Home > Blogs > Uncorked > Archives > 2008 > October > 02 > Entry
Winery site allows Amazon-style ‘customer reviews’ of its wines
Here’s an intriguing development: Customers can submit Amazon-style product reviews (in this case, wine) on the winery web site of Dry Creek Vineyards.
Does anybody know of anyone else doing something like this? Dry Creek Vice President Kim Stare Wallace is quoted in a news release as saying, “This is cutting edge stuff for wineries. Most of our brethren wait around for the latest, greatest review in order to sell their wine. With customer testimonials, it’s the real deal. We’re posting first-hand experiences with our wines. We might be extending our necks a bit for some potential criticism, but we’re willing to take that risk. We’re confident that our wines will win out.”
I don’t know anyone at Dry Creek personally, but based on the thin-skinned personalities of some other winemakers and vineyard owners I’ve encountered, it’s hard to imagine some of them resisting the temptation to censor — um, I mean, take down — a scathing customer review that the winemaker considers unfair, uninformed, or perhaps “planted” by a scheming competitor.
That doesn’t seem to be even a potential problem so far on the Dry Creek reviews, which have been overwhelmingly positive. The only glitch seems to be that some reviewers’ low scores don’t make sense next to their glowing comments, as if they may have filled out the zero-to-five stars portion of the evaluation incorrectly.
What do you think of this idea? Would you use a winery’s customer feedback scores to guide your wine-buying decisions?
Permalink | Comments (5) | Post your comment |
Comments
By Alex
October 3, 2008 7:22 PM | Link to this
Cameron Hughes also has a rating feature on their site www.chwine.com.By Bill Smart
October 3, 2008 11:33 AM | Link to this
Thanks for the commments and words of encouragement. Mark is right - now is not the time to be thin skinned. Consumers expect transparency and that’s exactly what we’re giving them.By Gordo
October 2, 2008 5:12 PM | Link to this
Dry Creek Vineyard is always the first place I visit when I make a visit to Sonoma. Their wines are that good! And, yes I believe that it is a very good idea for the vineyards to participate in this type of web based dialogue. I believe that the people at Dry Creek are aware of just how good their wines are consistently every year that gives them the courage to participate in this dialogue.By Sagi Solomon
October 2, 2008 4:29 PM | Link to this
Very interesting story. I think this is a huge step in the right direction for wineries and consumers. I’m happy to see that a winery is embracing the idea that consumer reviews (even bad ones) are relevant and valuable to a successful business. They are opening up a dialogue with their customers which is a critical element for success in today’s social network dominated world. But this is not a new concept. OpenBottles (I’m the founder) is a wine social network that is built around this concept. We’ve been encouraging wineries to participate and encourage consumers to leave reviews about their wines and wineries for a while now, even giving them tools the tools to participate in the community. There is lots to be learned from what actual customers think (good or bad). This information can help improve business and the overall experience of the consumer.By Bill Smart
October 2, 2008 12:45 PM | Link to this
Hi All - Bill Smart here from Dry Creek Vineyard. Mark’s right. We have encountered a slight bug with stars (ranking program.) We’re working on it. Ah, the joys of rolling out new software. Thanks for being patient everyone.