Archive for the ‘Rating Wine’ Category

Nov 16, 2018

Fear Not, Wine Criticism Lives

The Wine Curmudgeon (Jeff Siegel) is celebrating his 11th anniversary penning his blog and reviewing affordable wines. I’ve been reading for all 11 years and will continue as long as he keeps up delivering his consistently astute, honest and interesting posts. However, despite his anniversary, the Curmudgeon is feeling a bit dour, at least as far as the job of reviewing wine is concerned: “Wine criticism has become more button down than ever, a continually increasing jumble of scores and…

Sep 5, 2018

A Wine Rating is an Adjective, Not a Calculation

There has of late been good writing and thinking about writing and thinking about wine. At Meg Maker’s Terroir Review I recently read Fredric Koeppel’s “How To Write About Wine; Or, Why Bother To Write About Wine At All”. In the thoughtful article, Frederic concludes that: “What matters, then, isn’t the theoretical skill and experience that would allow a taster to identify from a glass of wine a particular slope in the Sonoma Coast region or a hillside in Brunello di…

Jun 14, 2018

The True Significance of Robert Parker, Jr.

The fact that one has a vested interested in an issue in no way diminishes the power of their argument concerning that issue. I wanted to get that fact out of the way as I address one of the most interesting articles of 2018: Lisa Perrotti-Brown’s “The Big Parkerization Lie”. Ms. Perrotti-Brown is a longtime associate of Robert Parker, editor-in-chief of The Wine Advocate and a part owner of this publication at which she has penned a stout pushback against…

May 16, 2018

How to Embrace Wine Ratings and Calm Your Nerves Too

It always makes me very happy when I can help someone overcome their fears, anxieties or concerns. So, I’m happy today since I’m able to aid Ms. Katie Finn, who is upset about wine scores and ratings (and apparently by Robert Parker, Jr. too: “Every time someone tells me that wine XYZ got 98 points, or that Chateau Crème de la Crème got a disappointing 87, I start twitching, and my insides get hot. There are so many things about…

Dec 28, 2017

Embrace the Wine Critic — They Matter

The Wine Critic matters…as much as ever. It’s worth pointing out that the wine critic is not, as too many suggest, some self-interested hanger-on simply pushing subjective opinions any one of us could offer. Rather, the dedicated wine critic is a passionate student of wine who has devoted a healthy part of their lives to understanding wine, celebrating wine and prodding those who produce wine. It’s true that the wine critic can grow cynical and even stiff from their constant…