Nov 17, 2011
The nature of "90" isn't an easy thing to nail down. On its face, a wine ranked 90 points or higher should suggest that it falls into the top 10% of all wines of its type. But we know that's not what a 90 means because we know there is no such thing as a 20 or 30 point wine. Perhaps it is enough to say that a wine ranked 90 points or more is a wine the critic liked…
Nov 8, 2011
There is an opinion (it's nearly a meme) that has been swirling around the wine industry for at least a couple decades now that needs to be put to rest. The best recitation I've read of this opinion was recently expressed in the comment section of my post on Robert Parker's Wine Advocate reviews of 2009 Pinot Noirs. The commenter wrote this: "Parker has outlasted his stay as the geru of wine and the alltime judge of all of them….
Nov 7, 2011
In an earlier post concerning the Pinot On the River event in Healdsburg last month, I made note of the fact that the 2009 California Pinot Noirs are generally considered great wines. I quoted Jim Laube of the Wine Spectator who wrote, "There is no such thing as a perfect vintage, but 2009 comes close to nirvana for California Pinot Noir," and noted that an amazing 55% of the 2009 California Pinots rated by the Wine Spectator received 90 points…
Oct 31, 2011
By this coming Wednesday, the vast majority of fruit still hanging on the vines here in Napa Valley (and in Sonoma County) will have been picked. There is a forecast for possible rain on Thursday and again on Sunday. Rather than risk more rot, growers are likely going to throw in the towel on the prospects of getting their grapes riper in 2011. All in all the past few weeks have been VERY good for North Coast growers who feared…
Oct 24, 2011
I don't want to tell you how much time I've spent playing with GoogleEarth and GoogleMaps. It's one of the most amazing timesucks on the Internet. However, I'm pretty sure I've not spent as much time with this enormous source of geo-information as Daniel Opalacz, the creator of Vinosum.com Suppose you wanted to know what vineyards Siduri uses to source grapes for their single vineyards wines. Vinosum. Suppose you wanted a mapped out display of Syrah vineyards in Santa Barbara…