In an unconventional move, Tax Policy Associates decided to tuck away a tempting offer for a complimentary bottle of Pomerol wine within the intricate details of its privacy policy on its website back in February 2024.
After three months passed, the organization finally received a response from someone who had uncovered the buried offer.
“We know nobody reads this, because we added it in February that we’d send a bottle of good wine to the first person to contact us, and it was only in May that we got a response,” a line in the organization’s revised privacy policy now acknowledges.
The coveted wine in question was a bottle of Château de Sales 2013/2014, currently valued at £34.99 via Majestic. This Merlot-dominant blend, representing the Grand Vin of the largest wine estate in Pomerol, undergoes an 18-month aging process in French oak barrels. The estate encompasses a total of 90 hectares, with 47.6 hectares devoted to vineyards where grapes are meticulously hand-harvested and undergo malolactic fermentation in concrete tanks.
Vincent Montigaud, CEO of Château de Sales, brings a wealth of expertise to the table, with 23 years of experience at Baron Philippe de Rothschild, including a 16-year tenure as head of Domaine de Baronarques in Languedoc.
Critically acclaimed, the 2023 vintage of the estate’s flagship wine received high praise in the latest Pomerol en primeur campaign, scoring 92-94 points. Tasting notes by db’s Bordeaux correspondent Colin Hay laud the wine’s delicate and fresh character, highlighted by a resinous Cabernet Franc note and impressive density.
Dan Neidle, head of the Tax Policy Association, described the inclusion of the offer in the privacy policy as a “childish protest” against the mandatory publication of privacy policies on websites, citing their often overlooked nature.
“Every tiny coffee shop has to have a privacy policy on their website, it’s crazy,” Neidle expressed. “It’s money that’s being wasted.”
Regarding the winner of the free bottle of wine, Neidle revealed that the individual, who happened to be drafting their own privacy policy, stumbled upon the offer while scouring the web for examples. Despite assuming the wine had already been claimed, they emerged as the rightful recipient after all.
