This was just the antidote I needed for the Sunday blues. Thank you for this gem of a post! 
AG has been criticized and mocked here relentlessly. There is irony in a score from him being touted as high praise instead of complaining about point inflation.
Can you point me to one person who has posted congratulations to Pax and also “criticized and mocked [AG] here relentlessly”?
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Was it the same people congratulating Jim who knock Galloni and/or points? I’m not sure. Berserkers do not speak with one voice.
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You don’t have to believe in Galloni to be happy for Jim Anderson. From his posts, Jim seems like a good and thoughtful guy, and I’m glad if this score gets his wines more attention. (I’ve never tasted them.) But I still think that Galloni’s scores are highly inflated and I still find most of his tasting notes vacuous to the point of being meaningless.
So, I don’t see any irony or paradox.
The two are not mutually exclusive. One can think AG is a very average critic with problematic notes and yet still be happy when a friend’s wine gets high praise and a 100-point rating. Everyone here knows that scores can drive buyers to buy. I’ll take it one step further. I also do not think is is inconsistent or even hypocritical for someone to criticize AG and yet still have his/her curiosity picqued when he rates a Cali Syrah that is sans soufre and sub-13% at 100 points. Even those that are highly critical of the critics - think John Morris, Keith Levenberg and Adrian - use points as part of their descriptive vocabulary. I use them, and I do look at them, as part of the evaluative equation. For me, I grew into wine during the hegemony of Parker, plus a 100-scale is rather intuitive to me, so I use it.
Damn, we really have fed the troll.
What all of this is to me is just an imprint of the broader culture we all face today: labels for people, camps being defined and then arguing about stuff that doesn’t move things in a positive direction.
I don’t care about points, nor do I use them. And I understand what’s at play for people in this industry who need to make wine, to then get good publicity, acclaim and the necessary attention to help them move their craft in the marketplace. Damn, that has to be a hard-ass effort day after day so for the people over the years who I have seen work this so hard, like a Brian Loring, Adam Lee, Ed Kurtzman and others, I applaud them. Pax, as well.
But, please stop calling people in our wine community ‘fanboys’, or calling the wineries ‘board darlings’. When it becomes cool to call out people who exhibit passion or a fervor for their favorite winery, or to criticize other board members here who post in threads their enthusiasm about the wines they drink, if you don’t like that positive energy and display, then just be quiet.
The US has become a negative, polarized place that to me is embarrassing. I come here to appreciate wine, to applaud the voices and producers that I value and respect. If you want to have a negative voice, then I’ll continue to ignore it. I just have seen all this negativity for long enough and it was time to set my voice straight.
Be proud of the wines you like, the people who make them and share your passion.
Very well said Frank.
+1
As usual, +1, FMIII.
Thank you for that terrific post, Frank! ![[welldone.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/f/fc9709a841aa9379fd892a9cf0b535b05f473b86.gif "[welldone.gif]"){kind=small}
well said , indeed Frank
Frank
Good post but i do think open discussion of wine in a positive and negative light is warranted, this should be based on tasting and wine styles though, not opinions about so and so wine and points. For example i have no comment about Wines getting 100 points and good luck to them but i reserve my right to posts to thinking burgs are overrated !! without being ripped apart
Yes. 
The Point; Oblio and his dog Arrow. An old favorite from 1971. Great soundtrack by Nilsson, who also wrote the story. Narrated by Ringo Starr. A masterpiece!
Cheers,
Warren
There is a fine line, but I think it would be a shame if all critical commentary is thrown into the “negative” bucket.
Congrats to Pax indeed - he has continued to ‘explore the boundaries’ of Syrah and has definitely been an inspiration to me and others that have followed him.
I think Frank’s post is on point and agree with him. Whether you ‘agree’ with the scores or not, getting a 100 point score from any critic is pretty amazing indeed. For someone who drinks a lot of wine to find a wine ‘perfect’ is a pretty rare feat indeed.
That said, this board has been ‘quick’ to dismiss other scores when they feel that they are not warranted. Sometimes the ‘criticism’ of the score is ‘justified’ and at other times, it just feels that certain reviewers are not as ‘valued’ as others here and elsewhere.
Would I call Pax a ‘board favorite’? Well, back in the day when bigger, bolder wines were ‘in favor’, he was very much liked by many on the ERP board and then early on on this board. When Pax ‘changed course’ with Wind Gap, he was lauded for ‘lower alcohol’ wines at a time when many were not.
He has a lot of followers - and his wines have stood the test of time and the positive comments about him and his wines are certainly well deserved. But I could see how some would find him a ‘board darling’ - not a bad thing per se.
Cheers.
That is some impressive bothsiderism Larry. 
David,
Very true words, my friend, but that’s how I feel. It’s never as black and white as what most people wanted to be.
There have been numerous occasions on this board and others where reviewers or specific wines were skewered and not lauded.
It’s cool, how humans work, they sometimes it needs to be pointed out.
At the end of the day, bottom line is I’m very happy for PAX and Punky.
Cheers
Sheesh! First we had Frank moaning about polarization, and now Larry is trying to bring us together.
I don’t know how much more of this I can take.