{"id":288978,"date":"2025-06-11T23:32:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T23:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/how-much-do-wine-expert-ratings-matter\/"},"modified":"2025-06-11T23:32:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T23:32:14","slug":"how-much-do-wine-expert-ratings-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=288978","title":{"rendered":"How Much Do Wine Expert Ratings Matter?"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Luciano Pavarotti and young fan at Golden Gate Park, San Francisco<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/span>I<\/span>n the last year, I have been
\nconsulting with my local Italian wine shop, primarily making point-of-sale
\nmaterials (shelf-talkers<\/a>) for them. It\u2019s been an interesting project and one
\nwhich doesn\u2019t take up too much of my time, but also allows me to keep a toe in
\nthe water of the wine trade, albeit in a passive and almost invisible manner.
\nJust as I like it. But one of the surprises I have found in making these
\nmaterials is the relative influence of the various wine writers who review and
\nscore wines. There are more now than ever, so the field has been diluted.
\nHence, it takes a little searching on the internet to find those voices and
\nopinions (and scores) which I gather when making the shelf talkers for the
\nstore.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Check out the QR code above<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/span>I will say, from the outset, that scores are not the
\nonly thing I put on the talkers. I also include a graphic, to get the guests\u2019
\nvisual attention, and have a little story about the winery or the wine, along
\nwith the reviews and the score. And finally, I have incorporated a QR code into
\nthe talker for a deeper dive. It could take one to the winery website, maybe a
\nYouTube or TikTok video, or a snazzy piece<\/a> dreamt up by the winery to seduce
\nthe consumer into buying into their story. It allows them to bring all of us on
\ntheir journey. And it can be fun.<\/span><\/p>\n

But what I have found is that ultimately the main
\ninfluence on the buyer is the score. It\u2019s quick, it\u2019s easy and it\u2019s a guarantee
\nthat an expert found this wine to be worthy of a 90, a 100 or somewhere in
\nbetween. Suffice to say, anything under a 90, these days, doesn\u2019t get much
\nattention, even though it might be a really good deal, or a wine with an 88
\nmight be every bit as good as one with a 93. Consumers have been trained in
\nAmerica to go for the best, and 88 feels like a second best. That in itself is
\na damn shame, but it is the little patch of heaven we are floating in at this
\ntime.<\/span><\/p>\n

That said, who among the giants of wine criticism rule
\nthe roost? You might be surprised.<\/span><\/p>\n

I went about finding information on search engines,
\nboth Google and DuckDuckGo. I went to winery websites as well. What I found was
\nthat longtime legacy review sites like The Wine Spectator and Robert Parker\u2019s
\nThe Wine Advocate (which he sold a majority stake in 2012 and subsequently in
\n2019 Michelin took full control) were not as prevalent as they had once been.
\nIt might be because much of their content is behind a paywall. But that is also
\nthe case with James Suckling\u2019s site and Antonio Galloni\u2019s Vinous site, along
\nwith others. <\/span><\/p>\n

There are about a dozen wine sites on the internet
\nthat review Italian wine, among them are The Wine Enthusiast, Ian D\u2019Agata,
\nJancis Robinson (who does not use the 100-point rating scale), Decanter, Jeb
\nDunnuck, Luca Gardini and Luca Maroni. There are others as well. But it became
\npretty clear who the alpha review team was, and for a simple reason. Because
\none team regularly and consistently gave high marks. One writer\u2019s 92 is
\nanother\u2019s 96. 100 points given out like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups at
\nHalloween. And what do American wine consumers like? They like winners! <\/span><\/p>\n

Any number of thoughtful wine reviewers can give a
\nwine 90 points and load up the review with purple prose. But a short, sweet and
\nsuccinct review with a 97 point ribbon on the top will seal the deal so much
\nmore thoroughly in these here United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n

And that is what I found. Over the last year and more
\nthan 300 shelf-talkers that had the 100 scale points listed on the talker, the
\none reviewer (or review team) that consistently showed up on top of the
\ninternet search and the winery website brag pages, was none other than James
\nSuckling. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now you could think something cynical right now,
\nespecially if you aren\u2019t James Suckling. But I\u2019m thinking right now that he was
\nsome smart sonofabitch who executed a brilliant strategy. Because of it, he\u2019s
\nmade a ton of money, he\u2019s become a super influencer, and he is sitting on top
\nof the dunghill of Italian (and the world) wine review might. He learned, early
\non, how to juke the stats. No contest!<\/span><\/p>\n

Full disclosure: Winery friends, Marco and
\nJacopo Bacci, of Castello di Bossi and Renieri (Brunello) long ago saw the
\nvalue in forging a relationship with James Suckling. I mocked them for it.
\nWell, their business has only grown by leaps and bounds and they calculated the
\ntipping points magnificently that led to their unprecedented success. My bad!<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

So, all those other wine writers who post on Instagram
\nall their wonderful pictures of 30 years of Sassicaia and the like, and the
\nuntouchable wines of Romanee-Conti, etc., etc., etc., good for them. They are
\nhaving a wonderful life. But they are also-rans, when it comes to today\u2019s world
\nof algorithms and SEO, which control the spread of information.<\/span><\/p>\n

And now that we are going headlong into the world of
\nAI, I can only imagine how algorithms and SEO are going to be tossed like a
\nCaesar salad on a Caribbean Carnaval cruise during hurricane season.<\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t believe me? Go ahead and ask <\/span>perplexity.ai<\/span><\/a>
\n\u201cWho is going to be the most influential wine critic in 2028?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

N.B. \u201cTomorrow belongs to those who can hear it
\ncoming\u201d<\/i> – David Bowie<\/span><\/p>\n


<\/span><\/div>\n

\nwine blog +\u00a0 Italian wine blog + Italy W<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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