Decanter World Wine AwardsQuarterly Review of Wines folds
- Wednesday 1 February 2012
There were many reasons for closing Quarterly Review of Wines, Richard L Elia said on QRW.com, but chief among them was that ‘passion is spent’.
In a 1200-word obituary for a vanishing world, Elia blames everything from restaurant music and wine toys, to corporate wine and the 100-point scale for the demise of the Winchester, Massachusetts journal.
‘Beyond the usual explanations — upcoming retirements, the magazine world is in perilous shape, advertising is down, the digital age is king, out-of-state wine delivery problems — what initially attracted us to wine was the romance of it,’ Elia writes.
But, he said, ‘Today, wine is often dominated by marketing and finance people, who measure their interest by numbers.’
Wine, he laments, is no longer made by purple-handed champions of the vineyard, but ‘corporately owned wineries — some of whom are new entrepreneurs or investors playing wine barons — offer[ing] intimations that wine is made in the marketplace. Now Numbers make the wine.’
Not only that, but ‘nothing has contributed to wine’s romantic deterioration more than restaurant music… Looking for a romantic table with a bottle of wine, a bit of candle light, quiet conversation, and a little culinary euphoria?’ You won’t find it in America.’
Then, he warns, ‘there is the matter of wine toys…Wine aerators, electric corkscrews, redneck wine glasses, plastic beaded wine covers, and leopard skin wine bags are just some of the frivolous kitsch, which, like it or not, have become a way of American wine life.’
Finally, the publisher makes clear, the end of the QRW is the modern world’s loss.
‘While something has been lost in the present, QRW thrived in the past, reveling in some of wine’s best history. It isn’t sentimental to think that this often soulless industry could use a resurgence of romance, which encompasses civility and speaks sincerely to the quality of life it provides. Too often, wine is handled by people who have little feeling for it. So we left it.’
Brian St Pierre, wine and food writer and former PR director of the California Wine Institute told Decanter.com he considered QRW ‘a splendid enterprise.’
‘I always thought of it as the “Quality Review of Wine”. It persistently fought the good fight, of preserving the passion and love of wine, with civility. It seems to be going more from battle fatigue than that the crass bad guys are winning, but they leave the field with honour intact (and the fight goes on, I hope).’
QRW had published continuously since 1977, maintained a circulaton of 150,000, and had many admirers, including Haut Brion owner Prince Robert of Luxembourg, who considered it 'one of America’s greatest wine magazines', and Michael Broadbent.
Have your say!
Kevin Beck
February 13 17:13
Alas, in the retail world, it's all about marketing. And in the struggle for shelf space, the truly great wines don't have enough presence. And boiling down the essence of a great beverage to a scale of numbers is just too simplistic for those who have a real interest in wine.
I am sad to see the disappearance of QRW, and I also lament the loss to journalism of someone willing to buck the system as long as he could. Maybe wine journalism will move back in the direction of QRW someday. Until then, I will be at a loss, along with other connoisseurs of fine wine and fine journalism.
Peter Cobb
February 04 17:39
Those of us who have had the privilege of contributing regularly to the QRW will be united in our sorrow at Richard Elia's decision. His magazine spoke with authority and honesty and to its eternal credit, when reviewing wines, refused to go down the absurdly subjective points-out-of-a-hundred track. Moreover surely no other publication regularly paid its writers before the relevant issue went to press!
In nearly twenty years of writing mostly about Port and Portugal, I think I met Richard only once. But I much enjoyed his cryptic one line e.mails - either giving one the go-ahead or turning an idea down. The sad thing is that I had two pieces in the pipeline ready to go into the "Holiday" issue!
May you have a long and happy retirement, Richard. I've thoroughly enjoyed our association.
mark semmens
February 03 16:04
Again,as are the lamentable wine evolution down under.Tech.perfect,squeaky clean,instantaneously forgettable wine tasting as if it were made by the accountants.
Mark
February 02 16:57
Well said and sadly very true.