According to an Email, signed by Vinous co-founder James Forsyth, sent to US importers and possibly retailers, they can, at an un-disclosed cost (reportedly USD2000 a month), get access to Vinous scores 48 hours before they are published. Pretty nasty, if true, IMHO.
According to an Email, signed by Vinous co-founder James Forsyth, sent to US importers and possibly retailers, they can, at an un-disclosed cost (reportedly USD2000 a month), get access to Vinous scores 48 hours before they are published.
If you are a VM subscriber, you can see the email, which Jorgen (sorry, I don’t know how to do umlauts) reproduced there. It says pretty much what he said it says.
Pretty interesting. So, now, there will be “haves” and “have nots” w/r/t Vinous.
Looks like Vinous is hopping into bed, and under the covers, with importers and “possibly retailers.” Would the 48 hour head-start be valuable to importers? Is that enough time for them to do anything with the information? Retailers, on the other hand … .
I feel like I get value out of them, but I also look at them like buckets (A+, A, A-, etc). I also look for track record, too. If I was able to try more, I think I’d share your (and many others’ on this board) opinion as well. It is a handy guideline for me.
jebdunnuck
Due to a recent email sent to the trade by another leading wine reviewing publication, which involves special access to reviews before subscribers, among other things, I think it is a good time to lay out our ethics policy at JebDunnuck.com and where we stand.
First, it is vitally important for a critic to be completely independent.
Back in the 80s/early 90s, Parker offered faxed subscriptions. I know retailers on the West Coast who subscribed. The print newsletter came second class, so they had a week’s jump on customer subscribers.
But it’s an even more irksome practice in the internet age, where mail delays aren’t an issue.
Wouldn’t it be more profitable for vinous to just buy the wines they are scoring highly and then flip after they publish?
They wouldn’t even need to take possession.
It’s a nice touch for the regular subscribers that helped AG from the beginning, your support for Vinous helps increase the cost of wine you’ll be purchasing.
Waiting for a winebid-esque statement “you’ve been screaming for this and now it’s here!”
Parker made fax subscriptions and expedited mail available to all subscribers. As you note, this was in the 80’s/early 90’s when the Wine Advocate still claimed to be an independent consumers guide to fine wine. Now? TWA and Vinuous are hype machines for producers, with whom they have business relationships. The claimed independence is a relic of history (if it wasn’t a sales myth all along). The figleaf of independence has been gone for a long time.