More Voices in Wine w/ Esther Mobley, San Francisco Chronicle

Esther Mobley, Wine Critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, thought writing would be more of a passion than a career.  Yet, she’s one of two full-time wine writers for newspapers in the US.  Esther discusses how being at a newspaper differs from a wine magazine, the changing wine critic landscape, the impact of wine scoring, and even gives some tips for budding wine bloggers and influencers.  She believes that “More voices are great” when it comes to wine writing and celebrates when there’s a new wine writer hired.  A unique voice and angle in our discussion of the evolving landscape for wine critics. Detailed Show Notes: Esther’s backgroundShe went to Napa to work harvest after college (for fun)Worked in restaurants and wine shopsLanded an internship at Wine EnthusiastShe got a job at the Wine Spectator in the editorial departmentShe was an English major, wanted to be a writerRole as the SF Chron’s wine criticPlays both a new reporter and critic roleNews reporter - cover local news for a major industry (wine)Critic - look at wine through an evaluative lensDoesn’t score wines, writes more narrative reviews of wines“Wine of the Week” column - focus on one bottle of wineThe decline of newspaper wine writersMight be only 2 full time in the US - Eric Asimov (New York Times) & EstherThe local newspaper business model has shiftedAll used to have a wine columnist, and no one goes to the local newspaper now to learn about wineNewspaper wine writers have evolved - more local news-oriented, provides a view on something important to the Bay AreaEveryone works online nowChronicle business modelProfitable and hiring a lot of peopleFocused on subscribers vs. advertisement - would rather have fewer people read an article, but more subscribersNot trying to be a national publicationNewspapers vs. magazinesMagazines score wines, publish less frequently traditionallyNewspapers - more news, though Wine Spectator also doing more wine newsDifferences are narrowing between the twoWine Critic landscape“More voices are great”The barrier of entry is lower than it used to beA lot of people want to know “who’s the next Parker” -> probably will never be a next ParkerMore people covering niches w/in wineSF Chronicle / Esther - cover mostly CA wine, telling the story of Bay Area wines, enables the telling of interesting storiesWine InfluencersSome concern over the blurring lines between sponsored and editorial contentSome people may feel they have made wine too democraticEsther believes most criticism against influencers is sexist -> influencers just doing the best to succeed in their mediumInfluencers working w/in social media algorithms to get their successWine ScoringAnecdotally hear score remain important on the wholesale level - to sell wines to restaurants / retail buyers“Wine of the Week” articles - have heard this does lead to some wines selling out at retail (publishes where wine is available, but sells out after it comes out online but before it hits print) -> recommendations from trusted sources still matterBlind tasting - if someone is scoring wine, this is the best way to do itWine Spectator - tastes blind, includes a “ringer” in every flight (a wine that the critic has scored before) to see if scores are consistentCritics vs. PublicationsSF Chronicle makes Esther’s name more publicThe Wine Advocate invested more in the personal name of critics vs. Wine Spectator less soAverage consumers don’t know the difference between wine critics and their palatesStories that are interesting to Esther“Things that don’t make sense on their face”E.g., Andy Beckstoffer giving away grapes for free from a Lake County vineyardRenaissance Winery in Sierra Foothills - a doomsday cult that craft a world-class wineAdvice to wine bloggers/influencersRead a lot of good, non-wine writing (e.g., The New Yorker, The Atlantic)Don’t assume the reader has much knowledge of wine (e.g., don’t use too many technical terms, wine jargon)User-Generated Content wine forums (e.g., CellarTracker, Vivino)Wine Berserkers - “it’s its own thing,” like a Reddit for wine, very knowledgeable people on it In beer, e.g., Untappd, Rate Beer - are taken more seriously than wineGeneral problem - no one’s figured out how to talk about wine on the internet Get access to library episodes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.