I’m not impressed by the sloooooooooooowness of the site. Also while kudos are due to some of my favs I’m still not jumping on the AG wagon. He is definitely more in the IWC mold, but still leaning towards the Parker side of things. On the wineries that I’m fairly familiar with I also found that his were a tad out of sync with my own thinking.
Peter, what impresses me initially about AG is that he appears to “get” wines on both ends of the finesse/power spectrum (and the marvelous middle wines like Dehlinger) and he is digging deep to make his own assessments on properties like Ridge and Littorai.
Mike, I hear you, but there is a compression of scores towards the 90 mark in the overall picture that’s makes it hard for me to get a clear picture.
I just finished reading through his notes on some houses near and dear to me like Carlisle, Bedrock, Arnot-Roberts, Littorai, Copain, and Rochioli. These producers all shine at various levels of the spectrum for different reasons. I get the sense he went to the effort to get to understand these properties and what makes them tick. He communicates with passion. I’m impressed.
What a world when Littorai and Aubert share a level playing field on the WA ratings chart. (Technically Aubert probably still averages a point or so higher.)
Did he review Donelan?
I will say this, his honesty and openness in this quote is a breath of fresh air (no this is not a comment to say bad things about Sonoma, only about his willingness to call it as he sees it. )
“Still, even under the most forgiving of scenarios, the reality is that I tasted hundreds of boring wines with no real personalities. The proliferation of vineyard-designated wines from sites that are average in quality is truly alarming because they threaten to confuse the marketplace given the lack of a formal qualitative ranking of vineyards. For example, in far too many instances I tasted lineups of Pinot Noirs from single producers that all tasted basically the same.”
I don’t agree with him on his review of the Anthill Comptche and Demuth, I think he got it backward. In any event this statement builds some trust in him for me.
Please stop talking about Littorai. Ted makes horrible wines. I love horrible wine, leave some for me.
Yes, 10 Donelan wines were reviewed. All very strong.
What were his reviews on these?
Tim, regarding AG’s quote, I agree with him. Much of my wine interest is focused on Sonoma, but it is a huge, diverse place. What impresses me is that he seems to be getting a handle on this large and complex region rather quickly.
I couldn’t agree with this statement more. Refreshing to hear it said out loud by someone the chorus can’t drown out.
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A lineup of single vyd pinots that all taste the same doesn’t sound like a vineyard problem to me–
you blame the winemaker?
Conducting a barnstorming taste tour through Sonoma and giving due consideration to all producers must be a tremendous challenge. My only real nit with the Sonoma report concerns omissions. Scherrer and Jemrose, for example.
“A lineup of single vyd pinots that all taste the same doesn’t sound like a vineyard problem to me–”
It is if people are chopping up large fairly consistent ones into smaller ones with cutesy names for marketing reasons. Not thinking of anyone in particular, just the realities of modern wine marketing: “small production” and “single vineyard” = more $$$ (asked anyway)…
I always describe it to people as the ‘My Child Is Special’ syndrome you get as a parent. Because it’s yours and you know it intimately and want it to succeed, you see more ‘special’ traits there than may be in actuality. ‘My kid is gifted and should be the starting QB/pitcher/1st chair violin.’ ‘My vineyard has unique nuances and deserves to be bottled separately.’
Mike,
Our wines were not tasted by Antonio as we were not a member of the Sonoma County Vintners Assocation which was the only way we could have presented our wines at the time. I must admit I was happy to see the 2009 Carlisle Cardiac Hill wine was well received. Mike Officer is obviously a very talented wine maker and has done an incredible job in making wines from our vineyard as he has with all of his vineyard sources.
I was also pleased and encouraged with the way the full spectrum of wine styles were reviewed.
Very magnanimous of you, Jim and I would expect nothing less. The part I put in bold certainly doesn’t sit very well with me. I hope that both parties will try to be a bit more accepting of all producers in the future.
Jim, tell you what. I’ll buy an extra 2 bottles of syrah in my next order to add my own protest about the stupidity of this whole wine review business. Keep making great wine, Mr Mack.