Blind leading the blind leading the deaf and dumb. The wine culture in America is laughable, and never more so than in times like this. Not only does the Emperor have no clothes, his loyal subjects are buck-ass naked, too. And Kevin Shin, stop crowing about your “genius” on both boards. Predicting Parker scores has been an exercise in shooting fish in a barrel for some time, and only the foolish, naive denizens of eBob read each new recounting of The Dead Palate Walking’s Bordeaux scores with wide-eyed innocence and reverence. But then again, Bordeaux is a fool’s game anyway. Its lovers get fleeced in the secondary market by the speculators, and, interestingly, Parker has fueled the flames of both camps.
Oh, and those of you who subscribe, don’t miss the amateurish, self-congratulatory video of Galloni “interviewing” Parker on the subject of Bordeaux. It will make you nostalgic for the worst video work of Suckling or Vaynerchuk…
Bill,
For someone who so enjoys a good life, you seem way too bitter. The reason why I am so excited about the 09 Beausejour Duffau is that this was the most memorable wine of my trip. I wasn’t expecting loving the wine so much. Consequently I told a number of friends to buy the wine at EP and some did, bought at sub $100. Then the 10 was coming out really late so I told everyone to buy more and some did and I also added more. I bought a lot and it is exciting on my part to see the Bob’s upgrade. As I said in the past, 100 point really is meaningless as it is an extremely imprecise tool. I believe that buying the 100 and 99 pointers at this late stage is simply unwise per my experiences with the 03s and the 05s.
Kevin,
Would you say that you and Bob tend to like the same wines?
Unless you are either (1) going to sell some of the Beausejour Duffau or (2) view buying the bottles you bought a savings over bottles you would have otherwise bought now, I really don’t understand why it matters to you what Bob scored it; I assume either (1) or (2) or both apply to you, no?
As I said earlier, this is the wine that I believe in. Whether like it or not, Bob moves the market. I recommended this wine to my friends and others with conviction. It is nice to know that we own a 100 pointer. As I said before there is no romance in Bordeaux anymore, it is a financial decision.
What’s notable about Troplong Mondot is that they have been making wines in this style longer than anyone, which enables us to say based on experience that none of them have lived up to whatever early promise has been ascribed to them. Apparently this is not thought by Parker to be a relevant factor in evaluating the current release. I am almost afraid to ask what drinking window he recommended for it.
Well, your own palate is driving this conclusion. For those who like this kind of wine (and I really suspect you are outnumbered here) a great many of them are still well received. The 2000, for example, has very much “lived up to whatever early promise has been ascribed to them.” Whether you or I like them is irrelevant; it isn’t as though the fans of the wine believe it has failed to deliver on its initial promise.
So, this is what it’s about, then? Or, do you plan on selling some for profit? Or, are you saying you already profited by purchasing before the 100 b/c the price increased and if you hadn’t purchased before you would have purchased after?
Brian, who cares what he intends to do with it? To me, owning such a wine is a novelty and it’s always nice to get in when the prices are “low”, so I can see why that would make someone happy.
Neal - that hasn’t been my obseveration. I’ve seen a lot of Troplong-Mondot notes over the years by people who are not discinlined to like the style, and it seems to me that the further out from the vintage you go the more disappointments and overtly flawed bottles are noted. Not sure about the 2000 but it certainly seems true for 1989, 1990, maybe 1995 too, but I stopped paying attention awhile ago.
Let me get this straight. I do not buy the PC on 2/29 because I think it is overpriced and yet on 3/1 it gets the magic score of 100 and so what, they raise the price so it is still overpriced is it not? If it was too expensive before, I would buy it now at a 50% increase because…? If you want to flip the wine, then maybe, but then you are in wine speculation not wine drinking/collecting. Reminds me of the old dotcom days, YAHOO at $250 was too expensive, but then those people bought at $400 (and lost their money by the way). The lesson is not to chase after things in the first place.
The whole Bordeaux scam wine critic hype machine seems to think the answer to getting out of a hole, is to keep digging.
Ok Bob sorry I was being a little bit of a jerk. I just thought it was ironic that one of the two cases of Bordeaux I own is a 100 pointer. Plus, I always wanted to do the “this guy” thing. It always makes me laugh. I bought it because at the time I was still buying Bordeaux. Even though I was drinking less and less. At one point I had over 50 cases but now have this and a case of 05 Pontet Canet. Will I keep it ? For now probably. At least until I find a case of Burgundy that I could replace it with. Speaking of, don’t I have something for you?
Well, your own palate is driving this conclusion. For those who like this kind of wine (and I really suspect you are outnumbered here) a great many of them are still well received. The 2000, for example, has very much “lived up to whatever early promise has been ascribed to them.” Whether you or I like them is irrelevant; it isn’t as though the fans of the wine believe it has failed to deliver on its initial promise.[/quote]
Wait, in your first post you say “based on experience that none of them have lived up to whatever early promise has been ascribed to them.” In your second post, you refer to three wines, none since 1995?
I am not debating the quality of the wine with you. I am saying that it is rather suspect to claim that the fans of the wine have been disappointed because “none of them” have delivered on early promise, when (a) the evidence suggests that the fans of the wine don’t seem to share that view and (b) you haven’t had “any” of the vintages made in the last, oh, 17 years. Sounds like a political platform more than a critical observation.
Don’t be silly Neal. The reason I didn’t mention more recent vintages is because the whole point was how the wine ages. Duh.
Meanwhile, you’re making a sweeping statement about fans of the wine in general based on the (potentially ass-covering) comments of only one such fan, Parker himself? Oh, come on now.
Whatever. If you want to argue that Troplong-Mondot is one of the most beloved wines in every Bordeaux drinker’s cellar, go ahead – I won’t press the point. But it sure ain’t been my observation.
Yeah, I’m not sure I get the issues with Kevin being happy he bought in pre-score.
It’s like buying a piece of art. It has inherent value, but value is driven by market. You bought it cheap, and at a price that you believed was appropriate at the time. The value of your asset has now increased substantially. Whether you want to keep it and stare at it every day, or sell it after a period of time, there is nothing negative about the value of your asset appreciating. If you are going to consume it, great. I fail to see how the scores changing affect the pleasure you will get out of the wine, and frankly, I don’t think anyone even remotely suggested that.
But, owning 100 point wines, especially bordeaux, gives you options. You can trade or sell the wine if you don’t like the way it is aging. You can trade or sell the wine if you tastes change. Regardless of what you end up doing with it, you have an appreciated asset. What’s not to like? What’s not to be happy about? Why the attacking and visceral reaction to people being pleased with a purchasing decision?
As for Troplong Mondot, I’ve enjoyed the 1995 and 1998 about three or four times each in the last two years. Aside from one bottle that showed some signs of potential heat damage, they’ve been youthful and delicious.
I’m just trying to figure out why he’s bragging about it — there’s more than one reason why he could be bragging, and I’m trying to figure out which reason it is. That’s all. I really don’t care what he intends to do with it.
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