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As we related earlier, Wine Spectator yesterday attempted to explain away giving its “Award of Excellence” to an imaginary restaurant with notably bad wines on the list. And in response, readers posting to the magazine's online forums have been nothing but positive. You'll find post after post of suspiciously supportive statements affirming the uprightness of the award and the wickedness of scammer and author Robin Goldstein. It’s almost as if Wine Spectator controlled what was said there! Notably non-outraged statements from this echo chamber include:

• “Very nice to hear the other side of the story, sounds like Robin is a liar.”

• “Thank you for this post. You have given quite a few additional details that Mr. Goldstein failed to mention. It appears on the surface that he is a dishonest person.”

• “An applause of appreciation for your endeavors... to handle this situation appropriately. And respect/kudos to laying out the facts in a very clear and concise manner. Well done.”

• “Wow, another person with to [sic] much time on their hands. To go to all that trouble, and for what?”

Perhaps, like Voltaire's God, Robin Goldstein is a comedian playing to an audience that is afraid to laugh.

Update: We stand corrected — later in the comment thread, the Wine Spectator crowd does, in fact, get a bit negative ("I am feeling truly let down by your publication," etc.). It would seem that freedom of speech does indeed reign on these message boards; silly of us to suggest otherwise.

Wine Spectator Has Been Scammed [Wine Spectator]

Earlier: ‘Wine Spectator’ Feels Used and Abused
Imaginary Restaurant Snags ‘Wine Spectator’ Award of Excellence