Historically, wine consumers purchased publications such as The Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, The Wine Advocate, Gourmet Magazine, and many other respectable publications to learn about wine and get some advice on what to spend their money on.  People have relied heavily on the opinion of wine critics, who generally utilize a 100 point scale and have inspired consumer confidence by being endorsed by major wine publications.  These wine critics (just like art critics, food critics or film critics) tend to be professionals who are well educated in a specific topic and utilize their knowledge as an evaluation method.  Nonetheless, they are expressing the opinion of one (very experienced) person.  Products like food, wine, and art are highly subjective.  Most wine critics are consistent in how they rate wine, so as long as the reader is familiar with the guidelines that the writer uses, the review can prove very helpful. 

However, over the last five years, there have been an increasing number of wine drinkers who search for wine advice online.   Personally, I believe that there will always be a certain group of people who will enjoy touching and feeling a publication in their hands, however, as our teenagers come of age and begin drinking wine, that group will decrease significantly.  Wine bloggers have popped up everywhere offering their suggestions, advice, likes and dislikes.  Communication now flows from the expert to the reader and vice-versa.  The virtual wine world has opened many doors for those who wanted to have their voices heard and enjoy the feedback.  Despite this amazing dynamic, it is important to remember that anyone with access to the internet and a keyboard is able to blog, and having an opinion does not necessarily make one an expert. 

Once readers and bloggers develop regular relationships and trust, exchanges can prove very valuable.    As a blogger, I confess that maintaining a fresh and exciting posting is a lot of fun, but takes time.  Those who don’t write regularly run the risk of losing readers and appeal.  It sounds like the survival of the fittest in a competitive world.  Simultaneously, numerous wine bloggers have created an immense following based on their credentials, their knowledge, their writing skills, or all of the above. 

I question what the wine communication market will look like when all of the teenagers who IM (instant messenging) and Twitter (another mind boggling web tool) become the core wine drinkers.   I wonder if they will want to take time away from Facebook or other applications to read a wine publication printed on paper.  Many wine critics from publications have noticed this trend and have subsequently started blogs or some type of online communication.  I also wonder if the 100 point rating system will prevail.  As a matter of fact, I am skeptical that there will be a single rating system in the future.  I don’t think this is a good or bad phenomenon, it is simply change.

As a member of a family run winery, I strongly believe in the importance of embracing and practicing tradition in my daily life.  However, I find that it is extremely important to welcome change that will enhance these traditions.   My uncle, Hal Morris, has expressed this very eloquently "Tradition is a good value but not a substitute for flexibility, market leadership and contemporary competitiveness". If we didn't believe this, this page would not be here.