Zing!

This news of the famous Wine Spectator scam of 08, reminds me of a different piece of fake news:
Zing! I Just Got You With Another One Of My Trademark 'Complete Lies'
If you try hard enough, you can perpetrate a scam on just about anyone. If the purpose of the scam were to reveal some sort of fraud perpetrated by WS, it might have a point, but WS seems to be pretty clear about what each level of recognition, as WS editor Thomas Matthews explains. Granted, collecting a fee like this in return for a certificate is a bit of a racket, but it's a racket restaurants are under no obligation to join. I was chatting with a chef/owner recently about this business who told me he'd never opted in, saying "If you want to write about my wine, write about my wine, but I'm not going to pay for it." For an encore, perhaps Robin Goldstein will create Tammy Everett, a fictitious student from New Trier, and get her into Who's Who Among American High School Students