Wait, you’re following The Suck??? 
I haven’t had recent vintages but I liked the wine when it was in the $50-60 range. I wouldn’t consider it at the current level. Too much better competition, imho.
Don Melchor = oak city.
Somebody once sent me a wave file of him saying this put to a techno beat. It was my phone ringtone for a couple of years. Does anyone know where to find it?
I was actually at a tasting in SF and had a conversation with him, he is a very nice man and seemed interested in my thoughts. I knew my phone was off but couldn’t help thinking about how embarrassing it would be if it rang.
I don’t believe there is wide spread corruption in the wine publication world but there can be a little bit of favoritism. It would be hard to avoid giving better scores to people you liked.
I know this throws a wet blanket on this thread, but having now worked in marketing for 12+ years in this industry and having met most of the major critics on multiple occasions, I’ve yet to experience a “pay for play” scenario with any critic/publication. I know there are plenty of conspiracy theories that say otherwise, but just speaking from my personal experience, I’ve yet to see it…
We should talk one day.
That said, it’s the exception in my experience and rarely blatant. As David said above, having met many of the critics, most of them are really decent people who care about what they do. That in some cases it’s done foolishly is a different story, but most people I’ve met from WS, WE, W&S and WA has been very stand-up.
Not to rehash old threads, but the idea of tasting blind has a lot to do with it. If you sit with the winemaker/importer/distributor/moneyman, and you’ve been treated to a great dinner a week earlier and you’re recollecting the experience while tasting the wine, that might affect your objectivity.
Greg…agree on both points as well as what David said. Yet those are very different points than what was insinuated in the first few posts which I read as pay to play…if that type of opportunity/behavior exists, I’ve never seen it…doesn’t mean I’ve seen it all, just my experience so far.
Relax tonight to this: Cannubi: A Vineyard Kissed by God - Film Trailer - YouTube
I’m 5 stars on that.
I’m a 100 points on that car.
I am amazed at the emails I get from wine merchants touting wines with great Suckling scores. It must work on the uneducated masses or they wouldn’t do it. I usually just immediately delete them. 
For most people, a score is a score. Few people know or care who the critic is. The people on this board are a very small minority.
That’s why sites like Wine Library or Rare Wine Co have lists of reviewers a mile long. You can always find a score from someone somewhere. It truly doesn’t matter to most people. They buy a “ninety point wine” the same way they buy something labeled Chardonnay or Merlot or Pinot Noir - as if the label is an objective definition of what’s in the bottle.