Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

Surprised it hasn't been written about here-or I missed it.

Is this good or bad?
Does this result in more incestuousness in wine ratings?
Is WA still relevant?

It seems like they have gotten themselves to the point where they have to do the ratings, in order to sell tickets to events with RMP. There's such a rotating cast of reviewers at the WA that its hard to feel confident in what their tastes are going forward, and if consistent enough to be useful. At this point, someone like the WS which tastes blind, and has mostly had its senior editors in place for quite some time, seems just as credible despite their tedious advertisements. That's a pretty long fall for the WA.

Luis Guttierez and Neil Martin, and their extensive exposition, are the main pluses for the WA right now, for my taste/consumption although I really have/drink little Spain or South America. The old stock of Rhone reviews from Jeb will eventually become less useful, and we'll see how Joe picks up there.

It seems like hiring reviewers, rather than making them partners in the enterprise, is part of the problem. When a business is reliant on talent, I don't think the hired hands, fungible labor model works so well.