Oh, the irony...I just subscribed to Wine Advocate!! (and here's why...)

[David_Bu3ker]

I really appreciate that the spread of points is around the 91-93 range for the Grand Vin vs 97-100. especially given declaring it “not a great vintage.” whereas other publications would still feel the need to give the moutons, lafites, latours, etc 99-100 points even when they say the vintage is mediocre.

I think that is inaccurate. Look at years like 2012 and 2013 that were not “great” vintages and you will see low 90s for even some of the firsts (it was either 2012 or 2013 Lafite that got a 91, which is like declaring a 1st basically undrinkable ) There can also be a winery that has a great success in an otherwise troublesome vintage.

has suckling ever given a grand vin a 91 before? i dont know if his scoring system even goes below 95! but absolutely, i have seen it happen before, but i just mean even the wines that got praise werent just automatically in the upper 90s just because of their price stratification, which was nice.

Suckling is a shill. I would not consider him a serious reviewer.

[ToddFrench]

I always found it an odd obsession, paying for someone else’s opinion, especially given under the previous management, that it appeared more important what the reviewer thought, rather than them equipping their readers with the insight to make their own decision.

That said, the reinvention / rebranding is an interesting exercise and despite us having some fun with the traitorous OP ( ), his subscription is perhaps indicative of genuine change to the brand.

I’m guessing it’s not yet publicly known as Michelin wine guide, but would expect that change to happen sooner rather than later, especially when the value of the old brand is more questionable given a stylistic (and attitude) change. The Michelin brand has significant reach and value in the wider world for sure.

I pay my ‘freemium’ dues to CellarTracker annually, and have been jockeying with paying for Jeff Leve’s site as I find his vintage and Chateau reports incredibly helpful, and though I don’t jive stylistically with his preferences in wines, I’ve taken the Alfert method to them, essentially inverting low and high scores, to find a direction on what I’d like based on his ratings and reviews. As I’ve been trending a bit away from Bordeaux lately, into other regions, and with the dawn of a new face covering Bordeaux for WA - one that aligns with my palate - the choice became clearer, so I subscribed. Everyone here knows I don’t really do ratings (numerical) but I do love insight in tasting notes, vintage reports, and producer chat - other than here, where I get most of that info/data, I want to have a quick and easy reference to it elsewhere as well.

That said, I’m cheap, so if WA disappoints, I’m out!

[David_Bu3ker]

Did Squires leave as well?

There is no longer a Parker discussion forum at all. Mark is a reviewer, covering Portugal, some eastern US wines, and a couple of other smaller areas. He is actually an extremely thorough and thoughtful reviewer.

[Robert.A.Jr]

Everything comes full circle.

Wine Berserkers will soon become the official forum for the Wine Advocate.
And can a requirement to subscribe to WA in order to post be far behind?
Or maybe only Grand Cru members or above will be allowed to subscribe to WA?

I assume that’s in jest. Won’t happen.

[Ian_Sutton]

Did Squires leave as well?

There is no longer a Parker discussion forum at all. Mark is a reviewer, covering Portugal, some eastern US wines, and a couple of other smaller areas. He is actually an extremely thorough and thoughtful reviewer.

That seems a common view of his reviews.

However in the context of Todd’s comment that “Those who made my name a curse word there, years ago (”**** ******“, literally), are gone, I believe”, I would put Squires front and centre (along with Parker) of those responsible for that.

So one of them is still there Todd, and you’re giving him money

[Tom_Blach]

Galloni scores Le Bon Pasteur 2021 a 93-95/100 ; Neal Martin 92-94 and claims to have tasted it 3 times . Interesting ….

People are allowed to have different tastes. There is nothing definitive or scientific about scores, which are merely a reflection of how much one person likes a wine at one particular time.

[Jay_Miller]

Everything comes full circle.

Wine Berserkers will soon become the official forum for the Wine Advocate.
And can a requirement to subscribe to WA in order to post be far behind?
Or maybe only Grand Cru members or above will be allowed to subscribe to WA?

I assume that’s in jest. Won’t happen.

Reassure Robert and incur Craig’s wrath or mollify Craig and allow Robert to continue worrying…

[Scott_Brunson]

Everything comes full circle.

Wine Berserkers will soon become the official forum for the Wine Advocate.
And can a requirement to subscribe to WA in order to post be far behind?
Or maybe only Grand Cru members or above will be allowed to subscribe to WA?

I assume that’s in jest. Won’t happen.

Reassure Robert and incur Craig’s wrath or mollify Craig and allow Robert to continue worrying…

Be creative—try for both.

[Robert.A.Jr]

I assume that’s in jest. Won’t happen.

Reassure Robert and incur Craig’s wrath or mollify Craig and allow Robert to continue worrying…

Be creative—try for both.

Ha, there is very little that I worry about, if you knew me at all. Especially now that Rolland is finally being taken down a few pegs from someone other than us lowly board denizens. To think, we’ve been decrying his insidious work for 12+ years over the defense of so many others, including our misguided friend, Leve!

[Herwig_Janssen]

Yes they are Tom and there is nothing in my text that would contradict this . I admire William’s work and also Neal’s and Antonio’s . I find it interesting they differ so much so I’m looking forward tasting it myself .

[ToddFrench]

Did Squires leave as well?

There is no longer a Parker discussion forum at all. Mark is a reviewer, covering Portugal, some eastern US wines, and a couple of other smaller areas. He is actually an extremely thorough and thoughtful reviewer.

That seems a common view of his reviews.

However in the context of Todd’s comment that “Those who made my name a curse word there, years ago (”**** ******“, literally), are gone, I believe”, I would put Squires front and centre (along with Parker) of those responsible for that.

So one of them is still there Todd, and you’re giving him money

Indeed that may be the case, he may end up getting a couple pennies of my subscription, so I hope he puts it to good use, in good health!

[Tom_G_l_a_s_g_o_w]

PS. I have it on good information that Todd had a coupon! Cheap bastard.

You sure do - very good information, as I posted that TWO TIMES IN THIS VERY THREAD

You were saying something about old fashioned, was that reference to people who rely on their secretary?

[ToddFrench]

PS. I have it on good information that Todd had a coupon! Cheap bastard.

You sure do - very good information, as I posted that TWO TIMES IN THIS VERY THREAD

You were saying something about old fashioned, was that reference to people who rely on their secretary?

Or for people who refer to their assistant as a ‘secretary’? Wonder if said individual - whomever they may be - would refer to a flight attendant as ‘stewardess’, or just ‘toots’?

[Scott_Brunson]

You sure do - very good information, as I posted that TWO TIMES IN THIS VERY THREAD

You were saying something about old fashioned, was that reference to people who rely on their secretary?

Or for people who refer to their assistant as a ‘secretary’? Wonder if said individual - whomever they may be - would refer to a flight attendant as ‘stewardess’, or just ‘toots’?

[Tom_G_l_a_s_g_o_w]

You were saying something about old fashioned, was that reference to people who rely on their secretary?

Or for people who refer to their assistant as a ‘secretary’? Wonder if said individual - whomever they may be - would refer to a flight attendant as ‘stewardess’, or just ‘toots’?

We need a double thanks button!!

[Dan_Kravitz]

Yes, it is true! I have paid for a subscription to Wine Advocate - I am now a WA subscriber!

After the big breakaway nearly 14 years ago, and the creation of this big and wonderful community of wine dorks, (those who have been here a while know the story) the many changes at WA (changes of ownership, loss of some of the ‘key’ players with whom I had issues, etc) including the most significant, that of adding William Kelley as the reviewer for not only Burgundy and Champagne but now (finally!) Bordeaux, then seeing the review of Le Bon Pasteur (shown below), I knew I was ready to invest in a subscription!


image0.png


For those who were on the most recent Zoom Q&A session with William and the Berserkers (available here if you haven’t seen it yet), I’m quite confident this is one of the wines to which he was specifically referring after reading the following:

followed by a full-bodied, bitter and astringent palate that assaults the tongue and gums with vigor

That combined with ‘creamy new oak’ shows quite clearly that it is NOT in my wheelhouse for Bordeaux - literally quite the opposite - and the fact that William had the balls to give it a score of 82-84 just sealed the deal.


Screen Shot 2022-05-13 at 7.57.34 AM.png


BTW, I used a promo code that I’m making available to all Monopole Crü members in the very near future as well, and it is ongoing, for the life of the MC membership, or until Michelin gets pissed at me/us and pulls it

Based on the tasting note, the score of 82 - 84 is absurdly high. Nobody’s expecting a 56 or 63 or 68 (intentional, not random numbers), but if it’s truly Putrid Swill, why call it “above average to excellent”, which is the Wine Advocate’s formal definition of scores from 80 - 89.

Dan Kravitz

Dan Kravitz

[Steve_McL]

also subscribed this past year pretty much exclusively for William’s knowledge and thoughts.

This
Been sitting on the fence a while but if even Todd is signing up…
I like what I’ve seen of Kelly’s reviews and would appreciate a 2nd voice to balance against Alan Meadow’s gnomic prose…

[Robert.A.Jr]

You sure do - very good information, as I posted that TWO TIMES IN THIS VERY THREAD

You were saying something about old fashioned, was that reference to people who rely on their secretary?

Or for people who refer to their assistant as a ‘secretary’? Wonder if said individual - whomever they may be - would refer to a flight attendant as ‘stewardess’, or just ‘toots’?

I’m in the South! Cut this old guy some slack, sweety.

[Charles_Fuss]

Waiting for the return of the free parker board

[Tom_G_l_a_s_g_o_w]

Waiting for the return of the free parker board

He’s free all right, cashed out.