I’m pretty sure Kutch is happy to be left out at this point.
That said I’m with Greg here, far too many wineries in geekdom to mention in WS. The folks reading the mag (I do ) could care less or they would be here.
FYI: Black Ridge Vineyards is on the west side Highway 17 overlooking the Lexington reservoir and the old Novitiate vineyards (no longer there). Very close to the McCarthy Estate vineyards and one ridge over from Camel Hill Vineyards. There wine is over ripe and over oaked across the board. 89 is extremely generous. They do have a beautiful estate and tasting room but their wines not so much.
Yeah, I tasted up there and it’s one of the places I recommend against going, even though it’s so close. I don’t know the history but it has the veneer of a vanity winery.
Hey Greg, cut out the rational thinking here, and get on board — it’s a sinister conspiracy by WS only to review overripe overoaked goop which advertises in the magazine. That’s got to be what is going on.
I just looked at the list of wines reviewed for the issue - and it was a pretty broad stroke of producers in CA. Where there many left out? Of course - but as others have said, if you don’t submit, you won’t be included - and apparently, many did not submit.
The range of scores was interesting - lots of high 80s and low 90s but very little if any at 95 points or higher - and there were some sub 85 ones. Perhaps the inflation levels are decreasing here?
I have a friend who works in another “connoisseur” type industry for a publication. For their annual reports, they send out forms asking manufacturers to list their product line and prices for inclusion in the over-view. Many forget, overlook it, or don’t care and the usual hue and cry when the review issue comes out is how dare that magazine not mention “so and so.”
So, that may be part.
Also, perhaps the prices for Rhys are going up so fast, they don’t want to be held responsible for submitting a price list to WS?
Could be that Kevin and company did not do the requisite amount of ass-kissing to end up in the article.
Alternatively, could be that WS is shying away from covering them due to the water issues.
They started off good, and promising. Then some bad vineyard management, ownership feud and split, outside winemaking. Haven’t tasted their wines in quite awhile, but it would make sense they moved to pandering to the type of traffic they’d get at that location. The ownership did just change. Wouldn’t get my hopes up, but we’ll see if the wines change.
A tip for producers to watch in the SCM, out of the 100 or so, is look for people who’ve worked their way up at some of the better wineries, then branched out. They understand the region and endeavor to reach the potential of the better sites. And, don’t forget about McHenry.
Honestly, that sounds like how the Pinots that long got high WS ratings should have scored. Perhaps it’s the critic change catching a bunch of hack Pinot producers off-guard? If that’s the case it’s kinda funny. Like the producers who knew better than to submit would’ve scored well, and the panderers who thought they had a shoo-in with their confectionary crap got panned… Might need to find a copy…
That makes sense. Marcus has only recently started reviewing PN for the WS and while I’ve never had any wine with Laube, I have had dinner with Marcus and he has a pretty good palate. He is originally from Sonoma but for years was reviewing wines from Germany, Austria, Portugal, Greece, and France. He may just have a completely different take on the wines.
Wine Berserkers is a small, closed world. Wine Spectator serves a much larger audience. The wine industry would die a swift death of our tastes dictated the market.