Klapp will Disown me: Just signed up for Wine Doctor/Chris Kissack website

WINE TALK
1

So my last subscription to any wine periodical was around 1999. Parker. I ended my WS subscription a couple of years earlier. While I would be lying if I said I did not look at free content and scores from the major critics, not having the periodicals is quite liberating. The internet has certainly democracized the industry with so much free content, some good, some bad. Access to wine has also improved dramatically with many states overturning laws against personal wine shipments. Way down in Florida, I now have access to all the obscure wines and regions that I adore.

While I am not terribly enamored with critics’ tasting notes and scores, I do miss reading comprehensive writings on wineries and vintages. This is where Wine Doctor fits the bill. Chris Kissack used to run this site as a free blog and only recently made it subscription only. It was one of the very few websites that I visited with any regularity, but I had weened myself off of critics and adament about not paying for wine reviews. The value of Chris’ website, however, is the super-detailed write-ups on the major estates that I adore from the region that gets so little overall coverage: Loire (reds). He also does a wonderful job with Bordeaux. I just read the updated profiles on Joguet and Domaine de Roche Neuves. Each was 6+ pages, just great detail on the winery, the vineyards, and wine making practices, and then at the end, almost an after thought, his notes on wines. The notes are simple, concise, understandable and completely devoid of hype or hyperbole. Even his scoring is rather conservative.

Chris does a free month trial subscription at 15 pounds, which can be rolled into an annual subscription if you decide to extend. I’m giving it a whirl and I’m really liking what I see. Now that he is full-time on this passion of his, the content has gotten much broader and very deep.

2

I heard you had 15 pounds to spare but I thought it would be rude to say.

3

Look here, skinny boy, whenever you are ready to graduate to a real bike and real speed, give me a call. Your last ride of 13.1 miles would have put me to sleep, or looking for the bottom of a bottle. Bring your diapers, I’ll bring the vino!

[wow.gif]

4

I’ve thought about signing up for his site also, I really liked the detailed write ups on the estates you’d mentioned. He always posted weekly notes on interesting bottles too, a nice mix of bordeaux, loire, and champagne. I recall his bordeaux vintage assessments being insightful as well.

5

I’m not going to pay for a site. Basically that’s just because there is so much information around for free and I can’t read it all at this point. But if I were to pay for one, his might be one of them that I’d consider.

I always appreciated his writing and disappointed when he decided to make it subscription only. I hope it’s working out for him.

6

I was also upset when he put the content behind a paywall. About six months later I got over it, and I’m a happy subscriber. I don’t pay for a lot of media, but I think the quality and quantity of content makes it worthwhile.

7

Why would I disown you? Of all the wine reviewers, the Wine Doctor figures to be good for what ails you, which appears to be love of the thin, off-vintage, 15th-growth Bordeaux with a package of unsweetened lime Kool-Aid thrown in that is a great Chinon! :slight_smile: But seriously, Chris Kissack has done a great job for years, and as others have noted, did it for free for a long time. He developed a following, delivered the goods and then began charging for it, rather than charging for his on-the-job training. The dude has street cred. Vias con Dios, my son! (But like Gleason, I was surprised to hear about your weight problem…)