Archive for the ‘Rating Wine’ Category
Matt Kramer’s latest book (really not more than a long, concise, finely argued essay) is subversive. While at once a bare knuckled take down of the now well established “flavor-descriptor-as-tasting-note” mode of wine review, True Taste: The Seven Essential Wine Words is also a manifesto for the return to values, judgment and discernment in both wine writing and wine reviewing. And it is a book that every wine writer, every wine industry participant and every true wine aficionado needs to read…
Robert Parker, Jr. is wrong. He’s not “part of the problem” In an interview with Drinks Business, Mr. Parker lamented the fact that the world’s most coveted wines are so expensive: “The influential wine critic said that the rising prices of top labels from leading fine wine regions was a ‘problem and a concern’, particularly for the ‘younger generation’, which is being put off the category by the high cost of trying its best products.” Yes, many of the world’s…
Baseball’s spring training is upon us and every respectable baseball geek knows what that means: Preparing for the draft of your fantasy baseball team. It’s a simple game. You draft a team with other geeks also drafting their team and you gain points throughout the season as the players you drafted perform well. It got me thinking. Is there any reason there couldn’t be a Wine Fantasy League? It works like this: 1. 25 Wine Geeks per League 2. In…
Charlie Olken, a man who has seen and tasted more wines than 99.9% of us, makes an interesting observation in the latest Connoisseurs Guide Blog Post: Why the hell are there not more Semillion-Sauvignon Blanc blends produced by American wineries? It’s not as though this blend of whites isn’t both common and well-accepted (see Bordeaux — or, for that matter, see Australia. Or, just talk to the Meritage Alliance). Additionally, this blend of whites has another thing going for it:…
“Actually, it’s not as cushy a job as you think….You really need to be able to concentrate at will and work through some pretty significant palate fatigue,” I said to the incredulous seatmate while flying down to Southern California to judge at the Riverside International Wine Competition. And yet, even after working through flights of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Meritage and Zinfandel today, I have to admit that my incredulous seatmate is right. Judging at a wine competition…
