Does Wine SpeculatorSpectator have anything useful to say? You be the judge.
As part of the research for an academic paper I’m currently working on about standards for wine awards, I submitted an application for a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence. I named the restaurant “Osteria L’Intrepido” (a play on the name of a restaurant guide series that I founded, Fearless Critic). I submitted the fee ($250), a cover letter, a copy of the restaurant’s menu (a fun amalgamation of somewhat bumbling nouvelle-Italian recipes), and a wine list.
Osteria L’Intrepido won the Award of Excellence, as published in print in the August 2008 issue of Wine Spectator. (Not surprisingly, the Osteria’s listing has since been removed from Wine Spectator’s website.) I presented this result at the meeting of the American Association of Wine Economists in Portland, Oregon, on Friday, August 15.
Wine Spectator responds, somehow excusing the fact that they gave an award — for excellence, no less — to a restaurant that does not exist. Truly this is journalism at its finest.
That said, full points for lazy. I hereby award Wine Spectator a DFMM Award of Awesomeness for achievements in half-assery.