Only in America could the craft of sports writing be extended to encompass the stuffy, aristocratic hobby of tasting and evaluating wine. Will wine X top wine Y? Has wine maker C come up with the right mix to score in the 90s? Is the ’97 Opus a safe bet?
As a result of the public’s thirst for knowledge about wines, the regions in which they are grown, their quality, their potential worth as investments, and how to integrate them into meals, a montage of information and opinion has sprung up about the performance and promise of wines old and young from around the world. The Wine Institute, a California trade association, estimates more than 40 consumer publications are devoted to wine, not counting newspaper columns, Web sites and nearly 90 trade publications.
Several new publications have been launched during this decade in hopes of reaching a wider audience with different points of view.
Wine X is one. Wine & Dine is another. Smart Wine is a third. The Wine Enthusiast is not new, but has been at least partly hidden by the shadow of Wine Spectator. Likewise Wine & Spirits.
But first some background. The wine-rating game moved outside the small circle of cognoscente about two decades ago when a young Baltimore lawyer named Robert Parker began publishing a newsletter containing detailed wine evaluations and vintage ratings. Parker was opinionated, articulate, and more than willing to pin the tail on an underachieving chateau or vintage.
But the beauty of The Wine Advocate, in addition to its forthrightness, was Parker’s decision to use a numerical rating system to summarize his evaluations. Eschewing the 20-point system employed by wine professionals, he introduced a 100-point scale, grading wine in a manner that every American who had ever received a report card could understand.
Parker struggled for a time, but his highly enthusiastic reviews of the 1982 Bordeaux prompted feverish buying. Soon the number 90 became a mystical gateway. To this day, with a circulation of about 30,000, he remains the most influential judge of wine quality.
Subscriptions ($40 for six bimonthly issues) to Box 311, Monkton, Md. 21111. For telephone information, 410-329-6477.
Soon after Parker’s ascendancy, Wine Spectator, a small-circulation newspaper tabloid originally published in Southern California, fell in line and adopted the 100-point scoring system. More important, publisher Marvin Shanken transformed Spectator into a sleek lifestyle magazine with a circulation of more than 200,000. Each monthly issue is seen by every important marketer in the industry.
Spectator’s mix of articles is encompassed by such cover lines as “What to Buy From Oregon and Washington,” “Hottest New California Cabernets,” “Elegant Table Settings” and “Hollywood & Wine.”
Unless attributed to a single writer, wine evaluations are done through group tastings. Some criticize these as “ratings by committee,” preferring to react to the scores of a single individual such as Parker. Of late Wine Spectator also has shown a tendency to rate so many wines 90 or higher (Nov. 30: “58 Rieslings Rated 90+”) that potential buyers may find the ratings little help in extracting what’s truly best.
Subscriptions ($40 per year for 18 issues) from Box 50462, Boulder, Colo. 80322-0462, or telephone 800-752-7799.
The Wine Enthusiast, published monthly, has identical dimensions to Wine Spectator, but is not nearly so thick. A stable of well-known wine writers provides information of wine regions and profiles of wine personalities. But the heart of the magazine is its “Buying Guide,” ratings produced through the Beverage Tasting Institute, based in Chicago. A detailed explanation of the tasting process appears in each issue. Scoring is more conservative than Spectator’s, with some little-known and quirky wines included in the mix.
Subscriptions ($32.95 per year); from 800-356-8466.
Several fine writers are regular contributors to the monthly Wine & Spirits. The descriptions that accompany ratings are easy for a lay person to understand. Annual subscription is $22 from Wine & Spirits, 2 W. 32nd St., Suite 601, New York, N.Y. 10001, or call 212-695-4660.
The most detailed and intricate critiques of young wines of the world appear in the International Wine Cellar, a six-issues-a-year newsletter produced and written by Stephen Tanzer. Available by subscription only, at $48 per year, it may be ordered from Tanzer Business Communications, Box 20021, Cherokee Station, New York, N.Y. 10021.
To challenge these publications, Wine X has taken the offensive (and thirtysomething publisher Darryl Roberts proudly claims that members of the wine establishment find its editorial irreverence offensive). Launched in 1995 in a newsletter format, Wine X has published at least two color magazine issues this year. (Issues are numbered, but undated.) Both have lively, even challenging typography and innovative use of white space and art.
The magazine’s logo reads “wine, food and an intelligent slice of vice.” Departments include “sex, wine & rock ‘n’ roll” in which wines are recommended to be sipped while listening to specific musicians or bands, and the self-explanatory “wine under 15 bucks.”
In addition, one recent issue contained useful primers on Cognac and German wines, a beautiful photo essay on snowboarding and advice on entertaining with food and wine from the “Surreal Gourmet.” The Gourmet, who “only owns three plates that match,” offers the equation “Distinctive & Robust = Memorable.” The snowboard text is, frankly, babble. However, wine ratings (one, two or three Xs instead of stars) are supported by conversational text with a minimum of jargon.
Another issue is similar, with mountain biking the featured athletic activity and Surreal Gourmet advice on grilling. An essay finds male sexist attitudes in wine marketing and wine publications (including Wine X). It’s enough to stir up the lees resting in the bottom of a barrel of wine.
Subscriptions ($14.95 for six issues a year) are available from 4184 Sonoma Mountain Rd., Santa Rosa, Calif., or call 888-229-4639.
Smart Wine is a California publication as well, but one that aims to eschew attitude. Spirits are recognized in a monthly column called “100 Proof.” Columns and departments (of which there are a dozen and a half) are reasonably brief. Reviews are short on text, offering instead number ratings of fruit, sweetness, acidity, tannin and oak plus taste and aroma buzzwords such as vanilla, oak and cassis. The reviews are extensive. Matching food and wine, cooking with wine, and recipes are part of the mix also.
Subscriptions ($30 for 12 monthly issues) from SmartWired Inc., 867 W. Napa St., Sonoma, Calif. 95476, or telephone 707-939-0822.
Based on two recent issues, Wine & Dine, a Los Angeles magazine on “food, wine and lifestyle,” is full of the gush and glitz that sets Southern Californians atwitter. There are a good many photos of people at parties and cigars play a major role in the magazine’s lifestyle. No regular wine ratings.
A much sleeker wine-oriented travel and life style publication is Appellation, which has widened its upscale “wine country living” focus from the Napa Valley to vineyard regions around the world. There are winery and restaurant features, but no wine reviews. Subscriptions ($18 for six issues a year) from Appellation, 1040 Main St., Suite 100, Napa, Calif. 94559. or telephone 800-799-2679.
