Ahhhh...."Value"!

[pwn.gif] [pwn.gif] [pwn.gif] [scratch.gif] [scratch.gif] [scratch.gif] Seriously? With a straight face?

Preposterous. How could this make print?

Sorry…I’m LeVineing right now.

It’s an April 1st edition you dummy, you just got it early [whistle.gif]

Offensive. Actually offensive.

Putting the points there makes it look even more ridiculous. What were they thinking? I love the juxtaposition of the Carruades at $400 and 92 points on top of the Lynch-Bages at $150 and 96 points, with the former characterized as the one that offers “value”! By their own terms, the headline here should be “Chateau Lynch-Bages Offers Great Value,” not “Second Labels Offer Great Value.” (Of course, all these wines offer shitty value, but you get the point.)

Agreed, but I would add the modifier “highly” in front of “offensive”.

But not surprising, either. The pretentiousness of this magazine turned me off so badly back in the mid-to-late '90s that I cancelled my subscription. I have a hard time even looking at it when it’s free.

I did smile when I saw that. I haven’t read the inside pages yet, so I can’t say for sure. I suppose if you must have Lafite or Latour, then there is some value in the second labels. Its absurd what has happened to their pricing. Possibly more absurd than the pricing on the Grand Vin although that’s a close call. Personally, I like the magazine for light reading and some interesting profiles. The tasting notes are like any other publication, I like some reviewers more than others. I simply can’t get to the level of being offended over it.

Sure. I’m picking up a couple of cases of Carruades for early consumption, weeknight drinking, that sort of thing. You know, nothing serious, just a little value wine. Cellar defender. Thanks for the tip WS!

Yup, Robert…that’s the one/big gripe I have about the publication. The glitzy ads for Ferarris and personal jets I just ignore. But it’s the pretentious/seld-laudatory tone of their writing that
continues to irk me. The don’t score wines on the 100-pt scalle. They use the WineSpectator 100-pt scale. Every time the do a section on Calif Syrah, they point out how they
discovered the greatness of Calif Syrah back in '94 (or whenever)…ignoring that it was Parker who really discovered Syrah in Calif…well before any of us knew the actually grew
Syrah in Calif.
Of late, they have had occasional articles by younger writers that I find well-written and informative, w/o dripping with the pretentious tone. And I often enjoy Kramer’s columns,
though I sorta get a sense that he’s running out of original ideas or things to say.
So, come June, I’ll start getting notices to renew (my subscription expires in January), will continue to toss them in the wastebasket until Dec rolls around and I
get that dreaded “Final Notice”, will break out into a cold sweat, develop tremors, lose sleep, and then…once again…sign that postcard to re-up another year.
Lemme tell you…it ain’t easy being a Laube sheep…bahhhhhhh.
Tom

Funny, but before I ended my many eyar subscription, I got to the point that about the only thing I read was Kramer. Just recently I read a column of his while stuck on an airplane, and I thought to myself the exact same thing, is he running out of things to say after all these years?

I just buy a $10 bottle of current vintage Beaujolais and slapped a handmade label on it that says “Chatoh Lafeet” written in crayon. All sorts of “value” with that one…

Bruce (TFIC)

I think of WS as an aspirational consumer lifestyle magazine, not really a place to go for help selecting wines.

The cover is funny.

But Echo de Lynch Bages is hilarious! Echo of Lynch Bages?! How about Whisp of Lafite? Shadow of Latour?

“Lynch Bages and the Echomen” was already taken? [snort.gif]

Bruce

You guys actually read the articles??!? I just look at the pictures

I agree, or at least that was my opinion years and years ago when I last read it.

I had the feeling Bordeaux was moving towards re-designation as ‘the Asylum,’ long before that tag was adopted here.

I actually thought the article on Angelo Gaja in the October 2011 issue (written by Mitch Frank) was one of the best pieces that I have read there in the 4 years or so that I have subscribed to the magazine. Haven’t read anything that good since then however…

Apologist apologizes with: Well, they’re great values relative to their 1st labels…right?

Easily the worst cover I’ve ever seen from WS. As a magazine that publishes whole issues on value wines (under $20, over 90), and has a buyers guide that highlights value wines each month, I can’t fathom how they would print a COVER indicating that a wine that amounts to a 92 point bottle of Harlan Estate (the Carruades) offers good VALUE. That’s really unfathomable.

Also, who buys Carruades? If money was literally no issue, I’d not buy a bottle of it. I’d just buy lafite. If money really is an issue, and you can afford $400 a bottle at the top and want to cellar fill with bordeaux, why would you ever buy Carruades? There are dozens of producers each year at that price point that produce far better wines. I just don’t get it.

As for WS adds…what’s this about private jets and ferraris? It’s mostly adds for $13 wine, importers, the occasional watch, and $50 liquors. Not really that intimidating or extravagant.

MMM… Let me do my math, For a bottle of Lafite, I can get 12 bottles of Lynch Bages!!! Decision, decision… Let me check my bank account… and I will settle for 6 bottles each of Gazin and Grand Puy Lacoste, with enough left over for a 6 pack JJ Prum [snort.gif] … and pay for a good lunch with a bottle of said riesling.

Cheers