An author and researcher, Robin Goldstein, entered his restaurant, the “Osteria L’Intrepido” for a prestigious Wine Spectator prize, an Award of Excellence.
He sent in his fee of $250, a cover letter, the restaurant’s menu and a wine list.
Osteria L’Intrepido won the Award of Excellence, published in the August 2008 issue of the Wine Spectator magazine.
But there was just one little problem: the restaurant didn’t exist and the wine list was comprised of wines that had previously been panned by Wine Spectator critics.
Read more on the Wine Spectator awards farce…
- Red faces at the Wine Spectator
- Fictitious restaurant wins Wine Spectator Award of Excellence
- Wine Spectator Restaurant Awards Exposed as a Total Farce
- What does it take to get a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence?
- Economists Question Real Value of Wine
The wine trails
Not one to avoid controversy, Goldstein is one of the authors of “The Wine Trials” which documents 100 wines under $15 that outscored $50-$150 wines in brown-bag blind tastings.
[...] Wine Spectator‘s Executive Director, Thomas Matthews, responds to the Award scam on their forum. It’s good to see “the other side” of the Wine Spectator awards story. [...]