5/1/24, 6:39 PM - It's like all critics, you have to find one who shares your tastes. If Rex Reed hated a movie (Alien) I knew I'd like it and vice versa (Annie Hall). Robert Parker's tastes were a perfect match for mine, I took his ratings as Gospel. FWIW, I gave a bottle of Conundrum to a nephew and he hated it too :) Thanks for your input.
3/18/24, 6:30 PM - Thank you, I'll look for it!
3/4/24, 7:29 PM - My wife and I split a bottle of white at lunch every day and one of red at dinner, so a bottle a day each. Robert Mondavi said his secret to age 94 was TWO per day, so we still have room :)
2/1/24, 9:58 AM - Tanks for the helpful review... I will get a bottle to try, let you know.Bob
2/1/24, 5:00 PM - Unfortunately, can't find it in any of the six shops around me... was it a mail list allocation?
2/1/24, 9:53 AM - You are lucky your wife likes the reasonable one, the N&N and Far Niente are WAY overpriced IMHO.
12/19/23, 10:58 AM - Thanks, Joel... the DM thing came from a deal on 1991 Mondavi Reserve. A guy on the Exchange was a small partner of one of the big NYC wine dealers... the dealer needed to make room and raise money for the new Bordeaux vintage, called my friend and said he had 25 DMs of Mondavi Reserve that he would sell cheap. My guy canvassed his known wine drinker friends and was over-subscribed in 30 minutes :) He bid the dealer $90 a bottle and we bought them. I got three, what great gifts two made! I drank the third with three other couples at a dinner :)
12/5/23, 9:19 AM - Totally agree on bottle shock... I waited three weeks, opened it today and LOVED it.
11/30/23, 5:22 PM - Geez, if you gave it 60 I would expect at least a comment or two on why, just as I would if a wine were rated 100.
10/31/23, 5:53 PM - I'm easily confused these days, my bad... thanks.
10/28/23, 7:37 AM - Please let me know how it goes for you, I'd like to nail down that ours was just an off bottle... it happens.
9/10/23, 11:32 AM - Wow, thanks! We are Grenache lovers so maybe that's why we liked it. We do, however, drink a lot of CDPs, our previous one was 96-97 :) Beaucastel is notably overloaded with Morvedre, I guess that's the art of it.
9/10/23, 11:36 AM - 2016 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape 7/22/2023 - 96 points Drank alongside a 2016 Bevan Tench Cab, it came in second among four drinkers: 97, 96, 96, 96. I was the odd man, gave this one 97 and the Bevan 96. What a beautiful CdP! After a Parker 3-hour double decant, it was explosive but integrated... just enormous, a monster. Wow.
9/10/23, 11:26 AM - Nice review, thoughtful and honest.
7/23/23, 6:17 PM - I use Parker's 3-hour method: decant the wine to a pitcher, wash the bottle out with non-chlorinated water, let it drip dry. Pour the wine back in the bottle, put the cork in 1/2 inch upside down. When you pour it three hours later, one swirl in the glass and it gives you everything it's got.
7/24/23, 8:27 AM - He donated dinner for eight to a fund raiser, and four of us bought it. Wine from his cellar, three flights of eight wines, two bottles of each, so 10 of us drank 48 bottles of the world's greatest wines. Legendary!
6/26/23, 12:35 PM - I have to think your bottles came from a bad case, it happens. I once had a whole case of DRC that was bad... not spoiled, just bad, like maybe it got frozen or cooked in transport. Your tastes are usually not as far from the community as this.
6/18/23, 1:14 PM - Thanks, Mark... there was some left in the pitcher, we tried it the next day: no good. Bad bottle.
6/8/23, 5:55 AM - Ugh... that's the problem with wine you have to lay down for years: by the time you discover it was spoiled, it's too late to get a refund. Once had it happen with a whole case of DRC :(
5/29/23, 1:48 PM - Yikes! Thanks for the update.
5/18/23, 9:15 AM - Didn't get any of that... any time my score is so far out of range I suspect a bad bottle.
5/16/23, 9:55 AM - Great informative review, thank you!
5/12/23, 6:21 PM - You and my wife are on the same page again :)
5/13/23, 6:17 AM - Pinot isn't at the top of my faves... I like it but much prefer Zin and Cab. I did, however, just get a case of 2021 Bel Glos Las Asturas and also one of 2013 WH Smith Maritime. They are selling off everything they had and closing, too bad.
5/10/23, 6:44 AM - Thanks! We do, and I will :)
4/17/23, 8:40 AM - You need to get out more if you think this is a perfect wine.
3/28/23, 6:21 PM - My cousin recommended the 2019 but I couldn't find it here, only the '18. Here's my review: Big and brawny, heavy Zin flavor at first that subsides a bit with air. We liked it a lot with pizza... based on BLUEDOGWINE's review I can't wait to try the 2019.
2/27/23, 6:55 PM - Amen, bro... thanks.
1/31/23, 6:07 PM - I really have to wonder how yours could be so different from ours... could have been a whole case that was bad. I recall driving through Napa one summer Sunday when the temperature was 105. As we passed Krug Winery, I saw a freight car in back with cases of wine partly loaded, nobody around. The wine in that car had to be so cooked it wouldn't last a week.
1/28/23, 1:08 PM - I just posted this: Hyakmaria must have had a bad bottle, we really liked this one. We drank a case of the 2018 and were sorry when we couldn't get any more because it had sold out. I tried the new 2019 warily but was pleasantly surprised that it was at least as good as the '18, maybe even a tick better. A big full Napa red at a bargain price ($17). I'm going back for a case on Monday.
12/16/22, 1:51 PM - I enjoyed your great review of Janasse CDP. As a magazine editor, I can't resist improving it a little by correcting the grammar in the sentence "Everyone owes it to themselves to experience a wine like this at least once (in) their lifetime." Since "Everyone" is singular, it takes singular pronouns, so "their" is not correct unless they are all Trans. It should be Everyone owes it to himself to experience it in his lifetime. If the gender is mixed or unknown, the masculine is correct. If that is too un-PC for you, you have to either use the cumbersome "his or her" or reword the sentence to something like "Everyone should experience ... onjce in a lifetime."Best regards, keep those great reviews coming! Bob
11/30/22, 1:03 PM - So sorry to read your review, it's my pick for dinner tonight... I'll let you know. Bob
10/28/22, 10:57 AM - No, that's just liberal job protection. The wine delivery problem is different, the distributors control the legislature and press them to prohibit deliveries they don't share in.
10/5/22, 12:14 PM - Ha ha, 86? Your review reminds me of the mother watching the parade and crowing, "Look at that, my son is the only one in step!" When I'm that far out of line with other reviewers, I at least allow that it was an off bottle.
8/15/22, 5:16 PM - You're a tough marker if you gave a "pretty good" wine a 73, that's a bare C. We liked it a lot more than that, a strong B+
8/16/22, 7:15 AM - We occasionally have that problem: we don't much like it but it's a well-made wine that just isn't to our taste. I am usually a bit forgiving in those cases. Thanks for your reply!
7/23/22, 2:18 PM - Your review reminds me of the woman watching a parade who remarked, "Look at that, my son is the only one in step!" Maybe you got a bad bottle? I always suspect that when I am so far from everybody else.
6/15/22, 2:05 PM - Just had the 2020 Roar Sobranes Chard and agree with your review right down the line... but I got half the bottle :)
3/31/22, 1:33 PM - Jeb Dunnuck is spotty... his credibility stems from his being hired by Parker, but we have found him to be less than totally reliable. I tend to discount his big scores, we have never duplicated them. For our money, the CT community is far more reliable... in this case three 93s and three 94s (including yours) vs. Jeb's 97.Bob
3/31/22, 5:47 PM - The worst is Suckling... he has figured out how to game the system: he knows the sellers will always cite the best score so he pumps his grades up to be the highest. Go in any wine store and look at the shelf cards: Suckling, Suckling, Suckling. That leads newbies to think Suckling must be the authority, when in reality he is just a whore.
3/8/22, 6:10 PM - I had the same question and wrote to Martinelli... answer was ambiguous but sounds like they are almost the same. We have had both and maybe the Jackass was a tick better than the Hill? Hard to say.
3/5/22, 3:59 PM - Just had the '16 Pandora, posted this: Wow, what a Grenache! Much better than the '15 that was "only" 95. Above 95, every point is a BIG increase. We thought RHONEWHO was exuberant with his 99 score, now we agree. This is celestial. I hate to pay $200 for a wine but once in a while it's worth it... this is one.
3/7/22, 6:59 PM - Thanks, Rhone... great minds in the same gutter :)
3/3/22, 6:46 PM - We agree on this one. Air time can simulate aging but certainly not duplicate it. Let's compare notes in 2025 if I'm still kicking :)
3/3/22, 9:19 AM - Just so you know, 100 means a perfect wine. This isn't that by a very long shot.
2/18/22, 5:55 PM - Trying to be fair to a reliable vineyard... it wasn't to our taste but it's well made, just less there than we expected. It's a B+ red. Thanks for questioning, it is a little contradictory :(Bob
2/16/22, 5:48 PM - Thanks Magic, I'll look for them. I recently bit the bullet and bought an $80 Pahlmeyer. was hugely disappointed. I very much appreciate your comments. Bob
2/11/22, 10:14 AM - You write a good review but I don't get why you don't put a number on it... A is 90 and above, B is 80-89, C is 70-79. It really helps me understand how much you liked it.
2/11/22, 6:46 PM - Thank you!
1/29/22, 4:15 PM - Wine tasting is SO subjective, but we totally disagree ... your review was thoughtful and intelligent, but we loved our bottle. Great fun, isn't it?Bob
1/28/22, 6:26 PM - Thanks!
1/27/22, 5:44 PM - What does "Took to tippy" mean?
1/22/22, 1:37 PM - I know wine tasting is very subjective, but your 88 is kind of an outlier in all those mid-90 scores... could it have been an off bottle?
1/18/22, 12:14 PM - Excellent, helpful review, thanks!
1/5/22, 5:56 PM - Sorry, Jake, I forgot what I paid and went by the Wine-Searcher number at the upper right. Turns out I paid $480 for a 3-pack with shipping and tax, so the $162 at the lower right is probably correct. My bad. Nevertheless, the price seems high for a wine we gave 93.
12/10/21, 10:00 AM - Good score, but maybe a touch disappointing? I would have expected an '89 Mouton to knock you off your feet, but I've never had that vintage.
10/31/21, 9:58 AM - I’m guessing you liked the wine but I don’t waste time reading a review with no numerical score. Did you like it a lot (93) or just a little (86)? It’s not complicated, it mirrors your grammar school grades: A = 90 and above, B = 80-89, C = 70-79… below that is “Dislike.”
11/1/21, 9:49 AM - Thank you, that helps!
11/21/21, 1:33 PM - Well I guess it depends on whether you want to add value by helping other users or just see yourself talk. How hard is it to assign a numerical score?
11/21/21, 1:41 PM - To Rat: "points mean nothing"? Maybe you should ask Robert Parker, the world's best taster, who popularized the 100-point scale. But I guess you know more about wine than he does. Riiight.
11/22/21, 6:24 AM - A score tells me how much YOU liked the wine. After that, the trick is to find raters whose taste reflects yours. It's like movie critics: if Rex Reed liked one I knew I'd hate it, but if Ebert did I watched.
11/22/21, 5:45 PM - Guillermo said, "Ebert liked The English Patient. That movie sucked" -- it sure did... nobody's perfect, not even me LOL
11/22/21, 5:49 PM - Flyboy said, "Their only value was to drive sales" I'll bet you think the CIA faked the moon landings, am I right?
11/23/21, 11:24 AM - Depends on how you use it... when I get an email solicitation for wine (I get a lot of them) the first thing I do is look it up on Cellar Tracker. We are hard markers, our ratings are almost always several points lower than the pros who award points on things like color and aroma. We score almost exclusively on taste. If the CT score is 90 or above, I look further, if it is in the 80s I just delete the email. Numbers are valuable to me.
11/24/21, 7:10 AM - LastBottles is one of the few I don't get, best is Wine Library in Springfield, NJ. -- lots of deals at sale prices and free shipping. Although they can get a little pesty, it's worth it and I like them.
11/24/21, 10:03 AM - It's a big cellar... when I receive new allocations like the current crop of 2019s and have to find room, I often find old stuff I let go way too long. Recently found 5 bottles of 1993 Montelena, was astonished that it was still so good, usually they have faded away. Biggest recent surprise, however, was that the mag of 1974 Mayacamas was alive and well :)
11/24/21, 2:16 PM - Tried to register there twice without success, gave up.
11/25/21, 6:07 AM - RichEB1 thinks Montelena doesn't fade? ALL wines fade. They improve in the bottle for varying lengths of time until they reach a plateau of full development. They remain there for varying years, depending on how they were made and stored. Eventually they ALL start to decline, including giants like Lafite. The fruit dries out and eventually mostly disappears.I recently found five bottles of the '93 Montelena in my cellar and am enjoying them, the first was 92, next one was 94. But they are less robust and fresh than they were 10-12 years ago when we drank the other seven. All wines fade.
11/21/21, 1:38 PM - I'm guessing some bottles age differently... I added another bottle score of 94, that's pretty good! Thanks for your comment.
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