tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post6336747892045658748..comments2024-03-18T04:47:16.199-07:00Comments on The Gray Report: A curious thing: Every Wine Advocate-rated sake from one exporterW. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-63882603749312690972016-09-21T00:14:28.644-07:002016-09-21T00:14:28.644-07:00According to www.aguse.jp, the site www.robertpark...According to www.aguse.jp, the site www.robertparker.co.jp/ is managed by Asia Business Consultants, same as www.the-taste-of-sake.com! pinotdroithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00657626559394011980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-38513800114407833552016-09-20T22:11:59.888-07:002016-09-20T22:11:59.888-07:00Mr Hirokazu Yoshida - President of Taste of Sake i...Mr Hirokazu Yoshida - President of Taste of Sake is ex-Millesimes staff. See link below: <br /><br />http://www.golanwines.co.il/en/Disributors/Asia/Millesimes Chardonnayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18064666729101180142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-51087700612201691812016-09-20T20:17:36.449-07:002016-09-20T20:17:36.449-07:00The Taste of Sake website is registered to Asian B...<br /><br />The Taste of Sake website is registered to Asian Business Consultants. Asian Business consultants is a related company of Millisimes. As shown on their website (in Japanese) here. <br /><br />http://www.millesimes.co.jp/company/company.shtml<br /><br />If you look up the web registration on this site: www.aguse.jp (go to the site and type in the address www.the-taste-of-sake.com) youChardonnayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18064666729101180142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-44546435816568380522016-09-18T09:07:26.301-07:002016-09-18T09:07:26.301-07:00As pinotdroit mentioned, The Taste of Sake is a re...As pinotdroit mentioned, The Taste of Sake is a related company of Millesimes, and the president of Millesimes, Mr. Ernest Singer helped creating the sake list for the issue. So Mr. Singer might have a chance to know the entire list in advance. At least he knew part of it.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11971683307733537838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-6635314776897314802016-09-17T10:16:49.607-07:002016-09-17T10:16:49.607-07:00And there goes one more nail in the coffin of the ...And there goes one more nail in the coffin of the idiotic point-rating magazine scheme. I generally find that people who spend extra money for high-point wines or Sake, very often get what they deserve - mediocre wine that someone has a covert financial interest in.the borishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05462630664763106403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-23180058041774604802016-09-17T10:00:02.155-07:002016-09-17T10:00:02.155-07:00It sounds a little fugazy to me. What's the p...It sounds a little fugazy to me. What's the probability that ToS , or anyone for that matter has 78/78 of WA rated sakes? Also what is the probability that sakes that were randomly tasted all score 90 and above? Either the sake is that good, or WA scoring is too liberal!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-87924595630009028072016-09-17T04:15:06.919-07:002016-09-17T04:15:06.919-07:00I just read your interesting post and went to chec...I just read your interesting post and went to check out their site, but as of this morning at least, the-taste-of-sake.com appears to be offline. Curiously, they didn't just remove the products from their site, the php files themselves were deleted. Every single image, file and scrap of code is gone. I'm glad you took those screenshots for your post. I looked at the google cache and UrbanSake.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12054041935946662702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-83719181657586187612016-09-16T22:08:35.330-07:002016-09-16T22:08:35.330-07:00I understand that The Taste of Sake is a related c...I understand that The Taste of Sake is a related company of wine importer Millesimes, which has organized several Robert Parker events in Japan. Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW used to work for this importer when she was living in Tokyo.pinotdroithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00657626559394011980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-34171439747892947782016-09-16T16:00:07.608-07:002016-09-16T16:00:07.608-07:00Thank you for posting this, Lisa. I would apprecia...Thank you for posting this, Lisa. I would appreciate it if you would keep me posted on the progress of your investigation. W. Blake Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-32193379092400891552016-09-16T14:10:43.980-07:002016-09-16T14:10:43.980-07:00W. Blake Gray, In the event that you have not yet ...W. Blake Gray, In the event that you have not yet seen this response, I thought I would post it here. This has also appeared on our RobertParker.com Bulletin Board:<br /> <br />“We are investigating the facts behind these allegations. I will make clear however that Liwen Hao was hired specifically to review Asian wines and sake, because we feel there is a small but growing international interest Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-87786315631582580002016-09-16T14:03:28.797-07:002016-09-16T14:03:28.797-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-84932983827160175952016-09-16T10:07:00.940-07:002016-09-16T10:07:00.940-07:00Bravo, Blake. You are the right person to sniff BS...Bravo, Blake. You are the right person to sniff BS in this, and you're doing it.Patrick Frankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10144823620170293402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-10454829257367996242016-09-16T06:19:22.948-07:002016-09-16T06:19:22.948-07:00Michael: Perhaps I should have included this piece...Michael: Perhaps I should have included this piece of data in the post. On the day the sake ratings were released, The Taste of Sake had photos of each of the sake labels for sale on its site. Many of these sakes are extremely small-production brews for which photos may not be easy to find. <br /><br />If you look at the label photos, they are all presented at the same diagonal angle. They do notW. Blake Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-74551448803395008292016-09-15T22:53:09.755-07:002016-09-15T22:53:09.755-07:00Nah, this has to be prearranged. No retailer or we...Nah, this has to be prearranged. No retailer or web site can move so fast as to secure supply of 78 sakes in a day, much less small batch or private label stuff. I've 26 years in internet wine retailing, and this story if true creates a serious stench over the already degraded Wine Advocate brand. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03989979057640728966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-145193760367994082016-09-15T18:05:49.158-07:002016-09-15T18:05:49.158-07:00Why is this necessarily devious? Let's say you...Why is this necessarily devious? Let's say you find out from your pals in the industry that WA is going to review sakes. You think "Hmmm, that'll really create some demand for sake... why don't we wait for the reviews, list all the best ones at high prices, accept orders and then go buy them from the breweries and ship them overseas?" Oooh, awesome idea Blake-san... Let'Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12348332609020097260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-17439259446927224312016-09-15T16:22:41.209-07:002016-09-15T16:22:41.209-07:00I would be interested to hear what a stateside exp...I would be interested to hear what a stateside expert- someone like Stuart Morris- might have to say about this. This isn't the first instance a Parker-influence has been connected to a pay-to-play type of arrangement. This is the start of some fine investigative journalism. <br /><br /> Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17930062830794197043noreply@blogger.com