Recently, I had the misfortune to have one of my wine blog pieces publicly critiqued by a print writer at the 2014 Wine Bloggers’ Conference held in Santa Barbara, California.
I had been naively looking forward to this part of the conference, but it turned out to be, quite possibly, one of the most humiliating and excruciating moments of my adult life.
And all of this for my hobby.
I’m not kidding, not even a little bit. I’m still having flashbacks. It was so bad that I haven’t actually opened a bottle of wine in well over two weeks.
Now, anyone who knows me (even a wee bit) will know that’s a looooong time for me to go between popping corks.
I’ve done a lot of thinking and talking since the conference and after quite a bit of introspective thought and many conversations, I realized that Taylor Swift said it best when she wrote, ‘All you are is mean.’
I’ve decided I really don’t care what this man had to say for two reasons. First, the piece I (shouldn’t have) submitted was atypical of what I usually do, and secondly, he exposed a lack of knowledge about wine studies and standards when he asked what the WSET is.
After he pointed me out by name and started throwing about ‘the slings and arrows of my outrageous misfortune’, he said ‘And what on earth is this medium plus and medium minus stuff?’
I responded, “It’s the WSET tasting note structure.”
“What is that? What is WSET?”
Seriously? What wine writer doesn’t know what WSET is?
With that, I rest my case.
Onward…
winellama 
Are you kidding me! I think that you should be the key note speaker next year with your AIWS from WSET.
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Ha ha…I love you too, FGP 😀
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You obviously thought that wine writers knew something about wine. There was your mistake not your blog. There will be a place in hell for him where he will spend eternity drinking warm Yellow Tail Chard.
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You’re awesome 😀
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Hi Lindsay:
So does this loudmouth have a name?
He really is a piece of work and his ad hominem mode of “evaluation” masks a ton of insecurity.
For anyone who is put on a critique panel who is ignorant of WSET sums up his bluster over judgment and also does not speak well of the organizers.
Carry on and keep the course!
Love, Dad & Mom ”
>
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What a little man! Karma will take care of him… There’s no excuse for treating people that way.
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That’s a great perspective!
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