Wine Store

[Thomas]

Drew,

You probably do know pimps better than I [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb/wink.gif[/img] For the record, I don't know much about their products either...

The problem isn't that I would be pimping, which I would not and never would do. The problem is that all it takes is the appearance of pimping to bring someone's reputation and career to a halt.

If the Internet is good at something, it certainly is good at circulating rumors and misinformation. One fellow accused me online of rigging a wine tasting result that I can only assume displeased him. And I did the tasting for free and with the aim of producing a learning experience for the participants.

I'm remembering a quote from someone but can't remember where I heard or read it-to paraphrase: it can take decades to build a career but someone else can help tear it down in five minutes.

I never, ever, bill myself as a wine critic. I'm uninterested in that kind of wine writing. I enjoy learning and then teaching what I think I've learned. It's easier for someone to impugn my reputation than to impugn a critic, since, as you point out, the job of the critic is to talk about specific wines. Still, look at the trouble over at Squire's forum site that ensued after the entry of one blogger in late April--not exactly five minutes, but a much shorter span in meltdown than it took to build up that site.

[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 06-17-2009).]