Comments on: Blind tasting is tough – tasting Bordeaux 2005 with Robert Parker

By: Daniel Posner

Daniel Posner — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:47:44 +0000

Rama

Obviously, cost would play into not having Petrus, etc. @ $2500/btl, add an extra $200 per person to the event, and you get Petrus…Throw in $50 for Cheval, and $150 for Ausone…OUCH!

By: Dennis

Dennis — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:38:30 +0000

Dr.Vino, you are a great disapointment. This was not about EWS and the 2005 Bordeaux but you personal feelings about RP.
You would do well in the Obama administration.
This is my first and last time at your website.
You are a petty man.

By: Rama Kuchipudi

Rama Kuchipudi — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 01:04:19 +0000

Nice article but in the end it’s the drinker who decides is this wine satisfying for me or not. I’ve always felt that these Parker scores are somewhat over-rated, and lead to much over-valued wines. On a side note, how come no Petrus, Cheval Blanc, or Ausone on that list? I only ask because I’m a huge Right Bank lover myself:)

By: Eight Reasons the 100 Point Wine Rating Scale Will Go Away | The Bottle Topper

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 18:50:01 +0000

[...] that a lot of other people have had the same question. Some great discussions online, notably at Dr. Vino and Fermentation, show that everyone has an opinion. I’ve listened to the debate, read the [...]

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:19:39 +0000

Hi,

I stumbled upon this blog while searching for some explanation of RP scoring system and really enjoyed reading both article and the debate which followed. While I am astonished that he struggled to distinguished between left and right bank wines, I am more concerned about “grade inflation” and/or narrow range in his ratings whatever 100 point scale says.

I drunk 2 bottles of Bordeaux over Christmas with few friends: one was 1985 Gruaud Larose (purchased for £60; real bargin) rated at 90 points by RP and the other Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel, 2000 Chateau Potensac (£35) rated at 89 points. Everyone present (apart from me not really used to wines above £20 price point) rated GL much higher then CP. I would struggle to find one attribute where CP would score higher then GL. What is more I would struggle to justify paying again £35 for CP. I might declare slight “prejudice” here: apart from Chateau Poujeaux and Mayney I always struggled to find value in higher priced Cru Borg wines always prefering second wines of Leoville Burton or Leoville Les Cases or Langoa Burton.
Still it does not explain why scores are so close for 2 wines which are NOT even in the same league in quality in MHO. Funnily enough the real measure of value here is the price. While at usual price of £100 (in London, UK) for GL, the better value can be found elsewhere it is still a bargin at £60, whereas I would not pay more then £25 for 2000 CP again. But at least price differential is better reflection of the respective quality of both wines then very close RP score.
Finally, I am not sure that RP scores are really driving the market especially for older wines. Otherwise how would we explain the wines from same estate rated by Parker in low 80s selling at 2-3 times more then wines he rated at low 90s?. Mytical status of some vintages and supply and demand balance have more influence then RP ratings.

thanks and regards,

Andrew, London, UK

By: Could Parker simply be losing his sense of taste?

Could Parker simply be losing his sense of taste? — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:30:33 +0000

I’m neither pro-Parker nor anti-Parker, but the guy’s 62, and everyone’s senses deteriorate with age–eyes, hearing, taste. Is it possible that, at 43, he just had more acute olfactory nerves than he does now?

By: A Case for Avoiding the Wine Rating Mousetrap « WineZag

A Case for Avoiding the Wine Rating Mousetrap « WineZag — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:22:08 +0000

[...] This was in evidence in Tyler Colman’s recent post about the Robert Parker lead 2005 Executive Wine Seminar tasting which Mlodinow also references in his WSJ piece and I wrote about here in a post entitled “A [...]

By: Robert Parker is an idiot « Deliciousnessosity: We have founded it.

Robert Parker is an idiot « Deliciousnessosity: We have founded it. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:58:35 +0000

[...] } Never, never NEVER do a blind tasting without cheating! Especially of things that you’ve tasted and rated before, using an elaborate point system, [...]

By: Cositas y cosotas: 20.11.2009 « La otra botella

Cositas y cosotas: 20.11.2009 « La otra botella — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:21:06 +0000

[...] A mí lo que me resulta particularmente digno de consideración son las implicaciones de todo esto para el crítico puntuador más influyente del mundo, el “Emperador del Vino” que hace y deshace las fortunas de bodegas a base de puntos. Porque Robert M. Parker, Jr. como que no la está pasando muy bien últimamente. Hace un par de años, su ex-traductora y ayudante en Burdeos sacó un libro en que lo acusaba de un montón de conflictos de interés con respecto a grandes nombres de Burdeos. Luego explotó aquello de que sus asociados aceptaban viajes de lujo de ciertos grupos de la industria del vino, que puso en duda si Parker en realidad aplicabal código de ética que él mismo estableciera para su propia publicacón. Las diversas controversias en torno al “affaire Campo” y la participación de Parker en Wine Future Rioja 09 por un honorario desconocido, pero rumorado como altísimo, tampoco ayudaron. Y encima la reputación de Parker como “supercatador” se ha visto en tela de juicio por aquella cata de burdeos del 2005 para Executive Wine Seminars en la que Mr. Parker, por así decirlo, no puso una. [...]

By: Stephen

Stephen — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:55:09 +0000

Nicely done, as usual, Tyler. My issue with these tastings is slightly different than the obsession w/ points or id’ing the wine. The larger trouble seems to me that such a short time spent on tasting, without the benefit of food, cannot do the wine justice. Every fine wine I have ever had has evolved over the course of a meal. The evolutionary quality may be one of the essential qualities of a fine wine. It seems that rating wines in flights w/o getting a chance to go back to the wine over time (preferably over the course of a meal) cannot possibly “nail” it. I remember one informal tasting I attended in a wine writer’s home where we tasted 8-10 bottles before dinner, took notes, ate dinner and then returned to the wine again. None of the tasters/note takers were able to correctly identify more than half of the wines tasted before dinner. I fear that blind tastings often treat wine as if it is dead. It is not.

As for points, I believe they do more harm than good. Too often, the scores are the first words to fall from the lips of wine consumers when talking about wines. Nothing about the qualities or sensations of the wine. Reminds me of the museum goer who looks at the tag naming the artist before bothering to look at the painting. Doesn’t seem like the right place to start.

Was the taster at your table from Delaware from Moore Brothers? Is there another Delaware place I should investigate?

Glad you were able to attend, and I enjoyed reading about it through your eyes.

By: Charlie Olken

Charlie Olken — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:55:54 +0000

People age differently. There is not much proof that I can supporting the notion that Parker has lost it. His palate is no different today in terms of style than it ever was.

I have been in this business for 35 years, and I will admit that I sometimes have to work harder than I used to, but I also have a wealth of knowledge, analytical tasting skill, data bank of tasting memories that combined make me in many ways a better taster than I was earlier in my career.

So the question of “fading” is a tricky one at best and a red herring at worst. In this case, Parker did mix up Merlot with Cabernet Sauvignon, high ripeness with left bank fruit, and those to me are more critical eyebrow-raisers than his preferential choices.

But, as the saying goes, “the last time I confused Burgundy with Bordeaux was at lunch”.

Mr. Parker has come in for a lot of heat this year–much of it deserved. But, I don’t see that his performace at this tasting has warranted the depth of criticism that it has seemed to engender.

By: Michael McCabe

Michael McCabe — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:15:17 +0000

Tyler,
My wife Maureen and I were the two sitting directly to your left at the tasting. I didn’t realise who you were until my favorite wine reailer in Milwaukee told me he had read about the tasting on your blog. When I started reading it and you described the geographical makeup of the table I was almost sure it was you or the person to your right. When you mentioned the corked wine that iced it. Your picture on the blog did the rest.
Parker made two points in addition to the one’s you’ve noted that I found most interesting. First he is beginning to feel that some of the big 05’s are so tanic that they may never smooth out satisfactorily. Secondly that if you don’t like a wine now you won’t like it in 10 or 15 years even if the tanins do smooth out and if you like it now you’ll still like it later after ageing.
Speaking of aging one of your commentators noted that Parker is now 60, the age when the sense of smell and thus tast starts to fade. I’m 67 and my favorites were 3,8 and 9 so perhaps Parker and I are fading at a similar pace.
I enjoyed our brief exchanges during the tasting, next time you’re in Milwaukee drop me a line and we can pull a few bottles out of my cellar.
Mike

By: Charles E. STANFIELD

Charles E. STANFIELD — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:43:27 +0000

‘Sup, Little Brother!
Boy! give some of these “wine clowns” a platform to shout from, and you’ll get hot air in the face, and smoke blown up your ass! Gaw! What windbags! Anyway, I salute the wines of Pomerol and St.Emilion for their great showing at the tasting of the ‘05 Bordeauxs. Take that, Merlot haters!

By: The Wine Mule

The Wine Mule — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:37:07 +0000

Um, let me try this again:

Two thoughts: First, anyone, even Big Bob, can have a bad day. It’s worse for him, because he has hyped himself so shamelessly for the past decade, but otherwise it could happen to anybody. I taste blind about once a week; once in a while I nail something (Donnafugata Ben Rye!), and once in a while I am so incredibly far off I tell myself I should just give it up (recent example: Tasting a ‘94 Nuit St. Georges and deciding it was Grenache from Sardinia).

Second, Charlie is saying the 100-point system isn’t meant to be precise, but that, to me (and Tish, obviously), is exactly the problem: People who don’t know any better assume there’s some real quantitative difference between an 89 and a 90; and people who do know better exploit this ignorance to their profit.

By: The Wine Mule

The Wine Mule — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:21:50 +0000

“If every source of wine ratings were able and willing to ensure that the nature of its system were kept in the context of that particular critic(s), the wine world would be a much richer and more sensible place. I am sure that your system at CGCW is better than most; but the problem is still that all the numbers wind up being viewed by marketers, retailers and some of the public as the same: namely definitive grades. That, again, is the problem.”

Bingo. The biggest crime of the 100-point system is that it conveys a false sense of precision.