Comments on Sean Sullivan - Washington Wine Report: Comparing Wine Advocate, Spectator, and Enthusiast...

Ron, Thanks for the comment. Definitely not an app...

2009-11-04T20:37:41.864-08:00

Ron, Thanks for the comment. Definitely not an apples to apples comparison here. Mainly just some interesting information regarding the reviews they publish. I will look to compare some of the wines the publications have in common at some point in the future. Very tedious work unfortunately. I would expect that it would mainly show some differences inherent in various reviewer's palates, but of course there is only one way to tell!

Sean, thanks for the interesting post. Is it possi...

2009-11-04T16:56:44.662-08:00

Sean, thanks for the interesting post. Is it possible that the differece in 95pt+ percentage comes from what Paul said - TWA reviews all wines including very limited cuvees? To make it an apples to apples comparison, it would be interesting to look at scores for the same set of wines across publications, for example average scores given to specific lineups from high flying wineries.

Thanks for all the good work!

Paul, thanks for the comment and also for the back...

2009-11-04T09:35:53.285-08:00

Paul, thanks for the comment and also for the background information (I was just about to hit you up for it actually). I have been corresponding with Jay Miller at Wine Advocate regarding the same type of information and am hoping to get information from Spectator as well. Once I have it all I will summarize it and include it in a subsequent post for reference.

Sean, very interesting breakdown – I've never ...

2009-11-04T09:27:57.269-08:00

Sean, very interesting breakdown – I've never seen anyone do it before. FYI – since I submit virtually all of the WA reviews to Wine Enthusiast, I can tell you that very few wines that are submitted to me do not get reviewed. The rare exceptions are 1) wines that have already been reviewed (I don't go back); 2) wines from really old, back-dated vintages; 3) wines with mysterious bacterial issues; 4) wines that are extremely limited, wine club only type releases; and 5) wines from brand new wineries that I have nothing good to say about (I like to give them a break). All told, maybe 80 or so wines a year would fall into one of these categories. A final note: the magazine publishes many more notes online than it puts in the print edition, so wineries should always refer to the online database when looking for reviews of their wines. Unfortunately, the magazine policy is not to post notes online until reviews are run in print, so there is often a considerable lag time between my submission of notes and the actual publication.

cityroute16, Thanks for the comment. I have actual...

2009-11-03T21:00:57.187-08:00

cityroute16, Thanks for the comment. I have actually put together some interesting information regarding the frequency with which Spectator publishes their reviews of Washington wine compared to their peers. Look for it in a subsequent post. Regarding ad space, I've heard this said as well, but have never seen any data to support it. That said, Advocate's lack of ad space is a nice differentiator for them in this regard.

First off-Great job on breaking down the numbers! ...

2009-11-03T20:41:43.151-08:00

First off-Great job on breaking down the numbers! My biggest complaint with the ratings is that the Spectator doesn't give Washington wines the proper respect. They throw in one or two in their "Other" wine states, lumping the best of Washington with Missouri, Delaware and the rest of those exciting wine countries.
And how much does the ratings in the publications relate to the amount of ad space purchased by the winery in the ratings? Just a paranoid thought, but I've heard it said before.