Moral: Don't piss off Alice Feiring!

[Humberto_Dorta]

I knew that wine sounded familiar!
While Im all for making a mockery of Jay for personal reasons, that was just not funny. Piss poor piece of writing.

[TomHill]

@Brian Loring

To me, it just seems that Alice doesn’t like this style of wine. Nothing new there… she can get in line behind Eric Asimov, Matt Kramer, etc.

Yup, Brian…it can be organic/bio/natural made…exactly the kind of wine Alice espouses. But if it’s made in the (so-called) Parker style, she’s a notta gonna like it.
Plus, I suspect that she’s never even tasted the wine. Which is OK…she’s mocking the TN…not the wine.
I wouldn’t be losing any sleep over the fact Alice doesn’t like a wine you happen to have in your cellar. There are worse things in life.
Tom

[H_Wallace_Jr]

@Brian Loring

@H Wallace Jr

I’m sure this is what gets her goat more than anything…
“Vina Sastre is a benchmark estate in Ribera del Duero. It is committed to organic farming and biodynamic principles with the wines naturally made”…

Why? While the “benchmark” comment is arguable (but I happen to agree), the rest is a statement of fact. I’m not a proponent of biodynamic farming, but it seems to works for Sastre and their Pesus. And just because a wine is big and bold, it doesn’t mean that there was any “spoof”. If someone wants to point at the 200% new oak as “un-natural”, I disagree. It may be a bit extreme, but given that DRC uses 100% new oak on Pinot Noir, I don’t see that 200% on incredibly (naturally) concentrated Tempranillo is that big a deal. And certainly within the bounds of natural winemaking (IMHO).

To me, it just seems that Alice doesn’t like this style of wine. Nothing new there… she can get in line behind Eric Asimov, Matt Kramer, etc.

I won’t speak for Alice, but the tone is that this level of concentration (plus gobs of 200% or 300% new oak) is unnatural (whether done “naturally” or not). This is clearly not her style, though I’d put her in the front of that line of people that don’t like this style.

And yes, she is mocking the note and critic more than the wine…

[Frank_Drew]

This doesn’t sound like a wine I’d like, but I agree that Alice Feiring was just taking a cheap shot; I think it says more about her than about Miller or Viña Sastre.

[Jorge_Henriquez]

My question is: how did Dr. JSM actually piss her off?

[Brian_Loring]

@Nathan Smyth

Are these barrels in Lompoc?

If so, is it a new facility?

Yep! Our barrel room is large enough that we don’t have to stack full barrels!

[C_Bowman]

@Brian Loring

@Nathan Smyth

Are these barrels in Lompoc?

If so, is it a new facility?

Yep! Our barrel room is large enough that we don’t have to stack full barrels!

It’s awesome & perfect for Fest-tivities

[Paul_L_i_n]

[Wes_Barton]

@TomHill

@Brian Loring

To me, it just seems that Alice doesn’t like this style of wine. Nothing new there… she can get in line behind Eric Asimov, Matt Kramer, etc.

Yup, Brian…it can be organic/bio/natural made…exactly the kind of wine Alice espouses. But if it’s made in the (so-called) Parker style, she’s a notta gonna like it.
Plus, I suspect that she’s never even tasted the wine. Which is OK…she’s mocking the TN…not the wine.
I wouldn’t be losing any sleep over the fact Alice doesn’t like a wine you happen to have in your cellar. There are worse things in life.
Tom

She would have said if she’d tasted it.

Note that Josh Raynolds rated the 3 previous vintages 95 pts.

I’ve never read anything she’s written that didn’t take pot shots at Parker. She comes across as a whack job. In that LA Times ESJ article she wrote, she slammed Parker endlessly, contradicted herself, made ignorant blanket statements about CA wine, and promoted her book shamelessly (which I found unethical). (Oh, and since when is rating a wine 88 or 89 pts a “slam”?)

I share her wine preferences. It would be nice to see her drop her unhealthy Parker obsession and put some effort into seeking out the many many other CA wineries that she would like, and then actually talk about them.

[Roberto_Rogness]

Alice is gonna drop by here on Saturday. We’ve talked on the phone & exchanged a lot of e-mail but it will be fun to meet her…

[H_Wallace_Jr]

@Wes Barton

She comes across as a whack job. In that LA Times ESJ article she wrote, she slammed Parker endlessly, contradicted herself, made ignorant blanket statements about CA wine, and promoted her book shamelessly (which I found unethical). (Oh, and since when is rating a wine 88 or 89 pts a “slam”?)

The LA Times article was an interesting response to something that shocked a lot of people. The ESJ spanking handed out by WA was really over the top (especially for the time). A lot of people saw it as a personal attack on ESJ, and It developed a lot of chatter on the other board-- I think she wrote about it very well, and defended a CA vintner and style she admires. Who else piped in on mainstream press?

Again- I’m a huge Alice fan, and have found her writing to have a lot more to offer than beating up the WA. Is she on the fringe? For sure, but that’s part of what I like about reading her stuff.

[Ken_Zinns]

@Roberto Rogness

Alice is gonna drop by here on Saturday. We’ve talked on the phone & exchanged a lot of e-mail but it will be fun to meet her…

I met her about 5 years ago, in Paso Robles just before HdR. Had no idea who she was and actually didn’t remember meeting her at all until Eric Anderson (who was with me at the time) jogged my memory more recently. IIRC she was battling a cold or allergies at the time and didn’t say much.

[gene_keenan]

sorry for not reading the whole thread but what a completely idiotic review by feiring

[Nick_Ryan]

+1, pretty funny. Tempranillo is not meant to be treated in this way, it has an inherent rusticity that just results in a vile concoction if one tries to make a fruit-bomb out of it; the same with Grenache.

[Roberto_Rogness]

And Sangiovese, Nebbiolo and Gagliopo…

[Keith_Levenberg]

@Wes Barton

(Oh, and since when is rating a wine 88 or 89 pts a “slam”?)

Since certain critics figured out it was an easy way to slam something in the text but cover their ass from criticism by attaching a score that’s nominally respectable but clearly designed to dissuade anyone from buying the wine.

[Nathan_Smyth]

@Brian Loring

@Nathan Smyth

Are these barrels in Lompoc?

If so, is it a new facility?

Yep! Our barrel room is large enough that we don’t have to stack full barrels!

Dude - it looks like an aircraft hanger - I feel like I can barely see all the way to the far wall.

Does this call for quitting your day job?

[jon_leifer]

Reading this thread feels like old home week, nice to see so many familiar “faces”…Won’t pile on re Alice…Read her book and that was enuff for me…Just thought I wd say hello


Jon

[Pau1_M3nk3s]

@Keith Levenberg

@Wes Barton

(Oh, and since when is rating a wine 88 or 89 pts a “slam”?)

Since certain critics figured out it was an easy way to slam something in the text but cover their ass from criticism by attaching a score that’s nominally respectable but clearly designed to dissuade anyone from buying the wine.

+1. IIRC the review included the line “if you want to make french wines, go to France”.

OOTO I’d like to try the wine A.F. dissed.

[Cris_Whetstone]

@Wes Barton

I share her wine preferences. It would be nice to see her drop her unhealthy Parker obsession and put some effort into seeking out the many many other CA wineries that she would like, and then actually talk about them.

Well said. She doesn’t seem to have much to say other than she doesn’t like RMP and all things related. That could be entertaining occasionally but unfortunately the writing isn’t clever or novel leaving her just sounding like a angry zealot versus someone contributing to the wine writing world.