Yes, I was on the phone with a négociant the other day who offered me his condolences at the prospect of having to do those years, but I tend to think retrospectives of the (rightly or wrongly) less acclaimed years are actually especially interesting as they turn up stuff that’s underrated. 2001 would have offered rich pickings in that regard, to the extent that I’m tempted to try to look at those wines this year, if I can find the time.
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You should definitely buy an expensive bottle, go on the K & L website where all the critics scores and notes are published, and see who you agree with most. No point in asking the denizens of this board; all have deeply ingrained prejudices, so will only praise critics who agree with them.
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Based on what I have read here, I would think William and I are more or less on the same wavelength, which makes TWA attractive for the first time in a long while. I also find Neal Martin’s stuff enlightening. I don’t buy or drink enough Italian or burgundy wine to make a source focused on those regions worthwhile so can’t really comment.
As for John Gillman, didn’t he more or less stop doing bordeaux? I have great respect for his work because, as others have said, he goes against the grain quite a bit and is unashamed of it. But I have honestly never been able to get a bead on his preferences in bdx. We share views w/r/t some (many) specific wines, and are doctrinally mostly in alignment, but I frequently see notes/scores from him that make zero sense to me. It leaves me more puzzled than enlightened.
And Mark, I have no prejudices, only revealed truths
It is one of those irregular English verbs
I have no prejudices
You are wrong
He is pig headed and stupid
We could agree with you, but then we would all be wrong
Etc
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I subscribed for the first time in a few years last month, primarily motivated by William’s contributions to this board. I, too, would love to see more retrospectives. I love when John Gilman does them, and would be equally excited to see them from William. Vinous does a pretty good job there, but I’m not sure my palate aligns well with Antonio Galloni (though perhaps better with Stephen Tanzer).
Burgundy- Burg-hound & William Kelly WA, and also Vinous
Bordeaux- Vinous & Jeb Dunnuck
Rhône- Jeb Dunnuck
California- Jeb Dunnuck & Vinous
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I ws going to ask who the go to for Cali cab is now.
Generally I read notes and don’t weigh scores too much except to the extent that score is a decent proxy for concentration. I think if you taste enough compared to notes/scores you can read between the lines and get a decent idea what a wine tastes like. Galloni and JD are pretty easy to read between the lines on. Haven’t really gotten a handle on James Molesworth yet. I had no idea what LPB’s notes meant.
Totally agree here. Mosel Fine Wines is a must-subscribe-to if you have any interest in the the Mosel, Germany, or Riesling in general. I’ve been a subscriber for over 11 years.
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I would also add Roy Hersh’s For the Love of Port for Portugal.
I also look at Steen Ohlman’s Winehog for Burgundy but concur that William Kelley is the biggest reason for getting back on the WA bandwagon. I realize this BB was started as opposition to Mark Squires but I like his reviews of NY, VA and other regions without a lot of coverage. I also like Mosel Fine Wines.
The least credible by a mile is James Suckling and an email or shelf talker with a high score from him is an automatic pass for me.
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I currently subscribe to nothing, and still buy too much!
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Who pays to read critics who like wines the person dislikes? Seems like an absolute waste of time and money. That is why I cringe when people use terms like “industry standard” or “go to guy” with respect to a wine critic.
But do you have a nom de guerre? You could use Alejandro, which was Fidel’s nom de guerre, and he was also known to smoke a cigar from time to time.
It takes one to know one 
. Mark is right, of course. Me asking Howard what publications he prefers is valuable only in the way that we used to talk about international affairs during the Vietnam war. If you wanted to know what position to take on an issue, find out Dean Rusk’s position and take the other side.
If you know what kinds (styles and flavors, not geographies) of wines you used to like, and you tell us, we might be able to help. Since you have been out of the arena for a while, maybe you do not know your current preferences, in which case I suggest that you do what Mark suggested, squared. buy 10 bottles, from SQN or Saxum or Carlisle if that’s a better price point at one end of the spectrum through a premier cru burgundy and a Loire Cab Franc at the other end, with as much as you can stuff in between. Drink them all and decide where your tastes lie on the spectrum. Then double back and look who does good reviews of that style. OR just ask me. My kids always complain that I act like I know everything.
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I will be somewhat provocative here, so apologies to Charles
Many serious collectors did subscribe to TWA to be told what was scoring high points, so they could collect wines with the stamp of approval from the most influential wine critic of the day. Who most closely resembles TWA now? I daresay a toss-up between Vinous and TWA.
Serious wine enthusiasts learnt about their own palate, letting their own palate guide their journey. The original post included the question “who has the best palate?”. The easy (and only) answer is “you do”.
FWIW there are wine writers out there, genuinely informative for those that want to better understand a region and it’s grapes / wines better. Someone like Ian d’Agata in his native grapes of Italy gives a very different approach, one that shows a deep and passionate understanding.
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I think Larner does a great job with very intersting and lengthy articles with lots of insight. She often gets wrongly discredited for handing out too many perfect scores (many non WA subscribers probably just mixed her up with LPB) but looking at the more than 25k reviews on Italian wines she did for the WA and the mere 30 perfect scores she awarded, that is not the case (William Kelley awarded 37 perfect scores in roughly 1300 Champagne and a bit more than 10k Burgundy reviews). Definitely an invaluable source for Italian wines along with the coverage of Vinous.
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Those are interesting stats that I was unaware of. I use her my main guide, but I myself had thought she was slightly generous and this puts a bit more perspective on that.
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I actually agree with Jay. I can read a post by Jay in the politics board and generally agree with him. We could probably have a nice conversation while drinking wine together. But, we would have to be drinking from different bottles.
On how many tasting notes does she use the term black forest cake? ![[stirthepothal.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/f/f40faec63ca1018898a40805efbf9f0066a3d205.gif "[stirthepothal.gif]"){kind=small}
For anyone who likes German wines, add Mosel Fine Wines. It has the advantage of being free.