A thorough grilling.

Watching the unedited version of The Daily Show episode in which Jon Stewart interviews CNBC’s Jim Cramer, I was struck by how much of the finance-related terms in the discussion could be replaced with wine-related terminology. I was also impressed with Stewart and inspired by his staunch position on the responsibilities of journalists.

When I started redwinebuzz.com, one of my founding principles was that I (and the website) should be a conduit of wine information. The thinking behind this approach is that the information offered should be complete, minimally redacted and true and an intelligent reader can see the obvious conclusions. (more…)

Soap Box.

The top story on Winebusiness.com today focuses on a lawsuit filed by Korbel Champagne Cellars. While many in the blogging world will see this as corporate intimidation or strong-arming, I think the case offers important lessons for web site, blog and forum owners and operators.

I am not defending Korbel, nor am I taking sides in this matter. Nonetheless, free speech is one thing and slander is another.

The internet and its forums are often a platform for attacks. Web site owners and blog and forum operators should be mindful of the potentially libelous or damaging nature of posts made by visitors and community members. (more…)

American Wine Blog Awards.

February 1st, the 3rd Annual American Wine Blog Awards will be accepting nominations for:

• BEST OVERALL WINE BLOG .
• BEST WRITING .
• BEST GRAPHICS .
• BEST WINE REVIEW BLOG .
• BEST BUSINESS WINE BLOG .
• BEST SINGLE SUBJECT WINE BLOG .
• BEST WINERY BLOG .
• BEST WINE VIDEO BLOG/PODCAST .

What’s different this year is that the American Wine Blog Awards have sponsors and – as previous posts by Tom have indicated -  there will be prizes. (more…)

At the water cooler.

We’re all busy. Participation in on-line communities like Twitter and the OWC is often a brief respite from the hectic pace of the day. Certainly, platforms like these can do much for professional and social networking.

However, I wonder if they are capable of providing forums for constructive work and development of ideas and projects. I can’t help but wonder if the way people use and interact on these platforms can result in landmark achievements.

This all comes as a conversation about the faults of numerical ratings on the OWC is experiencing a revival. (more…)

You have to show your work.

The wine bloggosphere is revisiting the “wine-scoring-is-bad” theme lately. Even the OWC has seen an intense debate over the meaning (or meaninglessness) of numerical wine rating – in which I was very active.

The main arguments in the anti-numbers and anti-objectivity debate are: 1) the 100-point system is meaningless and gives a false sense of accuracy, 2) wine is so subjective that one cannot establish a standardized numerical system and 3) wine is an aesthetic thing, and as a work of art, its quality cannot be captured with a number.

While I do not categorically disagree with all of these three arguments (I disagree with some more than I do with others), there are profound misconceptions underlying the thinking that drives those three arguments. (more…)

UCWS.

Recently, Alice Feiring, announced a re-design of her blog. She posted a mock-up of the new look and, lo and behold, there they were: UCWSs – the Ubiquitous Circular Wine Stains which adorn too many wine blogs to count.

Second in popularity only to the OTWGs (Omnipresent Tilted Wine Glasses – a sin of which I am guilty), the UCWSs are the staple design element of many wine blogs and sites. I don’t know if this is because it’s an easy image to get on iStockPhoto or if is bundled with a narrow set of master templates sourced by web and blog designers. (more…)

Root of All Evil - Comedy Central

The “angriest Jew in show business” (and one of my favorite comedians) – Lewis Black – has a Comedy Central show called “The Root of All Evil” the format is a hybrid of a kangaroo court and a debate. Black presides over the proceedings where two of a line up of stand-up comics argue which of the evening’s two items is The Root of All Evil. Last night’s episode pitted Ultimate Fighting against Blogging and arguing against blogging was Patton Oswalt.

What follows, below, is a live, as-it-went down summary of the highlights from the argument why blogging is the Root of All Evil:

(more…)