The Hype Thread

I still subscribe to Rimmerman, and if the above post is not a nomination, I will formalize that. He has a few reliable items that do not otherwise hit the shelves in the Motor City, so there is some value in putting up with the torrent of hyperbole. On the other hand, the rhetoric can become pretty much unbearable. My college composition prof rightfully held exclamation points in total contempt. The signature of pre-adolescent journalism. I make judgments about Garagiste's offerings based on the number of exclamation points in each missive. Three (which is three too many) is Rimmerman de rigueur, four gets on my nerves badly, and five or more is the point of no return.

That all said, I try to keep our own social media staff in check, to no avail. In the words of Elliot Ness: "I have become what I beheld." Someone can nominate us, too. The battle is lost.
 
I unsubscribed from Garagiste after their appalling "German cellar" stunt. I also didn't like how the model seemed to purposely rely on this hamster wheel of having orders trickle in so there was ALWAYS something pending and you could never hop off. I don't miss them at all.
 
originally posted by Ken Schramm:
My college composition prof rightfully held exclamation points in total contempt. The signature of pre-adolescent journalism. I make judgments about Garagiste's offerings based on the number of exclamation points in each missive. Three (which is three too many) is Rimmerman de rigueur, four gets on my nerves badly, and five or more is the point of no return.
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So true. Hyperbole is the bane of my existence; exclamation points are visual markers of its presence.
 
Exclamation points are like expletives. They perform a function nothing else does, so long as you don't devalue them through overuse. A judiciously deployed exclamation in the middle of a boring, sober discussion commands attention. Good writers know when they pay off; bad writers cling to rules like "never use exclamation points" or "never use semicolons" and limit their tool chest.
 
originally posted by Keith Levenberg:
Exclamation points are like expletives. They perform a function nothing else does, so long as you don't devalue them through overuse. A judiciously deployed exclamation in the middle of a boring, sober discussion commands attention. Good writers know when they pay off; bad writers cling to rules like "never use exclamation points" or "never use semicolons" and limit their tool chest.
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Sure, there are appropriate uses for all "proscribed" punctuation. Parentheticals get plenty of derision in some circles, too, and I use them liberally. Five exclamation points in one email to sell me wine is not sober discussion, though.

Your point on the hamster wheel is completely valid. That practice has been a raspberry seed caught in my wisdom tooth for a while now. If it weren't for Huet, some tough-to-come-by and delicious Beaujolais and the occasional Italian gem, I would fold the hand. The Mystery Wine thing makes me gag every time.

That is what makes this bored so dear to me. I can gain as much up to date info on bottles and regions as I learn from my input from Kermit, Rimmerman and NBI, without any of the saccharine flourish.
 
originally posted by Ken Schramm:
That practice has been a raspberry seed caught in my wisdom tooth for a while now.
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Seasonably apt!

Is Rimmerman gone, or did he merely fade away?
 
Exclamation points are like question marks in that they are punctuation marks with semantic content (as opposed to periods and commas, which serve formal functions). Although one of their proper uses is to mark expostulations, another is to make a sentence's claim more emphatic. Keith is right that both of those uses depend on rarity, but that's because if you use the mark too frequently it looses its semantic content. In this respect, it differs from vulgarity, which can take on its own inimitable style as when the word "fucking" is used as an adverb.
 
Still around, same shtick, same practice of holding back some of what you ordered as "not arrived," more of the damned "Mystery" offerings. I spend most of my real money with Todd and Elie, and Jarred and Putnam at Western Mkt, but some good stuff doesn't otherwise make the trip to us rubes here in Day Twah.
 
With regard to Rimmerman, I find it fairly easy to deal with the boatload of cheap words. I don't read them. I scroll down to the wine. If I know it and it interests me and the price seems attractive, I buy it. Sometimes I buy as many as three items a year like this. Sometimes none. But it costs little time and effort.
 
originally posted by MarkS:
originally posted by Ken Schramm:
That practice has been a raspberry seed caught in my wisdom tooth for a while now.
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Seasonably apt!

Is Rimmerman gone, or did he merely fade away?
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It's funny how once you unsubscribe he may as well be gone. You *never* see anyone post "Great find from Garagiste!" on the boards anymore.
 
I too am very sensitive to this stuff, and is just one of the many reasons why I give so much support to CSW. They manage to promote their wines without the breathless prose. Along those lines it is why I never became a regular Crush customer. The selection was great but their sales texts grated.

Of course I don't claim to be an expert in public relations and sales. Maybe the hyperbole is necessary for a broader public. But it's my money to spend as I see fit!
 
originally posted by Ken Schramm:
Still around, same shtick, same practice of holding back some of what you ordered as "not arrived," more of the damned "Mystery" offerings. I spend most of my real money with Todd and Elie, and Jarred and Putnam at Western Mkt, but some good stuff doesn't otherwise make the trip to us rubes here in Day Twah.
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Elie used to make me buy packages when I first got into wine - to buy this, you have to buy that. Then there were the floor prices for people off the street and the real prices depending on ________. Before I knew better, all this was ok. Then it wasn’t, to me that is, particularly in the days when allocations in Burgundy weren’t the norm and I started looking at pricing in NY and elsewhere.
 
Crush as a store is multiple personalities. They support some great things but the constant parade of Roumier! Mugnier! Fourrier! Dujac! Gibourg! Allocated! is tiring. Still, as long as it keeps the lights on...
 
Yeah, Crush will always have a few offers every year that feature wines I can’t find elsewhere. Some of my Gonon stash came from there.

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
I too am very sensitive to this stuff, and is just one of the many reasons why I give so much support to CSW. They manage to promote their wines without the breathless prose. Along those lines it is why I never became a regular Crush customer. The selection was great but their sales texts grated.

Of course I don't claim to be an expert in public relations and sales. Maybe the hyperbole is necessary for a broader public. But it's my money to spend as I see fit!
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I thought it might be fun to see how much overheated prose I could find in the first Crush wine description I could find. First time at the site and I clicked on the first wine I saw: Bea’s Sagrantino Pagliaro.

Here, for me at least, in a very few paragraphs are terms that could be construed to be hyperbolic:

"most compelling'" "a magic," "depth and sheer soulfulness," "most singular and fascinating," "unique touch," "special," "undeniably noble," "astonishing nuance, delicacy and elegance," "magnificent and imposing," "colossal scale and explosiveness," "amazes in how harmonious," "packs an enormous amount of complexity," "cult figure" and "profoundly impressive."

Agreed. It is excessive.
 
Nice sleuthing. It is pretty crazy.

And to get even more nitpicky, the Crush wild use of different fonts, italics, bolding and underlining also used to drive me crazy. Seemed to be an indicator of bad taste and bad sense.

But there is no denying that it's a great store and Nyc is probably all the better for having it (even without my business).
 
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