power of suggestion – real or not & Amazon.com wine?

I poured wine at a retailer tonight.  I generally try to stop from voicing my opinion about any wines I am pouring, but I often do find myself say things such as “its a real nice wine”.  Having done as many of these tasting as I have I find the two opposite effects this leads to as quite interesting.

Often, the power of suggestion is apparently quite powerful and people agree that the wine is one way or another, depending upon what I imply.

BUT, almost as often I get people telling me that they do not agree with my take and tell me how they feel differently about the same wine.

damn red

I must admit that it is validating to have people agree with one’s opinion.  Yet I am a big believer that we all have a unique palate, and I TRULY do welcome people disagreeing with my assessment.

What I have trouble understanding are either those who refuse to taste, feeling they are being “sold” or “coerced”.  Or those who seem to disagree & demean a wine simply as a means of expressing their contrarian view or individuality.

If I have learned anything in the wine industry it is that we must possess a thick skin.  Not everyone is going to agree & some might not even disagree politely.  But it ain’t personal!

On a completely separate note, it appears more and more likely that Amazon.com is entering the online wine sales world.  I keep seeing comments about the impending entree of Amazon into the wine business, but I’m not sure I know what the impact will be.  Will they have low prices?  Will they do things legally (and more expensively) like wine.com?  Is it their infrastructure (shipping centers) that is going to allow them to ship wine to most of the 50 states and keep costs down?  Will this perpetuate the debate over wine shipping and its surrounding issues?  Will the supreme court be involved??  More to come on this topic I’m sure…

Happy wine tasting!

WTG

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