Why wine writers don't hold the trade to account

Earlier this year, I witnessed Burgundian producer Laurent Ponsot reveal a series of controversial opinions concerning Rudy Kurniawan and how he is depicted in the documentary Sour Grapes. This included allegations about the true identity of some of his accomplices and relatives, including one or more wine experts that were apparently advising Rudy, and a provocative claim about the authenticity of old wine at auction, among other things.

He volunteered these comments to a ticketed audience who had just watched a special screening of the film. I was invited to attend as a wine writer, and I took notes, very aware that these opinions would make a great story for JancisRobinson.com. Afterwards, I emailed Laurent to ask for confirmation on what he had said. He responded with a polite request that I should not publish the story at all.

On the face of it, this seems like the perfect example of the problematic cosiness between wine writers and the wine trade. All too often, the closeness of that relationship means that journalistic integrity is compromised, and producers, retailers and importers are not held accountable.

In my particular example with Ponsot, there were several reasons why the story wasn’t published. Part of it was a concern about the legal implications of some of the allegations, but mostly it was because of the personal relationships involved. The story would have made things difficult for Ponsot’s Singaporean importer, with whom I am on good terms, and potentially awkward for the MW with whom Ponsot was staying in Singapore. Plus, Ponsot himself requested that I drop the story partly because he is writing a book about it and was still working on the details.

On the other hand, anyone in the audience could have live-streamed his comments, and they would have been in the public domain anyway. I was disappointed to abandon the scoop, but I decided not to publish anything because it would have damaged several relationships that I rely on to make a living.

Now, this is hardly Watergate, but it does illustrate the point that the wine media is frequently compromised by the close-knit nature of the trade. The question is why, and whether anything can be done about it.

Why can’t wine writing be independent?

The quick answer is money. I’ve been writing about wine for 12 years, and have always relied on other events (judging, masterclasses, teaching, events) for the majority of my income, just like 99% of other wine writers. Getting those jobs requires maintaining friendly terms with lots of different sectors of the trade. Writing a piece that challenges or undermines the wine trade might earn you respect and viral readership numbers - but it might also decimate your earning potential.

Besides - and I’m happy to admit this - I don’t want to stir things up. I have never claimed to be a journalist. I have some very valued friendships in the wine industry, and I want the trade as a whole to be successful. That doesn’t mean I intend to willingly mislead consumers, nor that I feel unable to criticise parts of the wine trade when necessary - simply that I am realistic and pragmatic about how the job works.

Incidentally, if you think that is morally dubious, answer this: if I put a link here requesting a donation of £1 to read this article, would you pay it?

The vast majority of the wine industry has the same pragmatic approach (ironically, perhaps this explains how Rudy got away with his fraud in the first place). Take LittleWine as a recent example. It’s a wine communication platform with some fantastic content, including some very stylish films that can’t be cheap to produce. They champion underrepresented, minimal intervention, sustainable winemakers. Humility is one of their watchwords, along with curiosity and courage.

It’s an admirable and impressive objective, but there is a compromise: part of the financial model is that they sell wines they write about. Just like all of us in the wine trade, they need to fund their business - and are realistic about how to achieve that.

Truly independent commentary on wine isn’t entirely dead - a few national and international newspapers still pay a full salary, allowing their wine writers to operate independently. But for most of us, earning a living through wine writing requires commercial relationships that inevitably affect how we work. Publishing that Ponsot article could have damaged my earnings elsewhere - it was too much of a risk.

That fact isn’t ideal from a purely moralistic standpoint - but in the real world, it’s the price we’ve all got to pay.