Classification of 1855
Bordeaux to Austin
1855
The Thing About
Wine Critics
Wine Critics
. . . continued
Few of us have this resource or trust the retail people that are just schlepping wine for a small paycheck and some spiff money (see? I told you there was going to be some backlash from this – I’m not saying that it is a dishonorable way to make money, just that it is not the best way for a wine lover to discover wine). So what then?
Find a wine person, multiple persons, or wine publication(s) that aligns as closely as possible with your tastes. This is easier said than done and requires an all out effort on your part to make this discovery – if you leave it up to someone else it will be probably wrong for you. You have to actually read critical reviews, buy the wine, reread the tasting notes and see if you agree. This is much more fun than it sounds like.
I have various sources of wine critics I rely upon for different regions. Some have very little credibility with me but it doesn’t mean they are wrong – only that my palate is different than theirs and therefore their review and score of any particular wine is irrelevant to me. Some of these men and women have rock star status in the world of wine! Some of them actually drive prices in worldwide wine markets the way Alan Greenspan used to do with the financial markets when he was Chairman of the Federal Reserve (I’m really missing those days now)!
Here’s the point: if you’re reading this, you are probably unable to sample literally thousands of bottles of wine every year due to time and financial constraints. So why not let someone do the heavy lifting for you while you reap the rewards of her/his labor? Scores for wine are important but not always right for me. But they save me thousands of dollars per year allowing me to cut through the marketing hype and read what a trusted critic has to say about it in a hopefully objective manner. Again, sometimes they miss the mark for me, as they will for you. These are humans and are fallible to outside influences and hyperbole just like us, although many wines may be tasted autonomously to varying degrees. It is not a perfect system for you to find great wine – just a better system.
So, back to ‘big’. For me, here are the people that influence my purchasing decisions with oftentimes-great accuracy in their tasting notes and scores, in order of influence on my personal palette (disclaimer -your results may vary):
- James Suckling – Wine Spectator - for Bordeaux and Italy -
- Steven Tanzer – IWC – for nearly anything – if his score is 90 or above, you’d better believe that it really great – he is very conservative with his scores
- Wine Spectator - in general – includes nearly every wine producing region of the world in excellent depth and with consistent notes and scores
- Allen Meadows – Burghound - Burgundy – few are more knowledgeable in this very complex area of wine
- Jancis Robinson – jancisrobinson.com – really great perspective, smart with remarkable wine knowledge and excellent reviews from a British point-of-view; and let’s face it - the Brits have been enjoying wine much longer than we
Robert Parker – Wine Advocate - Although Mr. Parker moves wine markets and has more price influence than perhaps anyone else in the world, for me he misses the mark. He is incredibly knowledgeable but his scores and the scores of those that work at his Wine Advocate publication are far too liberal for me. If he, or someone at his organization rates a wine at 92 points, through experience, I would rate the same wine at 86 to 88 points – a big difference in quality for me. Still these erudite folks cannot be ignored, as they will influence your opinions and your pocketbook one way or another, whether you like it or not. Pay attention to them because who knows? You may share similar tastes with them, making these critics indispensable to you.
There are others that of course are really excellent sources of higher learning. One of my favorites is John Kapon of Acker, Merrall & Condit, which is a fine wine auction house. This savant gentleman has incredible scope and depth when it comes to drinking rare (and old) wines and his tasting notes are world-class in every sense of the term. The firm is one of the most reputable and respected wine auction houses in the world along with my other favorite: Hart, Davis, Hart. Even though these places sound like law firms, I encourage you to put them in your favorites and visit them often because your knowledge of fine wine from around the world will begin to escalate quickly. Get on their email lists immediately.
By the way, just so you know, no one is paying me or compensating me in any way to plug them - I have ethical issues about this. It does not mean you will never see a paid banner on this site but it only means that I will not sell out to anyone for any reason, just for money. Nothing will ever be on this site unless it’s worthy of your attention.
The following links may provide more in-depth about subjects appearing
on this site or are just recommended places site to visit:
Wine Critics -
- Wine Spectator
www.winespectator.com
- Steven Tanzer/International Wine Cellar
www.wineaccess.com/expert/tanzer/subscribe.html
- Allen Meadows/Burghound
www.burghound.com/
- Jancis Robinson
www.jancisrobinson.com/
- Robert Parker/Wine Advocate
www.erobertparker.com/
Bordeaux
. . . continued
No matter what wines I taste or how remarkable they may be, I always come back to Bordeaux. I have had the good fortune to taste literally thousands of wines and always come home to the Left Bank of the Gironde River. To be sure, I have had really great wines from nearly every region of the world but they ultimately seemed like an indulgence into something different, rather than something really outstanding.
Single varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon (one of my favorites) still cannot hold up to the traditional Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Even the same blended varietals from other well-loved and respected regions, arguably, aren’t quite there in terms of quality or complexity. So this gives much credibility to the age-old concept of terroir, which can be neither scientifically proven nor disproved.
This concept of terroir hinges on the idea that every piece of land that bears fruit for wine has its own soil and soil chemistry, drainage, minerals, mesoclimate, microclimate, altitude, acclamation to sunlight, rainfall, and is its own unique and special place on the planet. I do not know of one single wine expert, enophile or knowledgeable wine lover that does not subscribe to this notion. Or maybe it’s a combination of terroir and great winemaking skills that have been passed down for generations over the course of centuries.
I believe that other great wine regions of the world can compete head-to-head with Bordeaux unless they are 1st Growth Bordeaux; this where the departure is for me. I have had really excellent Napa blends and other new world wines using traditional Bordeaux varietals and some of them are as good as or better than many Classified Bordeaux – none however, even come close to a 1st Growth. On my personal radar is a mission to blind taste a number of great wines side-by-side to ensure the integrity of my remarks – indeed I may be surprised! Certainly I will share with you the results.
Single varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon (one of my favorites) still cannot hold up to the traditional Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Even the same blended varietals from other well-loved and respected regions, arguably, aren’t quite there in terms of quality or complexity. So this gives much credibility to the age-old concept of terroir, which can be neither scientifically proven nor disproved.
This concept of terroir hinges on the idea that every piece of land that bears fruit for wine has its own soil and soil chemistry, drainage, minerals, mesoclimate, microclimate, altitude, acclamation to sunlight, rainfall, and is its own unique and special place on the planet. I do not know of one single wine expert, enophile or knowledgeable wine lover that does not subscribe to this notion. Or maybe it’s a combination of terroir and great winemaking skills that have been passed down for generations over the course of centuries.
I believe that other great wine regions of the world can compete head-to-head with Bordeaux unless they are 1st Growth Bordeaux; this where the departure is for me. I have had really excellent Napa blends and other new world wines using traditional Bordeaux varietals and some of them are as good as or better than many Classified Bordeaux – none however, even come close to a 1st Growth. On my personal radar is a mission to blind taste a number of great wines side-by-side to ensure the integrity of my remarks – indeed I may be surprised! Certainly I will share with you the results.
Thanks for visiting!
Classof1855.com
david@classof1855.com