tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128271396089958050.post450895228854710636..comments2024-03-08T21:37:38.443-08:00Comments on VinoFictions: Crying uncleThomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07322028233207741737noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128271396089958050.post-90839002491898853572009-11-24T12:19:07.069-08:002009-11-24T12:19:07.069-08:00Ha, Rob,
Yeah. If I had my way, critics would eit...Ha, Rob,<br /><br />Yeah. If I had my way, critics would either be barred from using a rating system or at the very least be forced to come with one that means something.Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07322028233207741737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128271396089958050.post-66061071355167260362009-11-24T12:01:34.078-08:002009-11-24T12:01:34.078-08:00May I submit the possibility for an alternate theo...May I submit the possibility for an alternate theory?<br /><br />Once you understand wine enough to think this hard about ratings, they become meaningless and only your own experience matters. Therefore, ratings are for the child who does not even understand what question they should be asking. Therefore you should explain to him or her the story of when our ancestors were brought out of Egypt... oops, sorry wrong gastronomic holiday.Rob Bralowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07210894629687612702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128271396089958050.post-11835337787027010052009-11-24T06:03:59.991-08:002009-11-24T06:03:59.991-08:00Steven,
Rutherford Cabernet should be the model f...Steven,<br /><br />Rutherford Cabernet should be the model for Cabernet produced in Rutherford, which means it bears little to no relationship to Cabernet produced in Paso Robles. They should never be evaluated as just Cabernet. But with the appellation divisions, I'd also look at the 75% rule. That's where double blind tastings begin to show there stuff. You surely know how much influence 25% of other grape varieties can have on a so-called varietal wine. It's a ruse for critics to claim that they are evaluating a grape variety when in fact they are evaluating a blend.<br /><br />Not that I'm saying that the 75% rule needs to be abandoned. What I'm pointing to is just one area where the concept of quality has been led to a nebulous conclusion.<br /><br />Still, even if you don't agree with that, there has to be ways to agree on benchmark measures for quality--how does the food industry do it? Maybe they have a model that can be adapted.<br /><br />And, if you can't agree with that, you must agree that wine critics have a free hand to determine, individually, what constitutes quality by way of a personal chart that can't be replicated. That's why it's so easy to wake up each morning to find a new wine critic on the Internet.<br /><br />I simply can't find the value for consumers in the present system, except for those whose palates are calibrated to their favorite critic, whatever the hell that's supposed to mean.<br /><br />Finally, if nothing can be developed by the wine industry to get a handle on the guidelines for quality, at the very least the industry should make an attempt to get critics to work from the same standard. You know, like withholding samples until the ground rules are established.Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07322028233207741737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128271396089958050.post-80694671694781047282009-11-24T05:55:23.623-08:002009-11-24T05:55:23.623-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07322028233207741737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128271396089958050.post-39252111287576783832009-11-23T20:11:55.290-08:002009-11-23T20:11:55.290-08:00Thomas:
Try as you might, you cannot remove the h...Thomas:<br /><br />Try as you might, you cannot remove the human element. <br /><br />As I noted in a previous post on another blog; it doesn't really matter how many people you have trained up in a particular system, it is, at the end of the day, a consensus of opinion. <br /><br />What constitutes quality for Cabernet for instance? Is Rutherford Cab the model? Does the standard dictate the alcohol level?, the RS?, the time in oak?, the type of oak? <br /><br />I am not hostile toward greater objective understanding of wine, or anything else for that matter, I am just having a hard time envisioning a system that gets to the "truth" of in some, not unwieldy, way.Steven Mirassouhttp://www.stevenkent.comnoreply@blogger.com