I read a story by a writer, who wrote about Petite Sirah. Weeks ago I privately sent the author adjustments, but she’s never replied to my Email and has not updated her content. It drives me bananas to see incorrect and misleading information put onto the Internet as law…
So, where does one go, especially after every attempt has been made to correct the misleading info?
Posting on any Web 2.0 site now allows for some updates, so that if anyone’s searching for these details, there’s a least an updated corrected version… I welcome corrections on this site when I’ve made an error. (I gotten over not being perfect a long time ago.)
Otherwise, the Internet doesn’t have all the correct answers.
Besides the title being misleading, all in the story’s first paragraph, I read three sentences, and each one was uniformed:
“There are many facts that I could help you with,” I wrote, “in case you’d like to have all of the updated info, so your facts are the latest.”
What I read that gave me an immediate knee jerk reaction:
- TITLE: The English Form Of Petite Syrah (Oh, Lordy Lord… The English have had nothing to do with Petite Sirah. In 1884, Francois Durif (France) crossed Syrah – the father plant- with Peloursin – the mother plant, and Petite Sirah was created as vitis vinifer from the Rhone. Charles McIver is historically the first person to bring PS to the US in the late 1880’s, bringing it to Mission San Jose. McIver dubbed it Petite Sirah. The rest is history, which you can find on the PS I Love You Website.)
I get my numbers from CA ag stats, and from Patrick Fegan of the Chicago Wine School (the international numbers). Here’s that chart that I created, and have beenmaintaining for the last seven years.
- SHE WROTE: Petite Sirah comes from the Durif grapes grown primarily in California and Australia. (UPDATE: There are a bit over 8,000 acres in the world ~ 7,000 acres are in CA, the other 1,000 are in Australia, Israel, Mexico, etc. – It’s primarily grown in the US, by sheer statistics.)
- SHE WROTE: Although the grape was originally developed in France in the late 1800’s by crossing several varieties of grapes, mainly the Syrah (http://www.wineaccess.com/wine/grape/Syrah/Shiraz) and Peloursin grape, (UPDATE: Only two, not several varieties – Syrah – the father, and Peloursin – the mother. Several could be misleading, and having people wanting to research other varieties, which don’t exist for this crossing.)
- SHE WROTE: The name “petite” can refer to either the very small berries that grow on the vines or the small yield that comes from harvesting the grapes. (UPDATE: This variety is VERY prolific, and can easily produce 10 Tons to an acre. It has to be cut back/dropped, because it’s such a plentiful grape plant.)
I Emailed the updates to her, but she has not responded – as I’ve noted, and this story is now all over the Internet, as she’s discovered how to have her stories be uploaded everywhere.
This is the scary part of journalism which we all fear. Information that has not had the kind of research that trained journalists produce and deliver. They were all so trusted, and now I’m a bit dubious about what’s being delivered, especially in this fashion. It’s truly “Buyer Beware” on the Internet.
Here’s where this is located on the Internet, through a quick Google search:
- Cooking Articles
- ArticlesBase.com
- Article Dashboard
- Ezine Articles
- Ajc
- Coctail Party Food Ideas
- Idea Marketers
- Free Articles
- It Was So Easy
- One Unites.Com
It will continue to grow (as will my gray hair). And, this/my blog entry consequently needs to exist, so that it falls into the search as corrected information, because the author is making no effort to correct her content. I never thought I’d have to be a watch dog, of yet something else, but there you go.
The author, by the way, is a freelance marketing writer based out of San Diego, CA. She specializes in philosophy, society, and culture. With many articles to her credit, she is not a wine specialist, so it’s easy to not know about the quintessential web site, PS I Love You, and all of its updated information for writers and readers about Petite Sirah.
Jo
I share your emphasis on accuracy.
I checked the psiloveyou.org site and the information is not in line with your data:
“1976 – California Petite Sirah acreage peaked at around 14,000
1988 – California’s Petite Sirah crop has diminished to 5,000 acres, divided between Sonoma, Napa, Monterey, and the Central Valley.
1990 – California has about 1,400 acres, as does Argentina.
1993 – Approximately 3,023 acres of Petite Sirah in CA.”
Can you tell me where you are getting your numbers of “~7,000 acres in CA”? I want to maintain my data accurate and current so I’d appreciate a clarification.
I hate to make your day any worse, but I did a quick check of Sarah Martin’s other articles (http://www.foodndrinks.net/authors/324/Sarah-Martin) and each, to a greater or lesser extent, reads in a similar vein with several questionable comments or “facts”.
However my additional concern is the writing style itself and the choice of words. To cite the offending article on Petit Sirah does no-one else find it strange that recommended foods to go with the wine are..”goose….elk, moose, bear and caribou” …. BEAR?
In another on Viognier it starts “Viognier is a very common and ancient white grape that used to be fairly common. Now it is a rare white grape”….. twice common but still rare? (At least it remains a white grape in both sentences).
Each article reads like a hastily put-together mish-mash of googled sound-bites with no thought to the compilation as a whole. Mis-information is bad enough, but poor English and Grammar as well?
Here endeth the rant…..
Arthur, I’m happy to update the info for you, and it’s a reminded to update the PSILY site as well. I’ll have that done over the weekend.
Greybeard, I couldn’t even take on the rest… I was seeing red and seething from not having a response.
I try to let writers know gently, because I had one very well known writer say to me, with an edit a long time ago, “How dare you tell me this AFTER I’ve published my story?”
All I could think was, “Geeze… I didn’t have on my mind reader cap. Saw-ry!”
I can’t stay ahead of it all, especially with all the bloggers now, and all the Petite Sirah’s being spelled with that infamous “y. Petite Syrah is” no longer allowed to pass label approval, because it is all such a terrible confusion to everyone.
PS with a “y” on a label still is allowed, until that winery’s label goes through some change beyond vintage change… Maybe alcohol level doesn’t matter, either, but I’m not quite sure of that one.” A company cannot change an AVA, a logo, a redesign, without also changing the “y” to “i.”
I guess there’s lots for which to rant… And we’re just letting it all hang out. It’s Friday, after all…
So, very interesting posts, Jo. The one about stealing your content and then this one.
Yikes. Who is this Sarah Martin person? And is she really a person? Tsk, tsk. Very naughty girl….and in my neck of the woods.
Lynn,
It put me into a rare complaining mode… I dislike this kind of ranting, but it’s just too close to home to be ignored. Tomorrow and Sunday, I’ve got some really fun blogs that lift the spirit of this site, again.
I posted them just for that reason… Harvesting at David Fulton with his family and friends, then a really funny comedy act that lasts only two minutes, but is hysterical…
Light at the end of the tunnel!
Good to hear about the weekend, Jo. But I think you may be on to something bigger than you think with this Sarah Martin thing. A little searching shows that she originally billed herself as a writer specializing in “insurance and finance”. To quote:
“Sarah Martin is a freelance writer specializing in home improvement, life insurance, and education. For more information on life insurance policies or for a free quote, please visithttp://www.equote.com.”
Later, you will see she morphs into wine:
http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/author/details/Sarah+Martin/
And although I may be mistaken, it looks to me as if she is (ahem) leaning heavily on the work of other authors.
Many of her articles on the streetdirectory website direct the reader to wineaccess.com, so she may well have a marketing connection with them.
In any event, it will be most interesting to see if this Sarah Martin person ever responds to your emails or your posting.
Boy, Lynn,
It tales a lot to get you going… and I think this is the one.
Even the sound of plagiarism should draw her out as an original – if she is one – who just hadn’t researched well enough.
This is the major rub that great journalist are faced with today. Someone just cuts, pastes, and makes inferences that aren’t logical, then goes public on the Internet.
I have a colleague (today) that I directed toward an ad for Internet writers. I know he’s freelancing, so I forwarded the connection to him.
His response, and it’s classic!
“Thanks much. No shortage of opportunities to do things for free!”
I apologized, as I hadn’t read the ad all the way through.
While it might have a small stipend for writing, it won’t pay for the talent that a trained journalist is bringing to the table, and there’s how it’s all happening… The devaluing of the writing process right now and the career path one might – or might not – take. this periodical is also going through the devaluing process, and we’re all along for the ride.
Of course, the courteous thing to do is to give Sarah Martin the opportunity to speak for herself in whatever forum she chooses.
I’d just love to hear that she’s got some PS updates. That was my original request, and then continued to catch more and more articles come in through Google Alerts. We’ll see.
Well, a serious wine writer (or someone with serious aspirations) would indeed
make an effort to rectify errors and “update”, but I don’t get the impression
you’ll see anything of the sort from this particular source.
I promise. This is absolutely my last “Sarah Martin” post…..but it is probably the most ridiculous statement of all. It comes from her article entitled “Muscat – the Oldest Variety of Grapes in the World” on articlesbase.com.
“Muscat Hamburg. This is the name of the grape grown in Italy and Australia and is used to make red wines like Malbec”
I’ll bet you had NO IDEA that Malbec was made from Muscat Hamburg, now, did you?
I wouldn’t hold my breath for a response, Jo.
I don’t know why it’s just not written:
Sarah Martin is a freelance marketing writer from heaven. She specializes in everything possible. For more information on anything and everything, please her in heaven real soon, ya-heah!
PS: She’s also know as God.
Here’s the real skinny on Sarah Martin:
* Sarah Martin is a freelance writer specializing in home improvement, life insurance, and education. For more information on life insurance policies or for a free quote, please visit http://www.equote.com.
* Sarah Martin is a freelance marketing writer specializing in do-it-yourself home improvement, maintenance, and repair. For the perfect swim spa or hot tub for your home or backyard, please visit http://www.mybath.biz/
* Sarah Martin is a freelance marketing writer specializing in landscaping, gardening, and home improvement. For a gorgeous selection of old world wall fountains or wall mounted water fountains for your home and garden, visit http://www.garden-fountains.com/.
* Sarah Martin is a freelance marketing writer from San Diego, CA. She specializes in financial planning, business finance, and how to get the best online life insurance quotes. For a free quote please visit http://www.equote.com/.
* Sarah Martin is a freelance marketing writer based out of San Diego, CA. She specializes in guided meditation, health and wellness, and how to effectively manage anxiety attack symptoms. For more information on how to handle stress or anxiety, please visit http://www.wilddivine.com/.
* Sarah Martin is a freelance marketing writer from San Diego, CA. She specializes in leadership, motivation, and how to write the proper petition letter. If you are thinking about starting a petition, please visit http://www.thepetitionsite.com/ for more information.
* Sarah Martin is a freelance marketing writer from sunny San Diego, CA. She specializes in internet technology, email marketing, and loves to send birthday ecards to her family and friends! For a wide selection of ecards for every occasion, please visit http://www.care2.com/.
* Sarah Martin is a freelance marketing writer based out of San Diego, CA. She specializes in international travel on luxury world cruise ships, foreign cuisines, and fine wine varietals. For the ideal American Express world cruise, please visit http://www.amttravel.com/.
* Sarah Martin is a freelance marketing writer from San Diego, CA. She specializes in aesthetic medicine and beauty treatments. For more information on beginning a skin brightening system or about botox injections, please visit http://vfhcinc.com/.