Archive for the ‘Rating Wine’ Category
I hate to keep bringing up the cynicism of wine wholesalers (yea….right) but it occurs to me that the new Michigan Direct Shipping legislation that passed the Michigan State House and that the Governor is about to sign might just be the result of truly conspiratorial and cynical thinking and maneuvers on the part of wine wholesalers. The law, while it allows any winery anywhere to ship direct to Michigan consumers, only allows Michigan wineries to sell direct to retailers….
The San Francisco Chronicle listed their Top 100 Wines of the year this weekend. First, let’s congratulate the San Francisco Chronicle. Theirs is the only only "wine section" in any daily paper in America. Most, or at least many, Daily papers include a wine column or wine story in their food section. Yet, none but the Chronicle offer an entire section devoted to the wine. Linda Murphy, with the help of Lynn Char Bennett, edits the section. W. Blake Grey…
I was on the phone earlier today with a wine writer. They needed a sample of a client’s wine for an article they were working on (I obliged, of course, understand the basic truth "if they can’t taste it, they can’t write about it). In the course of our discussion that ranged from Terroir to Writing, we found ourselves bumped up against two "absurdities" that exist in the wine world. The recognition of both these absurdities rendered us both speechless…
Always lots of talk about Robert Parker among wine lovers. We’ve got books on Parker, articles on Parker and just about every wine store you go into has some sort of Parker quote. Not only does he have an impressive palate, but his palate breeds debate. But it strikes me that in large part Robert Parker is what he writes and rates. So with that in mind, here is list, by varietal, of the percentage of California wines that received…
When Robert Parker, Jr. is brought up in a conversation he, for obvious reasons, get nailed for making everyone so concerned with numbers and scores. Without getting into the usefulness of scores, it’s hard to argue with the fact that Parker has done as much as any one else to popularize the practice of turning a wine in to a number. That said, you don’t here as many people talk about his ability to describe a wine. He’s very good…
