Parker And Perfect Scores From Sonoma

[Joe_G_a_l_e_w_s_k_i]

Peter Michael’s wines were too expensive for me before they got these huge scores. So I care not one lick.

[Charlie_Carnes]

@Brady Daniels

Has anybody here tasted the Peter Michael wines in question? How would you characterize their style? Are they big like Marcassin?

I haven’t tasted the wines. I have had plenty of wines made by the Morlet brothers and they seem to make wines that are, to me, at the very least, dissimilar in style to DRC wines. Large scaled, Michele Rollandish, Quilceda Creeky, modern-ish, Parkerized, etc

[Paul_Jaouen]

@Brady Daniels

Has anybody here tasted the Peter Michael wines in question? How would you characterize their style? Are they big like Marcassin?

If Parker liked them, they would have to be!

[Frank_Murray_III]

Good tidings to all of those folks paying triple digits for CA pinot that is heralded by one palate. Enjoy. Reminds me of the TV show I say y/day where you had a rich guy commissioning a woman to find him only the best, over the top wines for his rich friends and the party he was going to have for them in celebrating himself. He wanted Screaming Eagle, Harlan and the like. Only the best.

Here’s to the critical model.

[Rick_Dalia]

@Robert Kenney

I’ve never had a foot massage, but I walked barefoot along a heavily pebbled shoreline, and I can assure you that there’s no way that a foot massage feels good.

Best,

Kenney

[/quote][/quote]

Kenney, the only way you can justify this analogy is if you had heated all the pebbles on the beach to skin temperature and coated them all with lavender scented massage oil.

[Alan_Rath]

@Brady Daniels

Has anybody here tasted the Peter Michael wines in question? How would you characterize their style? Are they big like Marcassin?

I have not tasted the particular wines, but earlier vintages were like pancake syrup. Undrinkable to anyone who understands the typicity of Pinot Noir

[Adam_Lee]

@Jamie Kutch

Adam,

I am confused by Peter Michael’s soil details stating they have volcanic material in their soils. In both walking and driving the ridges and vineyards of Cazadero, I have never seen any volcanic soil types present. I ever concurred with geological maps to see and they too don’t show any volcanic’s. Have you ever seen any of this material in Cazadero? The closest volcano is Clear Lake (which is actually far away) and has also been largely non-explosive.

Also for curiosity sake, when did you pick your Hirsch in 2010 for a comparison?

Jamie,

Hmm…good point. I really don’t know of volcanic soil out by Cazadero. I’ve never been to the PM sites specifically, but I am not aware of any such soil there.

We got 2 sections of Hirsch in 2010, both picked on October 7 — one at 22.9 and one at 24.1 (maybe I should ask to pour at IPOB? )
Yields were really low for us also, fwiw, so you might have thought the August 23 and September 23 heat spikes would have pushed sugars. 3.15 tons out of 2.75 acres.

Adam Lee
Siduri Wines

[Bill_Klapp_deactivated]

@TomHill

@Bill Klapp

Jim, I was saying only that I do not think that he even considers what impact he still has in CA and Bordeaux, not saying that he has no impact. He still holds sway with Cali points-chasers, and it does not take all that many of them to soak up low-production 100-pointers. What I see here is a growing number of people who have become active and significant anti-Parker collectors, not in reaction to his points-slinging, but because their tastes in wine stand in stark contrast to his, and they seem to care less and less about anyone’s points. This seems especially true of many based in, or within easy striking distance of, California wine country (or maybe I should say “countries”).

Well, Bill…there are two kinds of people: Those who like to put people into little boxes…and those who don’t.
and
Those who like wines that Parker likes…and those who don’t.

I would suggest that’s a bit simplistic and there are probably a lot of people who like some of the wines Parker likes,
yet also like many of the wines Bonne likes. Anyone who rejects a wine because Parker likes it is just as big a fool
as one who buys a wine because Parker gives it a 100 score.
And then there are some of us who find Parker totally irrelevant to our wine likes/dislikes…we just try…and like…what we like.
Which is probably the way it should be in the real world.
Tom

Tom, I confess to enjoying putting people into boxes who belong there, and there are too many that slide in oh-so-easily. But I did not make the simplistic point that you frame above in my post, and we agree that one cannot throw out all of Parker’s babies with the bathwater. Some of the wines that he praises are surely more the result of vintage than his influence on production. Some wines are by their very natures suited to Parker’s taste, as well as the tastes of many wine lovers. The polarizing influence of Parker lies in his insistence on imposing his preferred style on wines that have proven better suited to other or traditional styles. While I did use the words “anti-Parker” in my post describing evolving buying patterns above, you and I seem to be on the same page with the “growing irrelevance” approach, whether or not the occasional Parker 100 creeps into one’s enlightened, unburdened cellar-building. And his irrelevance must ultimately be construed as “anti-Parker” from where Parker sits…

[Brad_Huff]

Does anyone else find it odd that a 100 point wine is being made by a Frenchman in California at a staggering 15.7% alcohol?

[M_A_T_T_H_A_R_T_L_E_Y]

This reminds me of his not on the 2007 Brewer Clifton Cargasacchi

“Utterly profound as well as reminiscent of some of the mythical 1990 DRC red burgundies is the 2007 Pinot Noir Cargasacchi. If you think that is a ridiculous comparison, I dare you to put it in a blind tasting with one of those wines, since I am among the few people who remember what the 1990 DRCs tasted like at age two!”

Which he re-tasted recently and said

“My early tasting notes noted that it reminded me of the 1990 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti red burgundies, which were compelling wines. While I did not make that comment at this vertical tasting, the 2007 is prodigious.”

Classic stuff…

[Mel_Knox]

Rather like the always imminent demise of chardonnay, the end of times for Robert Parker is always being predicted as sometime next week. I guess the big question is, Who will get more calls this week, the Matthiason family so beloved by Jon Bonne or the offices of Peter Michael??

By the way, in the lineup of PM winemakers, Vanessa Wong was left out.

[M_Dildine]

@Mel Knox

I guess the big question is, Who will get more calls this week, the Matthiason family so beloved by Jon Bonne or the offices of Peter Michael??

Interesting way to put it. Matthiason (whom I discovered prior to Jon’s love) gets my call, can’t speak for others.

I’ve been aware of PM for years and never had the interest to investigate. While I’m intrigued by Parker’s review and don’t discount the possibility that this is a freakishly great wine, I’m even less interested in investigating now. Not my type!

[Brad_Huff]

Mel,

Forget about the $ and the phone calls… How about putting it another way:

Who would you rather be: Matt Mathiason or his wife

OR

One of the 25 people who work and run Peter Michael and sit in the office while Sir Petey sits in his flat in London, drinking the piss out of 1990 La Tache & counting all his squid.

For perspective, look how money treated this guy:

Tycoon Dead in Apparent Suicide

[JIMCOH]

@Bill Klapp

The polarizing influence of Parker lies in his insistence on imposing his preferred style on wines that have proven better suited to other or traditional styles. While I did use the words “anti-Parker” in my post describing evolving buying patterns above, you and I seem to be on the same page with the “growing irrelevance” approach, whether or not the occasional Parker 100 creeps into one’s enlightened, unburdened cellar-building. And his irrelevance must ultimately be construed as “anti-Parker” from where Parker sits…

How in the world does Robert Parker impose his preferred style on wines he does not make. Does he have magical powers that we do not know about, or could this just be another bit “BK” hyperbole?

[Mark_Golodetz]

@M A T T H A R T L E Y

This reminds me of his not on the 2007 Brewer Clifton Cargasacchi

“Utterly profound as well as reminiscent of some of the mythical 1990 DRC red burgundies is the 2007 Pinot Noir Cargasacchi. If you think that is a ridiculous comparison, I dare you to put it in a blind tasting with one of those wines, since I am among the few people who remember what the 1990 DRCs tasted like at age two!”

Which he re-tasted recently and said

“My early tasting notes noted that it reminded me of the 1990 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti red burgundies, which were compelling wines. While I did not make that comment at this vertical tasting, the 2007 is prodigious.”

Classic stuff…

I seem to remember that much as Parker liked the 1990 Burgundies, he preferred the 1990 Chateauneufs.

[Mark_Mathes]

Actually I am going to hold off for the REALLY great Cali pinot, the one that gets described as a 1990 DRC La Tache “on steroids”.

As I offered in a different thread a few days ago, RMP still is one entertaining guy to have around in the world of wine!

[Bill_Klapp_deactivated]

@Mel Knox

Rather like the always imminent demise of chardonnay, the end of times for Robert Parker is always being predicted as sometime next week. I guess the big question is, Who will get more calls this week, the Matthiason family so beloved by Jon Bonne or the offices of Peter Michael??

By the way, in the lineup of PM winemakers, Vanessa Wong was left out.

“There’s a sucker born every minute.”
-attributed to P.T. Barnum

If true, Parker could be with us a while longer…

[Bill_Klapp_deactivated]

@JIMCOH

@Bill Klapp

The polarizing influence of Parker lies in his insistence on imposing his preferred style on wines that have proven better suited to other or traditional styles. While I did use the words “anti-Parker” in my post describing evolving buying patterns above, you and I seem to be on the same page with the “growing irrelevance” approach, whether or not the occasional Parker 100 creeps into one’s enlightened, unburdened cellar-building. And his irrelevance must ultimately be construed as “anti-Parker” from where Parker sits…

How in the world does Robert Parker impose his preferred style on wines he does not make. Does he have magical powers that we do not know about, or could this just be another bit “BK” hyperbole?

No, it could not. Were you in a coma when Michel Rolland and Robert Parker went public with their romance? Have you not read a thousand or two posts, articles, etc. about winemakers doing whatever they needed to do to create wines that would get big Parker points? Do you not know that there are companies in California who keep enormous points databases and charge winemakers big bucks to tell them how to craft a wine that will get a WS 92 or a Parker 94? Originally, he did not “impose”. He expressed his preferences, and over time, as his influence grew in several regions, winemakers began to make what Parker’s points could sell. These days, however, under attack from many quarters, he seems to be seeking out caricatures of the fruit bombs that he popularized and throwing points at them. I consider that to be an “imposition”, or at least an assault on common sense. People paying any attention to Parker at all these days, however, is surely evidence of a magical power of some sort…

[jbray23]

@Xavier Lavoipierre

@Steve Saxon

Oh yea he’s the Wine Advocate, always trying to help the people.
2010 Peter Michael Clos du Ciel Pinot Noir | WineBid | Wine for Sale

Unbelievable. The P.T. Barnum special.

I like that the high bidders name is ‘blind bat’ seems fitting…

[TomHill]

@Bill Klapp

Tom, I confess to enjoying putting people into boxes who belong there, and there are too many that slide in oh-so-easily. But I did not make the simplistic point that you frame above in my post, and we agree that one cannot throw out all of Parker’s babies with the bathwater. Some of the wines that he praises are surely more the result of vintage than his influence on production. Some wines are by their very natures suited to Parker’s taste, as well as the tastes of many wine lovers. The polarizing influence of Parker lies in his insistence on imposing his preferred style on wines that have proven better suited to other or traditional styles. While I did use the words “anti-Parker” in my post describing evolving buying patterns above, you and I seem to be on the same page with the “growing irrelevance” approach, whether or not the occasional Parker 100 creeps into one’s enlightened, unburdened cellar-building. And his irrelevance must ultimately be construed as “anti-Parker” from where Parker sits…

Fair nuff, Bill. As you know, I like to occasionally and [jerkingBillsChain.gif] .
Tom