Critical response

As of 7 September 2013, based on 16 reviews collected by review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film had received a 100% approval rating from critics, with an average score of 7.4/10.^[4] Nicole Herrington of The New York Times wrote that the film "may already be [out]dated, since China's wine fever has cooled recently" although adding that "the movie raises legitimate concerns about the cultural and economic implications of status-minded overconsumption".^[1] Jordan Hoffman of the New York Daily News described the film as "probing, fascinating".^[5] Urban CineFile's Louise Keller stated that Red Obsession "does justice to the many facets of the wine it describes".^[6] Matthew Toomey of The Film Pie labelled it as "one of the year's best documentaries".^[7] Ed Gibbs of The Sunday Age found the documentary to be "remarkably enlightening".^[8] Keith Uhlich of Time Out New York offered that "[t]he reliance on talking-head testimonials leaves a weak aftertaste, but it's a palate-pleasing provocation nonetheless".^[9] Doris Toumarkine of Film Journal International lauded the film's "superb" cinematography.^[10] Kenji Fujishima of Slant Magazine awarded the film three out of four stars, commenting that it "may well inspire one to a higher appreciation of wine while also bringing about a greater awareness of the market forces that turn even the highest art into commodities".^[11] Ronnie Scheib of Variety opined that "[t]he film's rather simplistic cultural juxtapositions, pitting artistic appreciators against status-seeking philistines, work best when narrowly focused on the subject of wine."^[12]

Awards and nominations