I found the first part of the top ten interesting and had to state my two-cents but when the second part came out the next day I only saved it because I didn't really care that much. I do not and have part of the post here. I think the 100 point system is essential because the average consumer is not capable of thought and is led to purchase based on unbelievable elements. It is great to have a really simple system so the average person who is ought to be robbed by the retail and food industry can remember a number as a reference point and walk away not expecting a big surprise when the cork is popped. The more educated consumers and the professionals need to read the tasting notes and only give some weight to the 100 point system. If 100 point system goes, the entire wine buyer world will be robbed by the greedy food retailers. New World and Old World have completely different wine histories and unless a person understands how they differ and their individual characteristics, the choice is really a matter of personal taste. Gen Y may as well be Gen Hell. Any new generation is embraced to some extent for the new qualities they bring. Gen Y has 100 million replacing the 45 million Gen X slowly but surely. Gen Y is praised for spending money like tomorrow will never come and they are loved for this. Gen Y will have no jobs in time as vacancies run out to spend the easy money. The trends set by easy generations are dangerous. There was once an Internet boom in the United States and money flew through the hands of the youth with no end in sight. The expensive wines were going like soda cans and the new vintages from Old World that need years to mature were not marketable to this scary generation. Wines had to be adjusted, even in Bordeaux best Chateau, so they can be drinkable as young because the new buyers could not taste but loved the labels. That ended one day and left a huge oversupply of wines in the market. Whole industries lost complete markets overnight. Gen Y is taking us exactly there again. Gen Y will run out of money. They keep arriving in the job market but only so many boomer jobs open up for the Gen X to move in and Gen Y will just pile up. On the good side, manufacturing is due back in the US which helps and Gen Y have to become entreprenuers which is a plus since no jobs exist but they are expected to feed huge unemployment and crime. Gen Y is a disaster waiting to happen and their shopping habits may be great on short sight, they will prove to be hooligans not suave in near future. Don't plan anything based on Gen Y contributions.
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100 Point Rating System
The 100 point rating system is a good gauge of quality for consumers. Wine is an unparalleled consumer category with far too much choice for any reasonable human being to make a purchase decision at the point of sale. 100 point scale ratings act as an arbitration of quality and a valuable consumer service.
And, let’s not forget that a very, very small segment of wine consumers study wine as enthusiasts, the rest of the population needs a quality indicator.
Further proof is the simple fact that other subjective areas of review like music and books are adopting the 100 point scale because of its usefulness in helping consumers wade through too many choices with too few differentiators.
Or
The 100 point rating system is the scourge of the wine world. By placing a number on a wine, dictated by a singular palate, it prevents consumers from doing what is the simple joy of wine – exploration. Instead, they make purchase decisions based on number, somebody else’s interpretation of “good.”
There is a difference between an artist and somebody who paints by the numbers, they are two completely different realms, and this painting by the numbers approach objectifies wine and its enjoyment in situ.
And, need I say anymore than the fact that it’s not even a 100 point scale, it’s really a 50 point scale and most wines, perfectly good wines, are persona non grata if they don’t score over an 85.
It’s ruining the wine world.
Direct Shipping
Giving wineries and retailers the ability to sell directly to the consumer is THE American way. Can you imagine if other consumer product categories had to go through a limited amount of distributors who would determine what could and could not be sold in a given state or market?
It’s lunacy and it’s anti-competitive for small producers who make up 95% of the wine world.
Factor in the political corruption of politicians who are hijacked by lobbyists under the guise of protecting our youth, and it all smells very rotten.
Give people the freedom to buy what they want from where they want.
Or
The 21st Amendment was put in place for very good reason – to give states the power to protect their interests related to matters of alcohol.
It’s an efficient system that serves everybody very well – wine producers, retailers and consumers and in doing so gives them much greater choice then what would be available in a completely unregulated wild, wild west atmosphere, while keeping alcohol out of the hands of our youth.
The fact is that if checks and balances aren’t in place to protect youth, what is preventing them from buying wine online? Our politicians are merely doing the work of the people, who have indicated that protecting our future, our kids, is paramount.
New World vs. Old World
New World wines, as proven at the Judgment of Paris, and repeatedly thereafter, show that history isn’t an indicator of quality.
No New World wine drinkers are blinded by the canard of tradition that isn’t backed by quality.
Domestic wines have ruled the Old World for years and, in fact, other emerging wine countries are now giving the U.S. a run for IT’S money.
Technology, innovation, fresh thinking and competition all create a better product that is attuned to today’s palate, annoying traditionalists and their thin wines not included.
Or
The New World needs to show some respect for Old World producers. Quality isn’t measured in months or years, it’s measured in centuries. Where would New World producers be were it not for the Old World?
Even the supposed New World champion, Robert Mondavi, used French quality as his baseline.
In 1855 the French were creating quality classifications for wineries that are still the best in the world to this day. Back then, the U.S. was trying to figure out if wine would even grow there, using French cuttings, I might add.
The U.S. culture is the same as their wine, all “now-now brashness” with no refinement and no sophistication.
Gen. Y and Wine
Generation Y is a saving grace for New World wine producers. With the aging of Baby-Boomers, the wine industry needed fresh blood. Even better is the fact, that they have bypassed the traditional adoption curve starting with White Zin—they’re adventurous with a taste for premium wines, domestic and imports. Not to mention, Gen. Y is also dragging wineries into social media kicking and screaming.
Thank goodness they’re here!
Or
Generation Y. taking to wine just might be the final swirl in the wine toilet bowl.
If we’re reduced to pandering to a demographic that treats wines with as much reverence as their constant and perpetual practice of being in the moment tethered to text messaging and Facebook, we should immediately start writing the obituary for wine as a beverage of distinction.
Read the whole post http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GoodGrapeAWineManifesto/~3/5BnGOpA1D68/
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