@FritzCat On one of the RPM tours, there was a winery where the tour opened with the guide boasting how their wines all got high scores from Parker and/or his magazine.
Somewhat- Figure there’ll be lots of comments on this. I first check CellarTracker. Then if there’s any other press I’m interested in that. Mostly I look for descriptors that define taste profiles I prefer. Any press helps to lend some legitimacy to a wine- it’s good enough to send in free bottles for tasting or large enough production. Not critical (get it), however can help to sway a buy.
There was a recent article on Vox showing that Cellar Tracker ratings were highly-correlated to Expert ratings.
We buy almost all of our wine from wineries we visit, but we live in Southern California so that makes that possible.
I’m always reading email and articles about wine, so I tend to try wines that are hot topics (recently I bought an Achaval Ferrer Malbec) if I’m going to try something new.
I prefer critic scores to wine competition medals, and to Cellar Tracker because of the consistency. But that said, I only trust a small handful of critics. I like to use the phrase “directionally accurate” when considering critical scores.
Agreed- I ask my fellow wine lovers as well. CT is good fir seeing how a vintage is progressing, esp for older vintages. A recent example would be 2014 Louis Martini CS Alex Valley. 97 RP(!) 90 or so everywhere else. It’s a 90 point wine in my opinion. The press drove down the availability. CT is somewhere in between…
Depends entirely on whether I respect the critic’s palate. Just because someone is highly paid wine reviewer does not mean they know anything at all about wine. And, of course, each reviewer has his or her own palate and preferences. Some of them have palates consistent with my own, others do not.
Parker!
@FritzCat On one of the RPM tours, there was a winery where the tour opened with the guide boasting how their wines all got high scores from Parker and/or his magazine.
He really didn’t know his audience!
If someone named a wine ‘Auto Buy’ I’d be in for a case! I’m a sucker like that.
Somewhat- Figure there’ll be lots of comments on this. I first check CellarTracker. Then if there’s any other press I’m interested in that. Mostly I look for descriptors that define taste profiles I prefer. Any press helps to lend some legitimacy to a wine- it’s good enough to send in free bottles for tasting or large enough production. Not critical (get it), however can help to sway a buy.
There was a recent article on Vox showing that Cellar Tracker ratings were highly-correlated to Expert ratings.
We buy almost all of our wine from wineries we visit, but we live in Southern California so that makes that possible.
I’m always reading email and articles about wine, so I tend to try wines that are hot topics (recently I bought an Achaval Ferrer Malbec) if I’m going to try something new.
I prefer critic scores to wine competition medals, and to Cellar Tracker because of the consistency. But that said, I only trust a small handful of critics. I like to use the phrase “directionally accurate” when considering critical scores.
Agreed- I ask my fellow wine lovers as well. CT is good fir seeing how a vintage is progressing, esp for older vintages. A recent example would be 2014 Louis Martini CS Alex Valley. 97 RP(!) 90 or so everywhere else. It’s a 90 point wine in my opinion. The press drove down the availability. CT is somewhere in between…
93/100
Depends entirely on whether I respect the critic’s palate. Just because someone is highly paid wine reviewer does not mean they know anything at all about wine. And, of course, each reviewer has his or her own palate and preferences. Some of them have palates consistent with my own, others do not.