Lots of interest being shown because of the CT integration with Burghound (Neal M sums up the uprising of the peasants over there quite well).
WOMAN: Well, 'ow did you become king then?
ARTHUR: The Lady of the Lake,
[angels sing]
her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur
from the bosom of the water signifying by Divine Providence that I,
Arthur, was to carry Excalibur.
[singing stops]
That is why I am your king!
DENNIS: Listen – strange women lying in ponds distributing swords
is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power
derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical
aquatic ceremony.
ARTHUR: Be quiet!
DENNIS: Well you can’t expect to wield supreme executive power
just ‘cause some watery tart threw a sword at you!
ARTHUR: Shut up!
DENNIS: I mean, if I went around sayin’ I was an empereror just
because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me they’d
put me away!
ARTHUR: Shut up! Will you shut up!
DENNIS: Ah, now we see the violence inherent in the system.
ARTHUR: Shut up!
DENNIS: Oh! Come and see the violence inherent in the system!
HELP! HELP! I’m being repressed!
My market doesn’t have a decent Burg selection (and I’ll note that some of them are really expensive ) so it’s hard for me to justify the subscription unless…
…his CA and OR ratings make it worthwhile. I’ll broaden this question: who would you point to for CA and OR (more so) Pinot reviews? Besides, of course, the talented “drink first, shoot later” folks here in Berserkerville?
Consider The Fine Wine Review (http://www.finewinereview.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;), published by my old friend (and sometime board participant) Claude Kolm. The FWR focuses mainly on Burgundy, Rhones and Germans, and the PDF form is half the price of Burghound. Claude’s been visiting the cellars for more than 20 years and really knows Burgundy.
I love the Monty Python. (I just rewatched The Holy Grail a few weeks ago and was in tears.)
I know that Allen is in Europe for several weeks. Obviously I am an impartial observer, since I want Allen to sell as many subscriptions as possible and think that this whole CT thing was a good idea. So take me with a grain of salt.
That said, here is Allen’s own logic from his home page which does speak to some of your question:
And Now A Word About Money …
It’s not news that anything connected with Burgundy ain’t cheap. Anyone suggesting - as I am - that they can give you the skinny on what you really ought to buy (and know) about Burgundy-and says that they can do it for free - is, well, being less than honest. Something’s got to give. Either the information is way too old (as in some magazines), inexpertly judged (no names, no names!) or just plain shallow.
All of which is to say that this site costs money. Each product has a price and while that price is reasonable compared to the value delivered, it’s still not free. For example, a year’s worth of the quarterly Journal will run you the equivalent of about four bottles of Bourgogne rouge, or 1 1/2 bottles of Sonoma Pinot, or not even one bottle of grand cru, if you like to think that way. Any way you look at it, it’s not much money compared to the painful cost of landing on bad Burgundies or Pinots; consider that it’s only one bad bottle of grand cru avoided and you’ve paid for an entire year. The best edge you can get as a Burgundy/Pinot buyer is timely, well-judged knowledge. That’s what I intend to provide.
I am sure lots of other folks here have thoughts on this.
I would say that if you’re really only interested in the CA and OR reviews, it’s probably not worth the price. You’d do better just to buy the one issue per year that covers those wines (OK, well, OR got pushed to the next issue this time around, but in the past they’ve been in the same issue). I think it’s also worth considering that the CA reviews are not necessarily always valuable from a purchasing standpoint. By the time the reviews appear, many of the wines will have already been sold, or are only available by mailing list anyway. There can be a lot of value in learning about producers you have no experience with though. The OR reviews are not exhaustive. There are a number of producers, some board favorites, who do not submit wines for review.
The argument for going with a yearly subscription is that there are also reviews of Chablis, Maconnais, and Champagne (once every two years). Those might mean offer you something even if many of the burg producers are not available.
Third thing is that A Southern Season stocks a number of excellent burgundy producers. It’s true that they’re not cheap, but there are often bottles there that would be snapped up in an instant at those prices if there were winesearcher listings.
My issue is that Burghound is as close to a wine guide as I have. I love Pinot. He covers all aspects of Pinot, right on down to sparkling, and have had success after success. He’s turned me on to things like Rivers Marie, Rhys, Ant Hill Farms and quite a few others that were right in front of my face. I also agree with his view point of wines like Aubert, Martinelli, Marcassin and Kistler, which also means a ton to me.
It depends on what camp you are in. If you like the first group of Cali wines, jump on board, if you like the second group, jump away.
I wouldn’t subscribe to any of the major newsletters just for the wine reviews. After all, if the reviews are any good, retailers will quote them in their listings. Wine publications are worth reading when they have good content other than reviews. The main things I like in Burghound are the retrospectives with the detailed background essays and the fact that Allen preserves the tasting order in which the wines were presented by the producer, which is often more informative than the notes themselves since they give you an idea of the hierarchy the producers assign to their own wines.
![[swoon.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/f/f425e8dac3e7344bee264da02e55428971be23a9.gif "swoon"){kind=small}
) so it’s hard for me to justify the subscription unless…