AG scores for Napa 2016 Part 1

WINE TALK
61

Did AG only give out 5 100 point scores for his round 1? For some reason, I thought he dished out a lot more.

JD just released his part 1 and there must have been at least 2 dozen - and I know Lisa gave out at least that many.

Cheers

62

AG was only 5 for both parts combined.

63

Not sure what there is to disagree with. Point scores, or actual wine tasting notes? I recall a wine, reviewed by 2 critics about a few months back, Pinot Noir, same point score, and yet tasting notes that could not be any different. Diametrically, actually. As if the 2 tasted absolutely 2 different wines made by 2 different winemakers. And yet, same score.

And as Larry pointed out, those in the business seem to see and know a bit more about how tastings are conducted and how absolutely different tasting set up ends up with a very different take on wine. Some distributors very carefully orchestrate their portfolio’s tastings, at their premises, each set of wine reviewers gets a chunk of time to go through, then another group is rushed in. All of it highly manipulated. Other distributors assemble their portfolio and also do it all in one sitting, either at some winery or some restaurant. Don’t care who the reviewer is, but at some point your palate goes dead, especially when dozens of wines of different makeup are sitting in front of you. Then you taste a 200% new oak Napa Cab, what happens to next one right after, or a few rather, that only see 100% new oak, or less? Or a very aggressive oak followed by more elegant? Or mountain grown fruit with huge tannins followed by valley floor on the elegant side? Its one thing when we gather at smaller tastings and organize flights, and go over 15-20 wines, over 4-5 hours, WITH FOOD, one can re-taste at his/her leisure, reviewers do not do that and actually are not afforded the time at most of these carefully orchestrated distributor settings. Hell, I’ve observed one well known reviewer at a large scale tasting my tasting group conducted a good number of years ago unable to keep up with the 4 glasses in front of him, and requiring assistance from a winemaker sitting next to him (this one is next!). A few of us were watching the scene and asking ourselves, “Who the hell trusts this guy’s reviews? And why?”

As one rather well known reviewer admitted to me when I asked pointedly what does it mean when they state “wine tasted blind”, the answer was “Well, we do taste blind, but when we reveal after scoring we then sometimes adjust scores a few points up or down depending on producer/winemaker”. Huh!? Exactly as Larry pointed out above, all reviewers have their own favorites, or not.

Seems AG did a good job spreading his tasting over 20 odd days, I’d trust his take on wines over those who do 100+ wines in one sitting. Have not had the wine in question, Tynan, as I rarely drink Cabs/blends these days, but at least AG provided a tasting note that he feels has justified his score. And as also pointed out above, 88-91 is not a “killer” score, just a solid wine IMO.

Buy and drink what you like, not what someone else says you should be. Tynan got a lower than expected score (for you)? Great! Buy it and enjoy it, less competition for you. Why do you feel your preference should be justified by someone else? If you trust your own palate, that is.

64

You really don’t know the issues scoring raises when it comes time to order wines from a mailer? I find that hard to believe.

For instance, I received an offer from Kapcsandy last week. AG gave the 2015 Kapcsandy wines relatively low scores, including an 88 for the Estate Cuvee. He has given Kapcsandy high scores in the past and gave the 2016 high scores, so it’s not like he doesn’t like the wines as a general matter. So I have to figure out if:

  1. AG is correct and Kapcsandy screwed the pooch with their 2015 wines;
  2. AG tasted the wines when they weren’t showing well;
  3. AG tasted the wines when he wasn’t at his sharpest; or
  4. the scores were a result of random variation.

LPB gave those wines relatively good scores, so there are additional data points, but how should I reconcile the differences? The wines aren’t cheap, and I have to respond by Friday.

65

After reading this thread and the disparate opinions here about specific wines my opinion of Galloni’s usefulness for my palate just went way up. I had written him off.

66

Jeb Dunnuck - gave the '15 Kapcsandy GV 100 , Lisa Brown (WA) gave the '15 Kapcsandy GV 99 .
Dunnuck gave the '15 Kap Estate 97, Brown gave the same 95 . [scratch.gif]