Wall Street Journal wine club: Looks like lies to me

The Wall Street Journal announced today that it has created an online wine store, along with a wine club. Sadly, it looks dishonest from day one.

The Journal is not the first publication to try to leverage its supposed integrity into wine sales. The Times of London has had a successful wine club for years. The San Francisco Chronicle -- the only newspaper in the US with a dedicated wine section -- has been running one for the last couple of years.

Readers of the publications can wonder about how much impact the club has on editorial decisions. Will a wine get John and Dottie's approval now because the Journal managed to acquire 5000 cases at a discount?

My bigger problem with the WSJ wine site is that it gives little information about the wines and is even outright deceptive in a couple of cases.

For example, here's the front-page description of The Holdings Cabernet Sauvignon: "Smart California Cabernet 'rescued' from a Napa blend."

Now, what do you think that means? A Napa Cab-Merlot blend was going to include this wine, but the Cab was so good that the WSJ is selling it on its own?

Noper. If you view the details, you learn that this is a Paso Robles Cabernet that the WSJ claims is usually sold to Napa wineries to "beef up" their blends.

Do we get any proof of this, like the name of the vineyard? No. It appears that the venerable Journal may have just made this up.

In fact, Napa wineries do sometimes add out-of-AVA wine to their blends; up to 15 percent from another area is allowed. But rarely do Napa wineries buy Cab from Paso for this purpose, mostly for pure logistical reasons. Lake County fruit is closer and cheaper. Mendocino County fruit is closer and often of higher quality.

Moreover, the Napa wines that are "beefed up" in this manner are usually the cheap ones.

Here's another example: about Cooper Point Chardonnay, the Journal writes: "Enjoy this exclusive medal-winning Chardonnay from Hahn Family Estate."

Gold medals are a dime a dozen, but it doesn't seem as if Cooper Point has even spent this dime. Click on "View Details" and you learn that Hahn Family Estate has won a bunch of medals for other wines.

Moreover, the Journal quotes a Robert Parker review of a different, older wine from Hahn: "Offers delicious drinking and excellent value." In fact, Parker has never reviewed a Cooper Point wine.

I could also complain about how the Journal's 12-bottle mixed case offer doesn't tell you exactly which wines you're getting. But I'm not willing to spend $100 to find the details. Good luck if you do.

Let's hope the Journal cleans up its act. Deception like this builds distrust in the wine industry.