne
Enjoyed the article. Please stop by the wine shop if you ever find yourself in Santa Fe.
Aimée Lasseigne
Vendedora de Vino
La Casa Sena Wine Shop
June 20, 2009 at 7:02 pm
Gregg Burke
As an owner of a wine shop I thank you. I think scores are just a lazy mans merchandising. Keep up the good work.
Cheers
June 22, 2009 at 12:07 am
Charlie Olken
I am alll in favor of publicizing wine stores that offer the consumer value for money. Sometimes that value comes in the form of good, independent, carefully thought out research and sometimes it comes in the form of price.
I love Darrell Corti’s store and Darrell himself who is a national treasure when it comes to wine, and also to specailty foods of the highest caliber.
When I was writing newspaper columns here in the SF Bay area, it was easy to call out the twenty or so wine merchants at whose places I shop. It would make far less sense to mention Weimax or Vintage Wine and Spirits or Vintage Berkeley or California Wine Merchant to a national audience. Most of my readers cannot shop there, and I have just left out Beltramo’s, Napa Wine Exchange, Paul Marcus, Traverso, JayVee, Merchant du Vin, Farmstead Wine and Cheese, D & M.
So, I am now only missing a couple of dozen good independents in Northern California, and I have no way of mentioning or even of knowing about good independents in LA, even in the days when I was writing in the LA Times.
So, there is a bit of nonsense here, Tish, and you miss the point. I do not know of a serious wine journal that has ever said one should not cultivate a good relationship with a local wine merchant or merchants who take their business seriously. There are tens of thousands of stores that sell wine in the United States. I have been told that there are about ten thousand stores that a winery with national distribution and a focus on quality can consider.
How does one publicize them? I have a hard enough time finding all the Grenaches and Cabernets and Sauvignon Blancs to review. That is my job. I provide information. The independent wine store is not my enemy, but neither is Costco or BevMo or the Wine Club. And they should not be yours either.
And neither should wine publications. We all hang out our banners and people trade with us if we make sense to them. To suggest otherwise is to also suggest that subscribers to wine publications are either fools or are being hoodwinked.
I learned long ago that the marketplace is smarter than any pundit–and that, old friend, includes both of us.
June 22, 2009 at 8:34 am
wrtish
Charlie, I was trying to make a point both very general and very specific.
Generally, I feel that the advice offered by excellent wine merchants are undervalued — particularly by wine media, with whom they essentially compete in the arena of “selling” information.
Specifically, I wanted to illustrate that point with personal experience, by singling out three retailers whose point-of-view I found extremely valuable.
As always, your points are well-made and taken. Now that I am also a CGCW subscriber, I think I better understand your perspective, and see how different you are than the so-called buying guides that are far more entangled (with advertising/politics) and less reader-oriented.
I’m still aiming to develop a voice on this blog. It pleases me to see the variety of comments left here. I believe the Undervalued Retailer is going to be a them I return to often, not because of any agenda against wine media, but because I truly believe I get great information from good merchants.
June 22, 2009 at 12:41 pm
Charlie Olken
Tish–
I wholeheartedly endorse your comments about the value of a good wine merchant. I listed about ten of them and I think it will be an interesting theme over time.
It seems to me that there must be a way to get these folks gathered together somehow for their own good and the good of their customers.
It may be too much to ask Sam Dugan to help with a list of her top competitors in LA, but she is pretty outspoken so maybe she would not feel that she loses by listing folks around the LA area.
There are plenty of people who post here from around the country. Why not have them list the stores in their areas and then you can consolidate the names into a list of recommended wine merchants from the blog, possibly with the name of the person who nominated them.
It is not far from a Zagat approach of the type that Tom Merle has been trumpeting all over the blogosphere. While I question if it will work well for wine, it certainly has a better chance with wine merchants whose fortunes changes far less rapidly than wine does based on availability and vintage vaguaries.
Best,
Charlie
June 22, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Erica Valentine
Hi Tish,
Great to see you blogging away. Good conversation, but we continue to preach to our own choirs. The majority of wine drinkers don’t take any of this as seriously as those inside the industry. That said, it would be great to help the independent wine merchants have better visability – like creating a national fine wine merchant awards program that is voted by consumers through twitter and coordinated outside of traditional media. Might be a great thing to do via the Openwineconsortium. Unfortunately, sites like wine-searcher and others just bring wine shopping down to a price game, not an experience. A great wine merchant is like a great winery tasting room. Softly educational, inviting, comfortable and intuitive as to what to do and where to go upon entering.
June 23, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Samantha Dugan
As per Mr. Olken’s request, (I asked a few sales reps as well, truth is I do most of my shopping at our store, so I don’t get out as much as I probably should) here are a few shops in Southern California that seem to have the right idea:
The Wine Country in Signal Hill (had to include us ya, know!)
Woodland Hills Wine in Woodland Hills
Rosso Wine Shop in Glendale
Silverlake Wine in Silverlake
The Wine House in LA
Hi Time Cellars in Costa Mesa
I’m sure there are more but those are the people in our area that came to mind.
June 24, 2009 at 12:14 am
Dennis Schaefer
Hey Tish, you’ve listed even more objections to wine scoring that I did here:
http://www.examiner.com/x-11305-Kansas-City-Wine-Examiner~y2009m5d31-Wine-scoring-A-numbers-racket
Although the reality of it is that regular folks, just looking for a good bottle of wine, walk into a “superstore” and immediately become overwhelmed by the massive selection. That number on the wine rack gives them a sense of security that they’re not buying plonk. Just this weekend, a relative told me that’s what he does because he doesn’t have the time or inclination to sort out all the wine info that’s out there.
Totally agree with you on Wine Expo in Santa Monica. Roberto is full of wine stories and useful info; even his eccentric picks have usually worked out for me. Woodland Hills Wine is another fave for their wide selection and the fact that David Russell can always steer you right. In Kansas City, Cellar Rat is hand picked wine selections by the smartest wine guy in town.
June 28, 2009 at 5:52 pm
issy
I work for an importer. Last year I was making the rounds and a retailer tasted a wine. He liked it but I realized that the sample I had was from the current vintage but the shelf talker with the 90 score was from the previous vintage. I do not deceive when it comes to scores & vintages.
Turns out he liked the wine; really, really liked the wine. Wanted some but since it had not gotten a score, he would not buy it. I thought, this is crazy. He liked the wine, he could obviously promote it just on his enthusiasm alone.
Several days later the wine he tasted received a 90 score. I went back several days after the score was released and he said he had bought two cases already. This drives me crazy.
Rarely can I sell on the quality of the wine; now it is all about scores, deals, etc.
June 29, 2009 at 1:39 am
Charlie Olken
Issy–
Point taken, but a question. Do you really think HE felt he could sell the wine on the basis of his enthusiam or did he not believe it?
Good wine merchants often do not use scores at all in their stores. They just sell wine. But, that said, one of my favorites stores uses scores all the time to help sell wine. But, they also have a staffer who walks the floor talking to customers as they are looking at the rather large selection offered.
It’s disappointing that your retailer account waited for the score, but I also have to wonder whether he is successful or not. If so, while we can all decry his methods, we have to accept that he is selling wine by his chosen method–and that, after all, is the point from his perspective.
June 29, 2009 at 9:09 am
Gregg Burke
Issy,
Charlie is dead on. If a retailer will not take in a wine that he likes with out a score it means he does not or can not hand sell. I do not use scores at all, but I am only 800 sq feet. If I do not hand sell wines that I am passionate about I would be out of business. I am happy that retailers like that are the norm because it makes it easier for me to seperate from the pack.
Cheers.
March 6, 2013 at 11:35 am
Terry Hill
LOVE THIS ARTICLE! Dead on my friend. We have become slaves to the so called 100 pt system, when in reality it is almost exclusively a 20-pt scale. When was the last time you read less than 80 PTs from Wine Spectator? Logic states that if you have a 100 point system, there has to exist 10, 20, even 50 point wines. They don’t exist.
While I DO AGREE that the point system has its merits however. It does give the less informed and/or new to wine consumer a sense of confidence that 30 years ago was not available. Thus the proliferation and
“main streaming” of wine into the average consumer has been a direct result of Parker, Wine Spectator, & others pushing the point system.
I just think once you get a good grasp and understanding of wine and what you like & dislike, take the point system for what it is; A guide for the uninformed or those too lazy to do research.
I personally LOVE THE RESEARCH!
Terry Hill
The Texas Wineaux
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