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Do we need wine critics anymore?

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Rick Gregory
Roy Piper
Loren Sonkin
Gerry Morrisey
Otto Dobre
Bob Kaminski
Linda Baehr
Cris Whetstone
Justin Wells
C. Fu
Ian Dorin
mike pobega
Yoni Ovadia
Rick Smith
Zachary L A N G
Peter M Czyryca
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Post  Peter M Czyryca Wed Jan 21, 2009 3:11 am

Not bashing any one critic - but I wonder, once you establish your palate, are critics even necessary?

When I first got into wine, I had a sub to them all (WA, WS, IWC, BH) - now, none. And it's more out of knowing what I like and dislike, what producers I trust, etc then not being able to afford the subs anymore.
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Post  Zachary L A N G Wed Jan 21, 2009 3:13 am

Overall, i might agree but as there are new wines coming out all the time, I still like to see what people are saying about them, etc. Besides, without the scores, how do I know what to get?
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Post  Rick Smith Wed Jan 21, 2009 3:16 am

And I think a lot of us used critics and publications to help understand wine when we got started, and to figure out our palate.

I still will use a score via a mobile device for a rough estimate if I am looking at a wine list or something.
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Post  Yoni Ovadia Wed Jan 21, 2009 7:02 pm

I use them for new wines. If something is reviewed and got a good score that I haven't tried, I will seek it out as I am always looking for new stuff to drink.

For wines that are tried and true (for me) I don't really care much about the reviews.
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Post  mike pobega Wed Jan 21, 2009 8:06 pm

For some critics may be important. For myself, no. They actually hurt with the high point chase scores and make wines difficult to get, if not impossible.
Some dressed up as retailers are totally worthless.
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Post  Peter M Czyryca Wed Jan 21, 2009 9:40 pm

Rick Smith wrote:And I think a lot of us used critics and publications to help understand wine when we got started, and to figure out our palate.

I still will use a score via a mobile device for a rough estimate if I am looking at a wine list or something.

Great point Rick - esp on the wine list.

I definitely relied on critics initially, now all I need to know is if the vintage was good. Producers for my favorite regions are burned into my brain.
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Post  Ian Dorin Thu Jan 22, 2009 1:15 am

Someone like an Allen Meadows, Antonio Galloni, or David Schildknecht I think has a ton of value in terms of notes. They can also provide great information as well, as they are passionate when they write, and are knowledgeable about where they focus. They happen to specialize in areas of my personal interest. Even with that, NUMEROUS times I have found myself going, "he rated this what?"

I don't think it's the critics that need to go, just the rating system. I get TONS of free advice from folks like those on this board any many others on what to buy. Rivers Marie was brought to my attention by those in the forums, not by a critic. Will be 4 vintages deep next week when the mailer comes out.

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Post  C. Fu Thu Jan 22, 2009 1:28 am

Ian Dorin wrote: Rivers Marie was brought to my attention by those in the forums, not by a critic. Will be 4 vintages deep next week when the mailer comes out.

don't tell whetstone he hates that junk. jocolor
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Post  Justin Wells Thu Jan 22, 2009 4:08 am

*


Last edited by Justin Wells on Fri Jan 23, 2009 8:50 am; edited 1 time in total
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Post  Cris Whetstone Thu Jan 22, 2009 10:18 am

C. Fu wrote:
Ian Dorin wrote: Rivers Marie was brought to my attention by those in the forums, not by a critic. Will be 4 vintages deep next week when the mailer comes out.

don't tell whetstone he hates that junk. jocolor
Love the Pinots. No brainer buy especially with pretty fair pricing. The Cabs on the other hand..... Suspect Easy Pass.
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Post  Linda Baehr Thu Jan 22, 2009 2:03 pm

I can sometimes read tastiing notes and know enough about the descriptors being used to know if I will like a wine or not, regardless of the score being given. I also know that is someone like Parker thinks a wine is huge, then it more than likely will be too over the top for me. Once you get to know a critics palate, you can usually judge a wine without considering points.
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Post  Bob Kaminski Thu Jan 22, 2009 2:13 pm

Letting my WA lapse. I don't want to chase 90 pt wines that cost $100.
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Post  Ian Dorin Thu Jan 22, 2009 2:35 pm

Cris Whetstone wrote: Love the Pinots. No brainer buy especially with pretty fair pricing. The Cabs on the other hand..... Suspect Easy Pass.

I only do the Pinot (and the first release of Chard coming up). Actually, someone told me they are separate lists, huge bonus, and a smart play by TRB. I don't need any more Cab.

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Post  Otto Dobre Thu Jan 22, 2009 6:56 pm

Well, after WA 180 came out, (and was very happy to be on the Schrader list) I looked at any wines 95 or better less than $100. The obvious QPR was the 05 Conn Valley Reserve. So I bought a 6 pack from WebWine for $46 per, a 96 RMP.

A week later I opened a bottle and immediately was struck by how simple and thin the wine was. Decent ok, but nowhere near 96 points. I drank about 4/5 of the bottle then left the wine in the bar area. Corked it the next morning, but did not consume it the following day, but I decided to finish it off on day 3, expecting oxidized wine.

Well the wine was a beauty. How the heck Mr Parker was able to predict the greatness of the wine is beyond me. I only can attest to its greatness by accident. And I don't think that he leaves his wines open for 3 days!

So yeah, I will renew my WA subscription
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Post  Zachary L A N G Thu Jan 22, 2009 7:16 pm

I'm with Otto..no matter how much I know about wine, it'll always be less than these guys. Like someone above said, you just have to know the taters palate and go from there. I have no clue how to taste a wine and say...ok, I'll drink my next bottle in 7 yrs, or 8yrs, etc
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Post  Bob Kaminski Thu Jan 22, 2009 8:09 pm

Zachary L A N G wrote:I'm with Otto..no matter how much I know about wine, it'll always be less than these guys. Like someone above said, you just have to know the taters palate and go from there. I have no clue how to taste a wine and say...ok, I'll drink my next bottle in 7 yrs, or 8yrs, etc

Well after doing this for 25+ years, I feel the training wheels can come off Razz . I like Reading RPs TNs. I align well with his palate on Cali Cabs, Rhone, and Bordeaux not so much with Pinot or Oz wines. The existence of these BBs helps one discover new wines and that was the value of the WA. I just don't have to poney up $99 to know what I already know or can pick up on wine BBs. I have my usual wines year in and year out and at my age and the recent insanity of pricing, Bordeaux is not a big play for me. YMMV.
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Post  Gerry Morrisey Sun Jan 25, 2009 5:01 am

It's funny, I'm torn between giving up on the critics altogether at this point because once you decide what style and producers you like and have gained some confidence in your own palate. But then I do find my palate aligns better with Tanser than Parker when looking at wines I'm less familair with.
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Post  Loren Sonkin Sun Jan 25, 2009 2:28 pm

First, I love to read about wine.

Also, there is so much wine, I rely on critics to taste wines that I would otherwise not discover. I also use Internet BB's for the same reason. The better I know the writer, the more likely I might be able to calibrate my palate to theirs and use the note.
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Post  Roy Piper Mon Jan 26, 2009 12:01 am

Do "WE" need wine critics now? Hell no.

Do they have their place for people who don't like wine so much they post on wine boards? Yes.

If I bought Burgundy I might like to listen to Allan Meadows. But for the US and Bordeaux, my prime interests, even RP is no longer needed. Nor is he all that accurate. Twisted Evil
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Post  Rick Gregory Mon Jan 26, 2009 4:33 am

Roy nailed it. WE, the people (hey that's catchy...) who post here don't need professional critics. Oh, if I decided to get into Cali Cab I'd want to read a few reviews, but aside from breaking into a new area I don't really need anyone to tell me who the highly regarded producers are in a region.

After 15 years I know the qualities I like in a wine too so I can talk to a trusted wine merchant, try some things, tell them which I liked and why and in fairly short order they'll be able to tell me what I might like that I've not heard of. And if I miss a producer... so what? I can't possibly buy and drink every wine in the world that I'd like... not even every wine that I'd love. At the end of the day what I try to end up with are wines in my cellar that I love and new wines that I find intriguing. Some of those I'll love, some I'll find interesting. I could care less if a critic scores them highly or not or if the label is famous or not. What I care about is what's in the glass and at this point I know the wines I like well enough that I can select them myself and I don't need anyone's validation on that.

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Post  Brandon Miller Mon Jan 26, 2009 4:49 am

I gotta have things in the cellar that rate high. It's bad, I know, and I swear, it's not for me. My problem is the entertaining side of things. When I entertain to people who read only scores then I'll bust out a Carnival of Love. When I really want to entertain wine friends then I'll drop a Small Vines in their lap. Holdredge stickies always do the trick to.
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Post  Glenn Levine Mon Jan 26, 2009 4:51 am

Brandon Miller wrote:I gotta have things in the cellar that rate high. It's bad, I know, and I swear, it's not for me. My problem is the entertaining side of things. When I entertain to people who read only scores then I'll bust out a Carnival of Love. When I really want to entertain wine friends then I'll drop a Small Vines in their lap. Holdredge stickies always do the trick to.

stop diddling your clitoris and forget about the scores man.
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Post  Brandon Miller Mon Jan 26, 2009 4:53 am

Glenn Levine wrote:
Brandon Miller wrote:I gotta have things in the cellar that rate high. It's bad, I know, and I swear, it's not for me. My problem is the entertaining side of things. When I entertain to people who read only scores then I'll bust out a Carnival of Love. When I really want to entertain wine friends then I'll drop a Small Vines in their lap. Holdredge stickies always do the trick to.

stop diddling your clitoris and forget about the scores man.

THERE NOT FOR ME!







Denyce says hi!
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Post  Glenn Levine Mon Jan 26, 2009 5:04 am

say hi for me man!
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Post  Jay Selman Mon Jan 26, 2009 3:42 pm

Yes, we do. Many crave affirmation. However, as opposed to about a 12 critics, there will be thousands. The critics will be on Facebook, CellarTracker, here and dozens of other social networking sites.
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