WA #198

WINE TALK
21

No Turley scores. Interesting.

22

Turley is sort of ubicquitious, with vineyards stretching from Paso to Lodi, Contra Costa, Sonoma and Napa.

Not sure the Napa issue is the best fit.

23

Interesting scores, generally well done… but not sure I have AG figured out yet. Agree with the appreciation for old-school leaning producers like Dunn, Ridge, Togni but then he shows less love for others like Montelena, Anderson Conn Valley that I find pretty darn similar. Totally agree with his high score for Kongsgaard The Judge. 94 for Rivers Marie cab (regular, not SVD) has me worried about price increases - don’t do it, TRB!

24

AG still gave out big scores to quite a few wineries, look at Dunn for example, the 08 Howell Mountain got 98+, the 07 scored 97 and the 06 95 points. If you look at CT scores they don’t even come close to those. IMO not much changed.

25

Schrader was one of, if not the top, producer reviewed in the issue. Perhaps second only to Screaming Eagle.

26

Wouldn’t exactly call Todd’s style “old-school”, but yes, both Ridge and Montelena are such. I will have to try Dunn now just to see for myself what the deal is. The regular 2009 R-M Cab I popped last week would have been precisely a 94 except for a strangely truncated and bitter finish; might have been bottle variation or just awkward stage; luckily I have more R-M Cabs from this vintage (SVD and regular) to re-calibrate with.

27

Nick, to clarify, Togni and Anderson Conn Valley are two producers that I view as occupying middle ground between old-school and modern, but closer to traditional than modern - thus my term “old-school leaning”, though I should have written “old school or old-school leaning” the first time to be clearer - thought about it and was just too lazy.

28

Great to see Ridge Monte Bello scoring alongside the top of the Napa contingent. Something that most people thought should have happened frequently in the past but has been far too rare. Kudos Antonio.

29

I find it strange that Hourglass gets crushed and Switchback and Foley are absent from the report. Did Antonio taste Hourglass first and get removed from the Foley invite list? I have to imagine he would at least have made the attempt to taste these two staple WA wineries. And aren’t SBR and Hourglass made at the Foley facilities?

30

What is crushed? 75?

31

All 85-87pts.

32

Seems to me there will be lots of movement on the Scarecrow mailing list this year.
2008: 93+
2009: 93

This should result in tons of people dropping off the list.

Good opportunity for me to pick up extras as my twins were born in 2009.

33

Did anyone actually expect him to be lock step with RP? I thought the expectation was for him to be a few points below RP across the board, with a bit of up a bit of down here and there.

34

So, does crushed mean the scores weren’t deserved for this vintage? Or RP’s scores for previous vintages were grossly inflated? Or something else?

35

Probably something similar to mortgage securities getting crushed which also happened in 2008. [stirthepothal.gif]

36

Were my eyes deceiving me as I looked at the scores on the 405 freeway on my iPhone as I drove, or was the highest score REALLY a Dunn Cab???

Also noticed the biggest scores of all time for Nickel & Nickel.

37

It’s been in the December issue for many years. But you are correct; maybe it will be in the February issue going forward.

38

Bleh just makes me loose more interest in the WA. Never had a Dunn I liked at any age. I just tasted the CVV 08s and they were not much different in quality from 07 so clearly a style issue. Disagree on alpha omega, and the maybach barrel sample I had may have been the best young cab I’ve ever had even out of barrel. Blergh.

39

not exactly true. do a search based on score for italy, and you’ll see comparatively (to parker) fewer 100, 99, and 98s. he is indeed more conservative, and said at the outset that he wasn’t going to give a single wine 100 until he had more experience with the wines.

40

[shock.gif]

Please don’t do that!