Feedback
Peek behind the curtain
Thank you so much for your column, “What Do Wine Writers Want?” (Wines & Vines, April 2011 issue.) It was extremely helpful to me, having been a publicist for more than 40 years, but with less than two of those years in the wine industry. I worked in music for the majority of my career, and I have found that the similarities between the wine business and the music business are pretty incredible. As you say in your column, wine writers don’t get paid much, and neither do music writers. I am still learning, and your column was a great step forward for me.
Mike Hyland
Meadowcroft Wines
Sonoma, Calif.
Consumer thoughts about flash sites
I know you’ve received a lot of correspondence regarding your new monthly Flash Report. I’d like to add my 2 cents worth. I am a wine consumer, not someone who works in the industry. Regardless, I have been a subscriber to Wines & Vines for about 10 years or so.
To me, this is one of the most interesting regular features you have had, and it provides interesting information not available in other wine publications. Before your first report, I would regularly check out cinderellawine.com, buying from the site perhaps once every three to six months or so. When I saw your first Flash Report, I signed up for emails for all of the sites you listed. Now that a few months have passed, here are my results:
I unsubscribed to all of the emails except those from WTSO and Cinderella Wine. Those two were the only sites that clearly indicate ratings on a wine if one was given. The others rarely showed ratings on wines. Perhaps most of the wines they offered didn’t have ratings, or perhaps the ratings were not perceived as being very good. I won’t go into the concept of buying wines by rating, as that can occupy an entire issue. A high rating will not guarantee I will like a particular wine, but since there are tens of thousands of wines made every year, and I cannot taste them all before buying (I wish I could), a high and unbiased rating (such as by WS or WA) will increase the odds that I will like that wine. Over the past few months I have bought about four bottles from WTSO and one from Cinderella Wine.
In a perfect world, I would wish for two changes: First, to be able to set a “filter” on their sites to have them only send me emails for wines with a certain rating score or higher, and second, to only receive emails from WTSO only as often as I change underwear, not the five emails per day they currently send me. It seems like I get one every five minutes.
Steve Feiertag
Royal Palm Beach, Fla.
Mike Hyland
Meadowcroft Wines
Sonoma, Calif.
Consumer thoughts about flash sites
I know you’ve received a lot of correspondence regarding your new monthly Flash Report. I’d like to add my 2 cents worth. I am a wine consumer, not someone who works in the industry. Regardless, I have been a subscriber to Wines & Vines for about 10 years or so.
To me, this is one of the most interesting regular features you have had, and it provides interesting information not available in other wine publications. Before your first report, I would regularly check out cinderellawine.com, buying from the site perhaps once every three to six months or so. When I saw your first Flash Report, I signed up for emails for all of the sites you listed. Now that a few months have passed, here are my results:
I unsubscribed to all of the emails except those from WTSO and Cinderella Wine. Those two were the only sites that clearly indicate ratings on a wine if one was given. The others rarely showed ratings on wines. Perhaps most of the wines they offered didn’t have ratings, or perhaps the ratings were not perceived as being very good. I won’t go into the concept of buying wines by rating, as that can occupy an entire issue. A high rating will not guarantee I will like a particular wine, but since there are tens of thousands of wines made every year, and I cannot taste them all before buying (I wish I could), a high and unbiased rating (such as by WS or WA) will increase the odds that I will like that wine. Over the past few months I have bought about four bottles from WTSO and one from Cinderella Wine.
In a perfect world, I would wish for two changes: First, to be able to set a “filter” on their sites to have them only send me emails for wines with a certain rating score or higher, and second, to only receive emails from WTSO only as often as I change underwear, not the five emails per day they currently send me. It seems like I get one every five minutes.
Steve Feiertag
Royal Palm Beach, Fla.
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