bsevern wrote:I'm curious about ratting. Why do some people get to participate in ratting multiple times, yet others zero??

I've been on wine.woot since buying a Chase Family Cellars two pack on 7/16/08, yet never once got the opportunity to rat, although I've signed up, multiple times

Just curious how it really works?

Bribes.

Actually, I have noticed that those of us who participate a lot on the forums are more likely to rat. We have had a large number of absent rats (even me for the saké -- sorry!!!) and, IMO, quite a few bad rats who give minimal notes and then disappear. I think the logic is the people who participate a lot will participate.

...painstakingly attentive farmers who tend to their ripening fruit like overbearing Park Slope moms, obsessively monitoring development, reacting to every nuance of the changing weather, and maintaining such an intense focus on their perfect, precious grapes that you basically can’t even talk to them about anything else.

Wow, I had no idea this phenomenon was known beyond the greater NYC area.

Are groups of stroller-wielding farmers ever observed running hapless pedestrians off vineyard sidewalks?

InFrom wrote:Wow, I had no idea this phenomenon was known beyond the greater NYC area.

Are groups of stroller-wielding farmers ever observed running hapless pedestrians off vineyard sidewalks?

NOW THIS IS FUNNY....

inkycatz wrote:I think if it bugs you this much then maybe you can try to beat him to the punch sometime or find your own "quality post" contributing niche. ;)

Oh, it doesn't bug me at all. I was just being silly!I think his links are helpful.

polarbear22 wrote:Cesare is real, walks and talks. I think he is speculating that woot TRICK OR TREAT!'s will one day be the currency of the land. And he will have cornered the market. Must be the Italian in him.

That's funny!

bsevern wrote:I'm curious about ratting. Why do some people get to participate in ratting multiple times, yet others zero??

I've been on wine.woot since buying a Chase Family Cellars two pack on 7/16/08, yet never once got the opportunity to rat, although I've signed up, multiple times

Just curious how it really works?

sad that you remain ratless, but you did get to enjoy a spectacular chase zin! Like most things patience is rewarded, the woot gods benevolence is boundless.

michaelstencel wrote:sad that you remain ratless, but you did get to enjoy a spectacular chase zin! Like most things patience is rewarded, the woot gods benevolence is boundless.

Speaking of Chase (which I ratted), I'd love to see them back here!

bsevern wrote:I'm curious about ratting. Why do some people get to participate in ratting multiple times, yet others zero??

I've been on wine.woot since buying a Chase Family Cellars two pack on 7/16/08, yet never once got the opportunity to rat, although I've signed up, multiple times

Just curious how it really works?

From Talking with WD and Ali at one of the last bay area events, it seems like they have put a suggestion into action.

Although I have not seen an official announcement I believe that lab-ratting now comes from 2 pools, one is the main, big pool of everyone who has signed up. The other pool is those people who have given good lab reports before and possibly board activity factors in as well. This is to address the complaint of absentee and overly brief rats.

I wholeheartedly support this system as it helps all of us when there are more rat reports and higher fidelity ones while also keeping the general rat population in the loop as well. On top of this it also rewards those who give back to the community here the most. It is this community that sets wine.woot so far above the other wine sites in my mind and I am happy that WD does so much to foster it.

polarbear22 wrote:Is winery website working for anyone? It wouldn't work at all this weekend and still won't work for me. Even Caesar's kink. Though it could be poor connection.

and "Yeah" for woot birthday code. I actually remembered to use it.

Website loading stalls for me using Safari, but Chrome loads it very fast. So it is probably the browser you are using.

cmaldoon wrote:From Talking with WD and Ali at one of the last bay area events, it seems like they have put a suggestion into action.

Although I have not seen an official announcement I believe that lab-ratting now comes from 2 pools, one is the main, big pool of everyone who has signed up. The other pool is those people who have given good lab reports before and possibly board activity factors in as well. This is to address the complaint of absentee and overly brief rats.

I wholeheartedly support this system as it helps all of us when there are more rat reports and higher fidelity ones while also keeping the general rat population in the loop as well. On top of this it also rewards those who give back to the community here the most. It is this community that sets wine.woot so far above the other wine sites in my mind and I am happy that WD does so much to foster it.

I agree with this method too. I read all the posts so that I can learn. I have grown to trust the regular posters opinions. That said, I hope to one day get to rat in spite of my lack of knowledge on my own. I would immediately take my prize to share with my boss who knows a ton about wine! I think that anyone who has signed up should take the responsibility seriously. Get help if you don't know about wine, so you can have a worth while review!

Kao1138 wrote:He is in fact human. The fact that he always gets the first post and is often mistaken for a bot comes up at pretty much every gathering that he's at.

Is his picture real?! I love looking at it first thing. SO dreamy! (googly eyes)

Just kidding, well mostly. Whoever is in that pic is very nice looking. My comment really was just me being silly. I gathered from other posts that he is a real person. It would be weird/a shame if he didn't get first post. Not that it matters, but I approve of his posts. It is sorta like "all's well in the world" when you log in and see them!

michaelstencel wrote:sad that you remain ratless, but you did get to enjoy a spectacular chase zin! Like most things patience is rewarded, the woot gods benevolence is boundless.

Actually have one bottle left It was a 2004 - 2005 mini-vertical. Opened the 2004 last Thanksgiving and it was terrific, hopefully the 2005 is equally enjoyable!

bsevern wrote:Actually have one bottle left It was a 2004 - 2005 mini-vertical. Opened the 2004 last Thanksgiving and it was terrific, hopefully the 2005 is equally enjoyable!

I have an 05, too. And 2 05 PSs.

cmaldoon wrote:From Talking with WD and Ali at one of the last bay area events, it seems like they have put a suggestion into action.

Although I have not seen an official announcement I believe that lab-ratting now comes from 2 pools, one is the main, big pool of everyone who has signed up. The other pool is those people who have given good lab reports before and possibly board activity factors in as well. This is to address the complaint of absentee and overly brief rats.

I wholeheartedly support this system as it helps all of us when there are more rat reports and higher fidelity ones while also keeping the general rat population in the loop as well. On top of this it also rewards those who give back to the community here the most. It is this community that sets wine.woot so far above the other wine sites in my mind and I am happy that WD does so much to foster it.

Living in Sunnyvale, I guess I need to attend some of these Bay Area events!!

It sounds like an OK review system, although it could be perceived as professional type reviews. Not that that in itself is a bad thing.

OK, time to crack open a bottle of Napa cab for the evening

From what I have seen today the wine rats have taken their reviews seriously and I feel have represented the wine accurately. If this is typical it looks like a good system.

I mean lab rats

lukebass wrote:I mean lab rats

Addicts is fine.

bsevern wrote:Living in Sunnyvale, I guess I need to attend some of these Bay Area events!!

One of the recent bay area events was at my place in Santa Clara, just a couple miles from you so, yes, indeed you should attend or even host one! Just be warned, these events may seem like a good way to go through some of your stock of wine but they aren't, you'll almost invariably end up with more than you started with (Albeit, open bottles)

It was 1999 and our conventional practices were not getting us the results we wanted. Having attended a Waldorf school I was familiar with Biodynamics and decided to learn more. The thing that inspires me about Biodynamics is the purity of the idea. No inputs only what you can produce with the internal resources on the farm. I am convinced that wine made without any inputs, from grapes grown in the same manner, provides a pure wine experience. As fun as it is to play chef there is little I can do through changing the course of the wine that is as interesting as the grapes I work with. I believe the consumer would rather taste a wine that reflects the qualities of the grapes rather than a wine that demonstrates my cleverness.

bsevern wrote:Living in Sunnyvale, I guess I need to attend some of these Bay Area events!!

It sounds like an OK review system, although it could be perceived as professional type reviews. Not that that in itself is a bad thing.

OK, time to crack open a bottle of Napa cab for the evening

You should head up to Healdsburg this Sunday. Some of us are meeting up there for wine tasting and dinner. I used to live in Santa Clara and currently looking to end up back that way.

texacaliali wrote:Hey Luke, I was in the middle of yoga tonight and one question came to mind that hasn't been asked today - what made you decide to farm biodynamically?

Now we know why the site was down all day.