Wine Critic Palate Guide

[John_Morris]

For Burgundy there was no one better than good old Clive Coates. Parker himself was all things considered not bad either. Even the late great Charles Rousseau was in praise of him calling his follow-up Rovani “Un Petit Parker”.

Coates’s tasting notes were kind of a joke. They didn’t tell you anything about the wine other than whether he liked it.

Parker never had any credibility re Burgundy. No one who cared about Burgundy could make any sense of his scores. And Rovani turned out to be just as bad, raving about the 1997s. Rousseau’s remark sounds like sly humor to me.

[David_Bu3ker]

Friends,

For Burgundy there was no one better than good old Clive Coates. Parker himself was all things considered not bad either. Even the late great Charles Rousseau was in praise of him calling his follow-up Rovani “Un Petit Parker”. Of course we know what sort of wines Parker prefered. Very concentraded and dark extracted wines. I much prefer NEIL MARTIN however. Alan Meadows is very comprehensive but his writing style is a bit boring to read. And for a Burgundy fanatic like me Steen Öhman and Sarah Marsh are also worth considering. William Kelley is very good but then again Wine Advocate tries to promote all the wines in the world. Far too many non-interesting articles for me and too little on Burgundy… So I stopped subscribing.

SINCERELY JOHAN

Coates was engaging but useless. He lived by the hierarchy. That’s great if you have scads of money, but useless otherwise. Went to a couple of events where he presented, and both times he would slam village wines, even if they were delicious, and spent all his time heaping praise on DRC, de Vogue, Leroy, etc., despite the fact that we were not tasting those wines. Seemed like a jolly fellow, but useless as a critic.

[M.Kaplan]

Robert M. Parker, Jr. Official Palate Guide

[AndyK]

What are people’s thoughts on Stephan Reinhardt?

Looking for a trustworthy, knowledgeable, and timely source on anything Germany and Austria…

[Howard_Cooper]

What are people’s thoughts on Stephan Reinhardt?

Looking for a trustworthy, knowledgeable, and timely source on anything Germany and Austria…

For a part of Germany, try Mosel Fine Wines.

[M_Meer]

As for palate alignment, I agree almost 100% with David Schildknecht. I can’t understand why I do, because I cannot comprehend his notes, but if he gives a 95 I will definitely like the wine for some reason.

Funny!

And the funniest thing may be that I know what you mean, even if I don’t know what he means.

LOL, I’ve been hoping for a Schildknecht “Help Me Understand” thread. I’m still trying to unpack a World of Fine Wine article from 5 years back, his prose is so dense.

Then again, I’m a little dense, myself.

[John_Morris]

No one will say his notes aren’t evocative.

Von Winning, Riesling Grosses Gewachs Kieselberg, 2017 >
“This displays one of the most purely mineral noses I can recall from any Pfalz Riesling, specifically an evocation of quarry dust, wet stone, oil and sea breeze. In Chablis-like fashion, these are accompanied by penetrating evocations of crushed lemon seed. The feel is firm and the sense of crushed-stone suffusion is striking. At the same time, a sense of vibrancy sets the palate tingling, while salinity tugs at the salivary glands. Mint and white pepper add to the incisively gripping, intense finish. 94pts” – David Schildknecht, Vinous



Spreitzer, Hattenheimer Engelmannsberg Riesling Feinherb, 2017
“Ceylon tea, sea breeze and corn tassel in the nose find subtle subsequent expression on the wine’s polished, buoyant palate. The mouthwateringly-persistent finish is infectiously juicy as well as wonderfully transparent to myriad herbal and mineral nuances. What a model of Rheingau restraint, complexity, balance and “hidden sweetness! 91pts” – David Schildknecht, Vinous



2016 Markus Molitor- Riesling Graacher Himmelreich Auslese* A.P. #1 green capsule**
This “three-star” Auslese leads with intense scents of rowan and heliotrope along with ripe, pit-inflected white peach that anticipates the lusciously juicy and stimulatingly piquant impression on a buoyant, creamy, persistently perfumed palate. Hints of caramel and quince jelly on the superbly sustained finish point toward a discreet but noble botrytis component. Here is a memorable balance of subtle sweetness and piquancy as well as of textural richness and primary juiciness. 95 points

2016 Markus Molitor- Riesling Graacher Domprobst Spätlese white capsule
Here is another of those gorgeously heady, florally perfumed noses that seem to abound among Molitor 2016s. Lily, rowan and heliotrope garland ripe apple and pecan, themes perfectly suited to this wine’s subtly creamy, expansive yet alcoholically buoyant palate impression. And for all of that creamy, nutty richness, the billowingly sustained finish is a model of sheer refreshment as well as of transparency to crystalline and stony nuances. 94 points

[Jason_L]

I also know that if David S. likes a wine, I’ll like it too. But his notes definitely make me feel like a sheltered pig-man who wears a burlap sack.

Maybe that’s the angle of the best German/Austrian wine marketing - make it sound impossibly “pure” “naturalistic” and “supremely” refined and elegant - with no need of the myths of the earthy, human and imperfect that defines the other wines of western Europe.

[Brian_S_t_o_t_t_e_r]

As for palate alignment, I agree almost 100% with David Schildknecht. I can’t understand why I do, because I cannot comprehend his notes, but if he gives a 95 I will definitely like the wine for some reason.

Funny!

And the funniest thing may be that I know what you mean, even if I don’t know what he means.

LOL, I’ve been hoping for a Schildknecht “Help Me Understand” thread. I’m still trying to unpack a World of Fine Wine article from 5 years back, his prose is so dense.

Then again, I’m a little dense, myself.

Perhaps if his prose was less dense we would see more timely reports.

[John_Glas]

I would like that very much also. I was in sync with Parker for decades. Now there is a patchwork of critics and its difficult to find that one critic. Maybe impossible.

I would agree that no one critic works for my palate either. I can’t wait to get back to the bigger industry events where I can try the wines and see what I like.

[John_Glas]

As for palate alignment, I agree almost 100% with David Schildknecht. I can’t understand why I do, because I cannot comprehend his notes, but if he gives a 95 I will definitely like the wine for some reason.

So you do like scores but you just don’t like posting them!

[William_Kelley]

No one will say his notes aren’t evocative.

Von Winning, Riesling Grosses Gewachs Kieselberg, 2017 >
“This displays one of the most purely mineral noses I can recall from any Pfalz Riesling, specifically an evocation of quarry dust, wet stone, oil and sea breeze. In Chablis-like fashion, these are accompanied by penetrating evocations of crushed lemon seed. The feel is firm and the sense of crushed-stone suffusion is striking. At the same time, a sense of vibrancy sets the palate tingling, while salinity tugs at the salivary glands. Mint and white pepper add to the incisively gripping, intense finish. 94pts” – David Schildknecht, Vinous



Spreitzer, Hattenheimer Engelmannsberg Riesling Feinherb, 2017
“Ceylon tea, sea breeze and corn tassel in the nose find subtle subsequent expression on the wine’s polished, buoyant palate. The mouthwateringly-persistent finish is infectiously juicy as well as wonderfully transparent to myriad herbal and mineral nuances. What a model of Rheingau restraint, complexity, balance and “hidden sweetness! 91pts” – David Schildknecht, Vinous



2016 Markus Molitor- Riesling Graacher Himmelreich Auslese* A.P. #1 green capsule**
This “three-star” Auslese leads with intense scents of rowan and heliotrope along with ripe, pit-inflected white peach that anticipates the lusciously juicy and stimulatingly piquant impression on a buoyant, creamy, persistently perfumed palate. Hints of caramel and quince jelly on the superbly sustained finish point toward a discreet but noble botrytis component. Here is a memorable balance of subtle sweetness and piquancy as well as of textural richness and primary juiciness. 95 points

2016 Markus Molitor- Riesling Graacher Domprobst Spätlese white capsule
Here is another of those gorgeously heady, florally perfumed noses that seem to abound among Molitor 2016s. Lily, rowan and heliotrope garland ripe apple and pecan, themes perfectly suited to this wine’s subtly creamy, expansive yet alcoholically buoyant palate impression. And for all of that creamy, nutty richness, the billowingly sustained finish is a model of sheer refreshment as well as of transparency to crystalline and stony nuances. 94 points

What I admire about David’s notes is that there’s no question who is writing them. Many tasting notes seem to me to be “written” by the constraints and conventions of the (very limiting) genre as much as by the critic that publishes them.

[M_Meer]

I also know that if David S. likes a wine, I’ll like it too. But his notes definitely make me feel like a sheltered pig-man who wears a burlap sack.

[Chris_Crutchfield]

Not sure if this is mentioned anywhere, but which critics claim to taste the wines blind? I know Jancis mentions this in reviews which seems to lend them more credibility, and other publications have claimed that they do all of their tastings blind (I somewhat doubt this). It would be interesting to know more about the claimed tasting methodology for each critic.