Critics: Who do you submit to, and why?

John’s thread in Wine, coupled with a decision we made just yesterday, leads me to ask … which critics do you submit to, and why? Which critics do you NOT submit to, and why?

We stopped submitting to WE years ago, way too many silly errors … on our wine profiles and others’. We once saw vastly different scores on two white wines from different producers–that came from the same tank! We stopped submitting to WS years ago because of Laube’s “cab” palate–if sangiovese tastes like cab, high score; if zinfandel tastes like cab, high score; and so on.

Although there is some disrespect here for RP over the Squires’ board, we have always felt that he was an honest, polite, and supportive critic of Paso Robles wines and our winery. However, yesterday we decided to stop submitting wines to the WA. As of now, we are no longer submitting to any critic, although I will be watching Tim Fish’s progress at WS and we may consider submitting to him.

The decision to discontinue with the WA is sad, but pretty much inevitable. We are primarily a zin/Rhone house, and it seems RP has stopped reviewing central coast zins altogether. No reviews for 2005 onward, although Napa wineries buying the same fruit get reviewed on their Paso vineyards. Inexplicable, but there you have it. For the last few years, HdR has been organizing RP’s Rhone tasting. For some poorly planned reason, they sent out the email announcement the Monday after the Paso Robles Zinfandel Festival. Dan and I took Monday and Tuesday off as we were exhausted–this is our biggest sales weekend of the year as it coincides with the release of our spring zins. The RP Rhone tasting filled up in 2 days, Vicki at HdR informed me, but she could put us on a waiting list in case RP decided to extend his visit by a half-day. But to tell you the truth, we were ambivalent about submitting anyway. Of the 5 wines we have to submit, 2 are sold out, 1 almost gone, and 2 just bottled two weeks ago. It’s always been a struggle to submit to RP as he always tasted zins in the fall when we were sold out the spring releases (nearly all Paso producers release their zins in the SPRING) and he tastes cc Rhones in the spring, when the fall releases are sold out. Totally backwards from the majority of release scheduling around here … I know for a fact that some producers are slapping labels and foils on barrel samples and presenting them to Parker, and others are scrambling their bottling schedules around to accomodate him. That is certainly not his fault, but it is a conundrum for many wineries, not just ours.

So there you have it. We no longer have a house critic.

Who are your favorite/least favorite critics, and why?

We just heard that Parker is accepting Zin’s in September, which is good for us because we just bottled our estates and are about to start with the Westside, and they always taste better after a few months in bottle. Whether he will actually publish his results remains to be seen.

He will if they score 85 pts or better.

The 2005’s were submitted across the central coast. I estimate approximately a pallet’s worth of wine was sent to him. No reviews at all. I think the timing may have coincided with his back surgery, but still … no notes, not even a demur. Did anyone in the central coast get an invitation to submit 2006? I don’t know … we’ve discontinued our ZAP membership. Do you have to be a paid member of a wine organization to get reviewed now?

Critics are only one piece of the puzzle. I use trusted contributors to cellartracker (a great source for many recent purchases), blogs, wineboards, select retailers and sommeliers/wine bars. I find many great under-the-radar wines this way long before any major critic reviews them.

Wine critics are over rated!

Although a minor player in the “critic” world, or better put, a “niche” critic (how many people care about Port/Madeira and Douro wine?) I enjoyed reading this thread so far.

I find it difficult to make buying decisions based on what any one else tastes, even if they have highly respected/great palates. I more enjoy the read, than the “advice” … and eloquence and the ability to convey what one is tasting, more from a sensorial perspective than a pantry list of 10 aromas and a plethora of specific descriptors for the flavors.

I pay a ton of attention to drinking windows and that is where I find some critics fail miserably. I am not a fan of those who project such short windows that one doesn’t have to even taste the wine, to know it will exceed those conservative windows. I much prefer someone going out on a limb with their gut, even if they wind up wrong … than a “best from 2009-2013” for a wine that should easily drink well for a decade and surpass 2020 in its prime.

So although I have no wines to submit as I am on the other side of this dynamic, I truly appreciate Mary’s post!

Ahem…