WLP gets a mention in TIME mag this week ...

[Robin Garr]

Nice little blurb about us ... I'm not excited that they called us "less famous" than the Speck or Parker but then, they said the same of Jancis.

<b>How to Choose the Right Wine</b>

[James Roscoe]

What is meant by "famous" in the modern world? More infamous in my book. I didn't realize you were running a mini-empire though. What is a mini-empire? Is it like the old Holy Roman Empire? I'm trying to get a handle on what I am involved with here.

[Robin Garr]

I'm trying to get a handle on what I am involved with here.

Just relax, James. Take your nice pill and sit down over there. Would you like a relaxing cup of herbal tea? The man will be along in a little while to explain it to you ... {bwahahaaaaaa}

[Jenise]

Hey, cool! We can deem ourselves in the top four worldwide according to Time Magazine. Not bad!

Nice little blurb about us ... I'm not excited that they called us "less famous" than the Speck or Parker but then, they said the same of Jancis.

<b>How to Choose the Right Wine</b>

Good thing they didn't read any of my posts or you wouldn't have made the list at all!!

Congratulations! You deserve the kudos. And remember: It's good to be king ... even in a mini-empire.

Hmm, so this makes Robin a mini-Emperor of Wine.

So what... we're like the legions of Rome or something? Mongul hordes?

Nice little blurb about us ... I'm not excited that they called us "less famous" than the Speck or Parker but then, they said the same of Jancis.

It all depends on perspective. Would you prefer to drink [yellowtail] or something "less famous?"

Well done, Robin.

It's particularly impressive that you showed so well given one measure of "Popularity: Google web hits.

"Wine Spectator" -- 1,300,000
"Robert Parker" wine -- 851,000
"Jancis Robinson" wine -- 424,000
"Robin Garr" wine -- 67,000

Quality counts, that's for sure. Congratulations.

Congrats Robin! Now I can get more free wine to review...ha

You do provide an awesome service to winelovers!!! And wine really puts out!

[James Roscoe]

Hey, cool! We can deem ourselves in the top four worldwide according to Time Magazine. Not bad!

Remember who they selected as man of the year...

Actually, I missed that. Was it Robin Garr? Seriously, who did they pick? Robin would be as good a pick as any one else.

The 2006 Person of the Year is YOU!

How weak is that?

Click to view

(Edited to embed a long window-stretching link)

[James Roscoe]

The 2006 Person of the Year is YOU!

How weak is that?

Link here

So Robin was the Time Man of the Year, in a manner of speaking. If I renounce my portion of the title in favor of Robin and you do the same, that means he has the most votes. Time needs to rewrite its story and put Robin on the front cover. If they don't I, for one, will drop my subsrciption!

Well, fame isn't all that it's cracked up to be--at least that's what I've been told...and to the empire, a good force.

So what... we're like the legions of Rome or something? Mongul hordes?

The word you're looking for is Plebians. We are Plebians.

As in, "Stand aside, plebian, I'm on Imperial business!"

[James Roscoe]

So what... we're like the legions of Rome or something? Mongul hordes?

The word you're looking for is Plebians. We are Plebians.

As in, "Stand aside, plebian, I'm on Imperial business!"

Can't I be in the equites class?

Well, fame isn't all that it's cracked up to be--at least that's what I've been told...and to the empire, a good force.

To quote Alan Alda, "You don't have to be rich and famous to be happy. You just have to be rich."

So what... we're like the legions of Rome or something? Mongul hordes?

The word you're looking for is Plebians. We are Plebians.

As in, "Stand aside, plebian, I'm on Imperial business!"

Can't I be in the equites class?

Elitist!

[Robin Garr]

It's particularly impressive that you showed so well given one measure of "Popularity: Google web hits.

"Wine Spectator" -- 1,300,000
"Robert Parker" wine -- 851,000
"Jancis Robinson" wine -- 424,000
"Robin Garr" wine -- 67,000

Bob, surprisingly, it seems that adding "wine" yields a flawed search with hundreds of thousands of false hits. Try just the names for a more realistic comparison:

77,100 for "Robin Garr".
76,200 for "Robert M. Parker Jr.".
50,900 for "James Suckling".
30,700 for "James Laube".
9,180 for "Marvin Shanken"

Meanwhile, <i>way</i> out in front of the pack:
458,000 for "Jancis Robinson"

I'm not sure if there's some kind of flaw in Google's search algorithm here, but it couldn't happen to a nicer wine scribe.

There are lots of ways to play it, Robin; for example if you leave off the "Jr." Parker gets 200,000 hits, for "Robert M. Parker".

And, of course, the author and the wine critic get lots of hits if you use just "Robert Parker", so you have to exclude the author somehow.

I've played with the algorithm quite a bit -- I think the real number of the vinous Robert Parker hits greatly exceeds HRH Jancis's hits -- but I could be wrong.

For example, if you search on +parker +wine -fess you get 1,470,000 hits, and looking through the first 100 hits, I saw only Robert M. Parker Jr. hits.

The flaw in your search results is that relatively few people refer to Parker and use the "Jr." or even the "M" when they refer to the wine critic.

Regards, Bob

PS: One way to test this hypothesis is to search on "Wine Advocate" -- 574,000 hits.

[James Roscoe]

So what... we're like the legions of Rome or something? Mongul hordes?

The word you're looking for is Plebians. We are Plebians.

As in, "Stand aside, plebian, I'm on Imperial business!"

Can't I be in the equites class?

Elitist!

Damn right! You don't think I want to live in one of those Roman tenements do you? I'd like a go at a slave or two and maybe indoor plumbing. I'm off to market to see if the army has brought in any serviceable Celts or Germans.

Congratulation, Robin! Well earned, and it's nice to see those outside of our own community recognizing what you're doing.


Mike

Robin,

Congratulations! You should be very proud of the mention in Time. You certainly have created the friendliest board that I have ever visited. The very occasional cranks, and "sanity challenged" posters keep things interesting.

Good work.

[Robin Garr]

cranks, and "sanity challenged" posters

Hey! I resemble that remark!