Robin Goldstein

{{Short description|American writer}}{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2026}} {{Infobox writer  | name = Robin Goldstein | birth_name = Robin Stubbs Goldstein | image = Robin Goldstein.jpg | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1976|11|18}} | birth_place = New York, New York, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = Author | nationality = American | partner = | children = | relatives = | awards = | website = {{URL|http://blindtaste.com}} | education = Harvard University (BA)<br />Yale University (JD)<br />University of Bordeaux (PhD) }}

'''Robin Goldstein''' is an American author, food and wine critic, and economics pundit. He is known for his books and articles questioning conventional wisdom and pricing in the food and wine industries, particularly a widely publicized exposé of Wine Spectator magazine, and for his writing on the Freakonomics<ref>{{cite web|last1=Goldstein|first1=Robin|title=Robin Goldstein on Freakonomics|url=http://freakonomics.com/author/robingoldstein/|website=Freakonomics|accessdate=5 August 2014}}</ref> blog. He is author of several books, including ''The Wine Trials'' and ''The Beer Trials.'' Goldstein was also one of the subjects of ''Think Like a Freak'', the 2014 book by ''Freakonomics'' authors Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner.

Goldstein is currently on the research faculty of the University of California, where he is Principal Economic Counselor at the UC Agricultural Issues Center in Davis and studies cannabis prices and the market impacts of cannabis regulations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://aic.ucdavis.edu/people/research-staff/robin-goldstein/|title=Robin Goldstein – Agricultural Issues Center|website=aic.ucdavis.edu|language=en-US|access-date=2017-04-18}}</ref> He lives in Oakland, California.

In 2005, after having reviewed restaurants and hotels for Fodor's Travel Guides in Italy, Mexico, Argentina, Thailand, and Hong Kong, Goldstein founded the Fearless Critic series of restaurant guides, which was later acquired by Workman Publishing in New York and became a Workman imprint.

== Education == Goldstein received an AB in Neuroscience and Philosophy from Harvard, a JD from Yale Law School, and a PhD in economics from the University of Bordeaux. He also graduated from the French Culinary Institute and the WSET wine program.

==Wine Spectator Award of Excellence controversy== At the August 2008 conference of the American Association of Wine Economists in Portland, Oregon, Goldstein revealed that in a hoax exposé, he had won a Wine Spectator "Award of Excellence" for an imaginary restaurant, Osteria L'Intrepido (Italian for "the fearless tavern").<ref name=gws>blindtaste.com [http://blindtaste.com/2008/08/15/what-does-it-take-to-get-a-wine-spectator-award-of-excellence/ What does it take to get a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence?]</ref> With the help of his friend Giuliano Stiglitz, he created a fake website for the restaurant, submitted a reserve wine list of low-rated Italian wines along with the $250 entry fee, and won the award, which he sought to expose as a form of advertising. The hoax garnered worldwide press.<ref name="wine&vine">{{cite web|last=Mitham|first=Peter|title=Economists Question Real Value of Wine|url=http://www.winesandvines.com/template.cfm?section=news&content=57843|date=August 19, 2008|website=Wines & Vines|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828040410/http://www.winesandvines.com/template.cfm?section=news&content=57843|archive-date=2008-08-28}}</ref><ref name="sfgate">{{cite news|last=Bonné|first=Jon|title=Awards: 'Hoax' on the Wine Spectator|url=https://www.sfgate.com/wine/article/the-sipping-news-3199320.php|date=August 21, 2008|work=The San Francisco Chronicle|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080826024309/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/21/WI9712F167.DTL|archive-date=2008-08-26}}</ref><ref name="latimes">{{cite news|last=Hirsch|first=Jerry|title=Wine Spectator drinks a hearty glass of blush|url=http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-winehoax22-2008aug22,0,5377368.story|date=August 22, 2008|work=The Los Angeles Times}}</ref><ref name="vinog">{{cite web|last=Yarrow|first=Alder|title=Wine Spectator Restaurant Awards Exposed as a Total Farce|url=http://www.vinography.com/archives/2008/08/wine_spectator_restaurant_awar.html|date=August 19, 2008|website=Vinography}}</ref><ref name="drvino">{{cite web|last=Colman|first=Tyler|title=Fictitious restaurant wins Wine Spectator Award of Excellence|url=http://www.drvino.com/2008/08/19/fictitious-restaurant-wins-wine-spectator-award-of-excellence/|date=August 19, 2008|website=Dr. Vino|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121213926/http://www.drvino.com/2008/08/19/fictitious-restaurant-wins-wine-spectator-award-of-excellence/|archive-date=2008-11-21}}</ref><ref name="times">{{Cite web|title=The wine had a whiff of the barnyard . . . hoax review leaves noses out of joint|url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/england/london-travel/the-wine-had-a-whiff-of-the-barnyard-hoax-review-leaves-noses-out-of-joint-s9vgr6vrnn3|website=The Times|date=2008-08-23|access-date=2026-01-30|language=en|first=James|last=Bone|publication-place=New York}}</ref><ref name="indy">{{cite news|last=Milmo|first=Cahal|title=Honour for restaurant that doesn't exist|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/honour-for-restaurant-that-doesnt-exist-906539.html|date=August 23, 2008|location=London|work=The Independent}}</ref> Wine Spectator Editor-in-Chief Thomas Matthews responded on the magazine's web site.<ref name="wsresp">{{Cite web|title=Wine Spectator Has Been Scammed|url=http://forums.winespectator.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/6826053161/m/835102245|website=Wine Spectator|access-date=2026-01-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080831070450/http://forums.winespectator.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/6826053161/m/835102245|archive-date=2008-08-31|last=Matthews|first=Thomas|date=August 20, 2008}}</ref><ref name="nymag">{{cite web|last=Ozersky|first=Josh|title='Wine Spectator' Forum a Hotbed of Non-Controversy|url=http://nymag.com/daily/food/2008/08/the_wine_spectator_forum_a_hot.html|date=August 21, 2008|website=New York Magazine}}</ref>

==The Wine Trials experiment== In May 2008, Goldstein revealed the results of an experiment that he conducted in which 500 subjects, in a blind taste test, preferred cheaper wine to more expensive wine. The results were published in an academic paper entitled "Do More Expensive Wines Taste Better?" followed by a book entitled ''The Wine Trials.''<ref name="asimov">{{cite news|last=Asimov|first=Eric|title=Wine's Pleasures: Are They All in Your Head?|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/dining/07pour.html?pagewanted=all|date=May 7, 2008|work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref name="levitt">{{cite news|last=Levitt|first=Steve|title=Keep the Cheap Wine Flowing|url=http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/keep-the-cheap-wine-flowing/|date=July 24, 2008|work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref name="newsweek">{{cite web|last=Popescu|first=Roxana|title=Tastes Great, Less Billing|website=Newsweek|url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/129535|date=April 7, 2008}}</ref><ref name="businessweek">{{cite web|last=Kiley|first=David|title=The Whining About Wine is Intoxicating|url=http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/brandnewday/archives/2008/05/brand_matters_t.html?campaign_id=rss_blog_brandnewday|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080518083506/http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/brandnewday/archives/2008/05/brand_matters_t.html?campaign_id=rss_blog_brandnewday|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 18, 2008|date=May 8, 2008|website=BusinessWeek}}</ref><ref name="usatoday">{{cite news|last=Shriver|first=Jerry|title=Wine Preconceptions Can't Hold Sway in Blind Tasting|url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2008-05-09-sips-wine-taste-test_N.htm|date=May 9, 2008|work=USA Today}}</ref>

Some wine critics and aficionados questioned Goldstein's conclusions,<ref name="closerlook">{{cite news|last=Asimov|first=Eric|title=A Closer Look At The Wine Trials|url=http://thepour.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/22/a-closer-look-at-the-wine-trials/|date=April 22, 2008|work=The New York Times}}</ref> and a staff editorial in the ''Boston Globe'' criticized his findings.<ref name="globe">{{cite news|last=|title=Red, Red Whine|url=http://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2008/05/09/red_red_whine/|date=May 9, 2008|work=The Boston Globe}}</ref>

==Works by Goldstein==

=== Books === *''Can Legal Weed Win?'', University of California Press, 2022. *''The Wine Trials'', Fearless Critic Media/Workman, 2008. *''The Beer Trials'', Fearless Critic Media/Workman, 2010.

=== Articles === *"[http://www.wine-economics.org/workingpapers/AAWE_WP36.pdf Can People Distinguish Pâté from Dog Food?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102015824/http://www.wine-economics.org/workingpapers/AAWE_WP36.pdf |date=2013-11-02 }}" *"[http://www.wine-economics.org/journal/content/Volume3/number1/Full%20Texts/01_wine%20economics_Robin%20Goldstein_vol%203_1.pdf Do More Expensive Wines Taste Better?]"

==References==

==External links== * {{official website|http://blindtaste.com/}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldstein, Robin}} Category:American male writers Category:Living people Category:Harvard College alumni Category:American wine critics Category:Yale Law School alumni Category:1976 births