Palate Press - Latest Comments

Re: Willamette Valley: A Sense of Place with Soul

Wayne Bailey — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 14:32:52 -0000

That is what we are all about. Great portrait.

Re: Small But Beautiful: 2012 Harvest in Burgundy

Le Bourguignon — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 10:40:58 -0000

Thanks for very this interesting article. What about the Harvest in Côte Chalonnaise ?

Re: Willamette Valley: A Sense of Place with Soul

Troy Butler — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 23:04:56 -0000

Nicely done!

Re: Willamette Valley: A Sense of Place with Soul

Chris Gant — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 20:59:23 -0000

Even more reasons to make the trip down to experience the Willamette Valley. Great article - Thanks.

Re: All You Ever Wanted to Know About Wine Grapes

chilecopadevino — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 15:47:30 -0000

Great book I love it, I would love it more as an eBook,
holding the damn thing hurts after a few minutes or puts your hand to sleep, so
it’s strictly a sit at the table type read. The detail is amazing and reading
stuff that was often proposed and proved totally wrong with DNA testing makes
me chuckle.

Re: A Compromise to End the War Over the 100-Point Scale

Aaron — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 08:43:57 -0000

I'm against all 100-point scores. I like John Brecher & Dottie Gaiter's system: "Wines are rated on a scale that ranges: Yech, OK, Good, Very Good, Delicious"

But as they wisely caution in their final WSJ column: "It's not about delicious wines. It's about delicious experiences. May your life be filled with them."

Re: A Compromise to End the War Over the 100-Point Scale

epdaws — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 19:04:37 -0000

No need for that. I'm a big fan of yours. Not sure why you'd think I have a problem with you; I'd prefer to get back to the substance of the points raised.

Re: A Compromise to End the War Over the 100-Point Scale

szymanskiea — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 16:04:55 -0000

Evan, I'm sorry that you took my comment as condescending. I didn't mean it that way. But if you have problems with me, I'd prefer that we take this outside. (That is, outside the thread, i.e. that we discuss this privately if we need to.)

Re: A Compromise to End the War Over the 100-Point Scale

epdaws — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 14:53:20 -0000

Fair enough... and glad we agree that slapping scores on old wines is vulgar!

Re: A Compromise to End the War Over the 100-Point Scale

Joe Roberts — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 07:42:46 -0000

Evan - I love you madly bro but I'm totally against this suggestion. Generally I dislike scores and it's vulgar to score an older fine wine, but what I've been leaning toward lately is to think twice about rating any that truly moved me. Regardless of age :-)

Re: A Compromise to End the War Over the 100-Point Scale

epdaws — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 06:11:25 -0000

Not necessarily antagonistic, but condescending. That's the whole point of "shall we?" It's the patting-on-the-head tone, the absolutely certainty that is patronizing. It's the same tone you showed Adam Lee when you jumped into Blake's post about Wine Spectator; the one where Adam simply pointed out factual inaccuracies and shaky premises.

Now, back to the tasting notes discussion... I don't necessarily write a lot of tasting notes either, because I don't review wines for scores or publications. And I think tasting notes are, as Bill Klapp says, riddled with bad writing and poor descriptions. But I also find that good tasting notes can be very helpful. Why are you against describing how a wine tastes and smells?

I should say that I'm much more interested in a wine's story than a laundry list of descriptors that come off as interchangeable often enough. But again, I appreciate a good note. Asimov, Molesworth, Richard Jennings, Galloni...

One other point. Just because it's a small segment of the market buying old wines doesn't change the fact that it makes for thousands of bottles a year. And thousands of tasting notes on old wines. We're not talking about a dozen bottles a year. And I object to the idea that old wines are for those "lucky few who have the money." I just purchased a 15-year-old Gaglioppo for less than the cost of a new-release Finger Lakes Riesling. Wine is a diverse world.

Re: A Compromise to End the War Over the 100-Point Scale

szymanskiea — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 23:59:08 -0000

Wow, Evan. I didn't mean for my comment to seem antagonistic. I disagree with you, but I'm sorry that I seemed condescending to you. Tasting notes are a collective issue for the entire wine writing community and, well, I do my part by not writing them.

Re: A Compromise to End the War Over the 100-Point Scale

epdaws — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 16:06:35 -0000

E - No one is saying that older wines are a big part of the market. But they are certainly linked to the most obscene part of wine scores. Eliminating the most crass part of the scoring system is a wonderful first step; it's an understanding that score addiction is real and troublesome.

As for your condescending remark on the tasting note, I await your prescription for perfecting it...

Re: A Compromise to End the War Over the 100-Point Scale

szymanskiea — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 13:55:40 -0000

I fear that this is a tremendously elitist way of considering scores given the very, very narrow range of consumers for whom a ban on scores for middle-aged and elderly wines will be relevant. How many people are in the market for these vintages? How does your recommendation help change how the vast majority of consumers -- "average" wine drinkers as well as a lot of more serious (or better educated, or more thoughtful, or what-have-you) wine lovers -- think about wine quality? Not scoring older wines primarily impacts collectors and those lucky few who have the money (or the jobs) to drink such beauties. While I realize that it's not always the case, I'd like to believe that these are exactly the people for whom scores are already unimportant. Let's focus on reforming the tasting note for everyone, shall we?