89 Point Wines, ENOUGH ALREADY!

89 Point Wines, ENOUGH ALREADY! – Episode #320

September 25, 2007

Gary Vaynerchuk explores the 89 point phenomenon. Some fun wines today!

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Comments on this episode(151) Leave a comment ›

“Fun episode, interesting topid.

QOTD: Most deadlines are fundamenta…” by Phredd
“republican or democrat…. can’t we just be american? Legalize it!…” by Chris Lotz
View all 151 ›

Wines tasted in this episode:

2005 Chehalem Riesling ReserveOregon Riesling
2006 Te Kairanga Pinot NoirNew Zealand Pinot Noir
2005 Minchin Le Clos DelormeOther Loire Red Wine
2003 Miguel Torres Syrah ReservaChilean Shiraz
2003 Chateau SaintaymeSt Emilion
2004 Turkey Flat GrenacheAustralian Grenache

Links mentioned in todays episode.

151 Responses

September 25, 2007

Mott
1st
September 25, 2007

Matt N.
Second?
September 25, 2007

JSH
dos!
September 25, 2007

Cearbhaill
Top 10!
September 25, 2007

Montrose
Me too!
September 25, 2007

flippy
5?
September 25, 2007

Norcal
Top 5? Sweeeeeeeeeeet.
September 25, 2007

Zach
So to get top 10 you can’t wait to watch the episode? Lame.
September 25, 2007

de Las
shazam!
September 25, 2007

hingrman
lots of wines
September 25, 2007

purplejuicebruce
top 10
September 25, 2007

hingrman
and a long episode
September 25, 2007

hingrman
thanks Gary
September 25, 2007

Dean D.
Top 15?
September 25, 2007

Cearbhaill
QOTD: Corks!! I find it completely absurd that some people refuse to acknowledge that screw caps can be a good thing…
September 25, 2007

de Las
yes on all questions, except the dr. pepper, I gave that up 6 years ago.
September 25, 2007

garyv
@ de Las so do our palette’s match up? have u tried wines I liked/disliked and we agreed?
September 25, 2007

John Witherspoon (J DUB)
fun episode Gary, showin’ some love for the 89ers!!

QOTD: I don’t have a particular line in the sand that I would gripe about but I do think that ratings in general whether it be hotel, restaurant ratings, wine, etc.. have to be taken with a grain of salt. I know for instance that my palate agrees more with Spectator Ratings than Enthusiast ratings because I have tried a lot of wines that they have both rated side by side. It is all subjective, so no more lines in the sand…gets my vote. Actually as I sit here and think about it, the line in the sand between people with PHD’s and those without in the scientific community. ARGHHHH

J DUB
September 25, 2007

Shadowbird
QOTD: The line between no college degree with experience and college degree with no experience. Isn’t experience the best teacher?
September 25, 2007

Karl Laczko
Nice long episode, good for the end of day wind-down.

Minchin Le Clos Delorme – and that’s meant to be a Loire red? Sauerkraut, that’s a meal idea for tomorrow

QOTD – Ridiculous Lines in the sand, what…. in wine or life in general? Wine – nothing really springs to mind apart from most peoples reluctance to experiment, either customer or most retailers. Life – why do people still think a suit and a tie makes a difference in work?
September 25, 2007

LMoC
Maybe you should check the HVAC in your office, and see if it’s blowing in exhaust from outside…
September 25, 2007

sk-HAWT from Salt Lake
Whoa, that Minchin Le Clos Delorme sounds awesome. I get off on funky wines.

Since I live here in Utah, which is a non wine shipping state, I tried to support the cause and order some T’s, but WL doesn’t even ship those here either.

QOTD: The line in the sand for me is wine prices at restaurants. Typically I know what they pay for wine and when I find a restaurant with re-DONK-que-lus markup on I tend not to return. I understand they need to make a decent margin, but I’m also the sort to drop my hard earned coin on fantastic wines while dining, but still look for the quality/price ratio.
September 25, 2007

Orion Slayer
Nice show. Great way to point out the need to watch our biases. I’ve bookmarked the 2003 Chateau Saintayme, it sounds like a great wine, even if it is a little “cute.” I’m going to have to be adventurous and try one of those vegetable wines, too!

QOTD: The whole idea of drawing lines in the sand when it comes to wine (and life for that matter) is silly. A lot of times it seems that those who draw the lines are puffed up with the small amount of knowledge the have. I one critic who said he never drinks a wine with a dog on the label. Being a new wine drinker, I thought he might have a good point so I found myself shunning canine bearing vinos. My loss! Thanks for shaking us up with shows like the 89 point wine episode!
It just goes to show that when you pre-judge anything, you end up the biggest loser.
September 25, 2007

kevin
QOTD. gender lines in sports.. specifically the different events for male/female in gymnastics,,, i.e. a boy who’d be great at the balance beam, or the girl who would be great at rings….my gripe…. gender lines…
September 25, 2007

Orion Slayer
About the outside air coming into your car all the time: Do you the defroster in your car often? In my car, when I turn on the defroster, the outside vent is automatically opened to help defrost. Check it out!
September 25, 2007

KAHUNA
QOTD: When a escort says that will cost you another $50 for that baby!
September 25, 2007

Pamela
QOTD: My line is drawn at price point. I would feel like a sucker, a sap, if I spend $50 or up on a bottle. In the $40’s it is a bit of a grey area but it has been done. As I learn more about wine though, I bet I will see this line move!
Gary, are you happy? I am a lurker no more!
September 25, 2007

TommyBoBo of WI
Hey, before WLTV I was a 90point on up jerk,, I’ve had a ton of good wines at the 87-89 point range, and I’M NO LONGER AFRAID OF THE SUB 90 WINES!! I’M EMBRACING THEM!

QOTD:line in the sand??? My state ELECTED representatives trying to take away my right to purchase wine from wherever, from whomever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can Wine Library throw a little weight Wisconsin way??????

And where are the damn Gravatars,, this comment section needs some visual beautification
September 25, 2007

TheDumbPhase
QOTD:
Line in the sand I just can’t stand?
I cannot tolerate people that make judgements about others based on the way they look. I was recently down South and I hate to say it but racism is alive and well. Making assumptions and/or discriminating against another human being based on race, creed, sex or sexual preference is just stupid and dangerous.
September 25, 2007

Daniel
QOTD: I think when people draw a line in the sand about musical styles it can be ridiculous. Saying you don’t like ANY music from a certain genre is like saying you don’t like ANY wine from a certain grape.
September 25, 2007

de Las
GV, I agree with your general views about regions, esp. walla walla, douro, etc, but I did dig on the turkey flat old vine grenache last vintage. I have already eaten 4 pickles today (they were cornichons), and they were downrighteous with the cremant de bourgogne ($9) that my wife and I enjoyed while picknicking under the fall new mexican sun, on my birthday no less. QOTD-tan lines…
September 25, 2007

italianwinelover
Great ep! Very extensive.

QOTD: Would have to agree with “sk-HAWT from Salt Lake”. The markup in restaurants is totally ridiculous and I can’t stand it. To the point of bringing my own and paying them a corkage fee! At least then I don’t feel like I got ripped off. But then I become a wine snob!!! They can get away with charging an ungodly amount for a wine that might have been opened two or three days ago. If I don’t bring my own I ask what was the last red wine you opened, at least that way I can get something that hasn’t turned yet!!!

Great show once again! Will seek out some of these!
September 25, 2007

Phil G
QOTD â€“ I canâ€™t stand most peopleâ€™s aversion to Riesling. Boy, are they missing something good.
September 25, 2007

Sonnenuhr
Great show – lots of wine, good variety, great values, what more can we ask for. Thanks for sharing the Ellen segments, didn’t get a chance to record. Very funny – RP, HJ & Co could never pull that off.

The Best Value is Wine = WLTV
September 25, 2007

Arthur
I agree with you Gary on the points issue.

Two issues here – arbitrary assignment of points that somehow represent the whole wine, and no criteria for giving points.

I had built my rating system around a 100 point scale because people still want some bottom
line number. I had done this in hopes that the system would reflect the wine’s character and complexity. Because two wines scored rated at a final 89 points (or 94 or 75) can be so different, I am transitioning to a “BOTTOM LINE” statement that gives my judgement of the wine and an indication of how eager I would be to recommend the wine. I still use points to rate the nose, palate, finish etc, but I am taking the emphasis off the cumulative 100 point score.
September 25, 2007

Autoproxy
QOTD: The line between posters on WLTV who want to make the top ten and others who want to interact and/or address the QOTD. Ha. Also, ratings in general for any/everything. They just seem to turn people on/off independent of many people’s efforts and exist only tangentially to substance.
September 25, 2007

JonE
floating in the lincoln behind a commuter/Strawberries and Sauerkraut-oh hell noooo G-Man. I go far not that far.

QOTD: Obscenely high rated sherries from Lustau, what the buck chuck!!!
September 25, 2007

Arthur
Gary, I have to take issue with the too common misconception that palate means preference.

Liking an aroma or flavor or any combination thereof is not the same as being able to recognize aromas.

When you tell people to train their palate, you are not telling them to enjoy chewing asparagus through a sweaty sock, but rather to familiarize themselves with those aromas.

Maybe if scores were more frequently a reflection of aroma and structure and longevity, indicating balance, varietal typicity and complexity rather than power of exraction or how much the taster liked the wine, they would be more accurate and more useful and possibly more consistent.
September 25, 2007

Mr SHY
I agree – points are important, because it helps to narrow down your choices, but buying a wine just because it’s just 1-2 points higher than another is just silly. Better to get to know your local wine dealer, and then once he/she knows your taste – they can suggest something that is in your price range and will be something that you are very likely to enjoy.
September 25, 2007

Kev and Ams
QOTD: I am a Hockey Fan (NHL). Not any particular team, just the sport. I can get behind any team (except Dallas) and cheer for them. There is no line in the sand for me (except for the line that despises Dallas).
September 25, 2007

E
Go go Loire Valley reds. Never get tired of those.

89 points is fine, that means the point chasers will be scared away and that’s just fine.

QOD: Crappy restaurant wine lists that invite me to fork over sums I don’t really want to pay for wines I don’t really want to drink.
September 25, 2007

Badger Ann
QOTD: My line in the sand concerns comments like the one I heard last week at my local wine shop. Customer tells shop employee: “I’m only interested in purchasing 93+ point wines”. Employee rolls his eyes once well-heeled customer leaves with case of 93+ point wines in tow.

Give me a break…
September 25, 2007

Lynne
Gary, I totally enjoyed this show. I’m so intrigued by the “veggie” wine, that it is already in my basket. You brought a wine to the ChiTown party and when I smelled it, I immediately thought of a vegetable garden. I think it might have been the Philip Togni. This one is much less expensive than PT and I am looking forward to trying it.
QOD:
I draw the line at over-priced culty wines. I have to believe there is something of similar quality out there for half the money. If that’s not true, someone please enlighten me.
September 25, 2007

JC
Great show!
September 25, 2007

Lynne
BTW: I answered “yes” to all of your “do you like” questions. I lived on cold pizza in college. AND Dr. Pepper.
September 25, 2007

E. Zimman
Great show Gary. Loved the ELLEN clips…that producer was hysterical.

QOTD: Line in the sand…line in the sand…have to ruminate more on this one while drinking some wine
September 25, 2007

Adria
Watched the back episode from the 20th… made me have a good giggle at the end of a LONG day. I have to be careful though- I’ve started describing wines a little too honestly through your influence, and it impedes my sales at times. I recently described the Bracco 2005 Primitivo as a back to school special- pencil shavings and not quite broken-in Converse…. ^_^

QOTD: Pre-judging people based on class- there are genuine, intelligent people all over the world that deserve a chance to thrive, not just the privileged, powerful upper class.
September 25, 2007

Jeff O
QOTD: A sort of line in the sand that drives me nuts (and I’m sure many others) is the insistence upon the Yellow Tails and others like that being so great and the “bargain wines” and the “cool to bring to a dinner party wines”. There are SO many good wines out there at the same or slightly higher price points that people don’t buy simply because they arenâ€™t as “trendy” and people just donâ€™t know.
September 25, 2007

Nyquil
qotd: some people think i’m not a serious wine drinker because i occasionally enjoy a boxed wine. there are some decent boxed wines out there. right now i’m drinking Black Box 2005 Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon and i’m enjoying it. it’s definitely not the best wine i’ve had this month, but:

1. it’s a great value (4 bottles of wine for about $17)
2. it’s an easy pour, and no worrying about the vacuum pump
3. it lasts more than a week
4. it tastes good

people who snub boxed wines are people who have tasted Frangia, or the like… which i agree are complete crap… and not even an enjoyable kind of crap!

you should do a show on some good boxed wines. that will freak everyone out.
September 25, 2007

Zimster
Great show — love the idea of looking at 89 wines, Hey, by keeping away the 90-crowd, there may be some bargains.
September 25, 2007

John Farrin
If you can’t bring yourself to tell us hoe you really feel I don’t see how this wine vlog thing is going to work I’m ready for all the education you want to throw at us. Great show!!!!!!!!!

I drew the line several years ago on the ridiculous price explosion in California wines and I live in California. Today, my cellar only includes about 15% California wines because for the most part they don’t represent good QPR.
September 25, 2007

Dave Canada
I am an 88 and 89 point buyer for all the reasons that you noted….I buy on style not ratings. I am an old world dude so a Brunello or Vino Nobile, or Bordeaux or whatever is my style of wine so if the price is right, I go.
QOTD – Cars…people buy for name and not quality…come on, a friend of mine’s Dad just bought a Bentley….$500,000CAN for a damn car? that is all about status sorry.
September 25, 2007

Robert Howells
Gary,

I think points are important if you are buying wine to cellar for many years. The critics have done their homework and really only want to help the consumer. Robert Parker has been 90% accurate with his scoring over the years even after revisiting and re-tasting wines. Who else can claim that? What is all the fuss about, if you don’t like points then don’t look at them. For some people the 100 point system is very helpful in choosing the right wines and with todays prices we need all the help we can get. PS It is nice to have the Canadian dollar at par with the US so I can finally get some great deals while visiting.
September 25, 2007

Plminer
Insightful show GV, well done, very enjoyable .
QOTD: Republican vs. Democrat! Why would you limit yourself like that? Vote for who the best candidate is regardless of their race, creed, sex or political label.
And I also agree with the restaurant mark-ups, people need to start breaking the mold on that one, waaaay over it.
September 25, 2007

GR8Wine
Nice Episode. Very educational and lot’s of wine. I don’t know about lines in the sand – I’m pretty tolerant about almost everyting until it comes to threatening the freedoms of our American way of life.
I like it when you taste a wide diversity of wines. Keep it up.
September 25, 2007

KruszControl
Gary, you seem like you’ve been getting down on the points lately. I think that you should definitely keep using them because tasting notes with a score are more useful than just tasting notes. As we taste wines that you taste and talk about, we start to understand how your pallet relates to ours. You might say something tastes exactly like peaches, but I get a much stronger pineapple, or you say green peppers but I get red peppers. So tasting notes can be just as misleading as scores at times. However, if I start to get an idea for what you taste and how it relates to what I taste, then your opinion starts meaning more to me because I know what I am getting into; I know if I will like it. But you might give nearly identical tasting notes to several different wines. Points give us a scale to measure the intensity and integration of those flavors. We might have two wines that taste like apples to you, and lets say our pallets are the same on that and I know I would probably get apples as well, and we both like apples. That is when a score really helps, because if we have two wines that taste like green apples, but one has a much more intense, smooth, better integrated apple, then a great way to communicate that is by giving one a 92 and one an 88.

Summary for those that don’t like to read: Tasting notes combined with scores are far better indicators about what to expect from a wine than either by themselves!
September 25, 2007

1whitetree
“Peaches and Diesel” is a great Eric Clapton song from the Slowhand album.
September 25, 2007

RonC
Really good show. And thanks for putting up the links. Perhaps you can ask Kara to be a guest on your next palate training show.

I not against try wines rated in the high eighties. I really enjoy the Te Kairanga Pinot Noir. It’s not the best pinot I ever drank, but it’s always satisfying and an excellent wine to drink socially.
September 25, 2007

Dominus
Nice show and congrats to the Jets!

QOTD: Line in the sand? The only one I have is the stinking & cheatin’ Patriots.
September 25, 2007

Cajun Wino
Gary, 13th man on a BASKETBALL team. I wanna play in that league. Thanks for the insight.
September 25, 2007

Harley Stan
Great show today, it was interesting that the Chilean wine was thin, I just had a Chilean merlot last weekend that I thought was very thin and unimpressive for what I think merlot should be.
QOTD- line in the sand, Robert Parker being the only wine critic and what he says is gospel, it drives me crazy.
September 25, 2007

Dr. Mike
QOTD: Standardized test scores for college, graduate school, law school, med school ect. admission. many schools just through out applications if they don’t meet a certain standardized test score, regardless of other credentials.
September 25, 2007

getmeacab
OK I confessâ€¦ I donâ€™t buy 89 point wines. I typically search for 90+ points or 87- wines. Yes I know point systems SUXâ€”but they work. Hereâ€™s why:
If a wine gets a 90+ and cost under $20 it will fly off the shelves so you better buy more when you can.
87- wines typically sit on the shelves forever so if you like it you can buy more whenever you want.

Iâ€™ve found that Wine Spectators has really loosened their standards the last 3 years. Iâ€™ve never had so many bad 90+ wines before. Tasting notes are a lot more useful than scores but I have to admit Iâ€™ve never tasted currant much less cassis. And unlike Gary, I donâ€™t have to guts to taste chalk or graphite.

QOTD for Gary: Have you ever put pickles on your (cold) pizza?
September 25, 2007

MikeB
The bottle of Miguel Torres Syrah Reserva 2003 that is linked to the winelibrary websit from the tasting video is not the same that is shown on the tasting video.
September 25, 2007

yowens
QOTD: A p-value of 0.05. I mean come on, you’re telling me that 0.06 means nothing! You’re crazy.
September 25, 2007

Nate
Stupid question…. Why don’t you ever ‘cleane your palette’ between wines? Especially after eating sauerkraut and strawberrys….
September 25, 2007

Jon B.
Great show. I’ll have to admit that I do look at scores alot, but i’m really just using them as reference points and I find that my palate differs greatly from alot of wine critics.In my eyes 89 is agreat score. QOTD I’m drawing the line right now . My Cincinnati Bengals better put a complete game together, in all three phases, against the Pats this week or I’m going to take a week off from watching them…My heart can’t take it any more. Thanks Gary and WLTV crew.
September 25, 2007

TROC
There was a time when I too wouldn’t touch a 89 point wine. Since listening to you for the past year or so, I’ve changed. I now buy wine by the grape and region that I happen to be into at the time. If I’m in a Pinot Noir stage (like right now) I’ll try many California labels then switch to France and so on. Thanks for making this hobby fun again, I was getting way too serious, and there ared plenty of good 85,86,87.88,89 point wines out there.
September 25, 2007

jcbphd
Like Momma always said, “If it’s brown, flush it down.”

QOTD: Given the presence of measurement error, I find any hard and distinct line in the sand, whether it’s a standardized test score, p-value, grade, poll, etc. to be quite arbitrary. There is no reason to say with any amount of confidence that there is a clear and distinct difference between someone who scores x versus someone who scores x plus or minus one.
September 25, 2007

Billr
Great show…Keep them a coming…..

QOTD: Line in the sand…9 out of 10 news stories are crap, negative and depressing bad news. Why can’t we have and equal amount of good and bad news….it drives me to drink.
September 25, 2007

Eric
QOTD: Web / Wine 2.0. Why is it so damn difficult to convince people (with money) that things (business)aren’t done the same way today as they were in the 1970s?
September 25, 2007

Kevin
QOTD: line in the sand – the category of ‘dessert wine’, and the unusually high scores they can hold, for what doesn’t excite me nearly as much as a far lower score on a red wine.
September 25, 2007

tarheel17
You know which lines in the sand I think are ridiculous? The lines in the sand filled with cigarette butts. I’m talking about under the ocean, when you look down on a lovely beach with all the scalloped waves of sand below you… and in the troughs of the ocean’s passing, you see millions upon millions of cigarette butts. Try scuba diving some time somewhere where the currents are mostly onshore. It’s RIDICULOUS.

OK, off the soap box. I love the show. Keep it up.
September 25, 2007

GregS
Gary,
Just watched the clip from the Ellen show, and it was awesomely hillarios. Especially the followup where they showed the clip of the producer dry-running the tasting with you. You were awesome. Love to see more.

QOTD: Who ever started the stupid 9/10 of a cent thing at the gas station anyhow?
September 25, 2007

James Roscoe
Line in the sand? Who the h### cares? Great show today. I want to find that Bordeaux!
September 25, 2007

amgryger
I rarely buy wines based on scores and, in fact, I buy almost all of my wine from 4 stores, 3 of which don’t even post scores and 2 of those specialize in small-production old world wines that rarely get scored anyway. Also, in my most recent experiences buying wines that got high scores, I ended up being really dissappointed in the wines because I felt they brought tons of body and fruit but then couldn’t finish elegantly, which is something I look for in wine, so that experience kind of turned me off the whole scoring thing a bit more.

QOTD: The bitter ideological feud that has developed at my alma mater, which has been an impairment to meaning intellectual discourse.
September 25, 2007

KyleLikesTies
I’m officially no longer a lurker, so I’m going to try to answer QoTD’s, etc. I have to admit that I’ve *not* bought bottles of wine after seeing them rated 89 :-/ … But, today’s show has convinced me that’s ridiculous.

QoTD: I’m really sick of the Mac / PC divide. Computers *all* suck. End of story.

I agree with Nyquil: It’d be great if you do a boxed-wine show, in the same way that the Trader Joe Charles Shaw show was great — it’s something I sneer at just a *little* bit, and I’d be interested to see if there is anything worthwhile that comes in a box.

Oh, also: I’m a grad student … and I feel a bit slighted that the CKC’s get shout outs all the time but we GSC’s (the grad-student crew) don’t get mentioned!
September 25, 2007

Jx
Gary, the QOTD is so simply and perfectly analogous my favorite sport, baseball. That’s right, our national pastime is a dead on metaphor for today QOTD answer re: “lines in the sand.” More specifically, PITCHING! The difference between a baseball pitcher that throws 90 miles and hour and a pitcher that throws 89 miles an hour IS the difference between an 89 point wine and 90 point wine. Even the price points of what you pay for the 89 point “pitcher” vs. the 90 point “pitcher” is the same. Yet professional baseball scouts, GMs, and owners continue to put that extra premium on the 90 point label – much like the wine industry.

Great episode, GV. I’m on my way to raid the fridge for saurkraut-covered strawberry.
September 25, 2007

laposte
QOTD: Line in the sand, as your sister I work in the public school system, the benchmarks for “no child left behind” one point can send a school into a tail spin.
September 25, 2007

onemore
QOTD: A good friend of mine is vegetarian bordering on vegan (mostly for health reasons, he says). He likes to nag me with all the things I should do to be healthier: stop eating meat, eat less dairy, various other dietary changes—and that’s all fine and well, except that he smokes. HE SMOKES! Cigarettes, apparently, are fine, but a steak will kill you. That’s one of the most ridiculous lines in the sand I’ve ever known.

Points, & another line in the sand: I’m frustrated by people who buy wine based mostly (and sometimes solely) on points. I’m talkin’ about folks who go by points instead of tasting notes. Example: One day in a wine shop, a guy and his girlfriend standing near me were listening to recommendations by an in-store wine consultant. He described the flavor profiles of 4 sauvignon blancs (vegetal/grassy vs. mineral/dry/stone fruit vs. hyper-fruity vs. buttery-oaky). When he finished, the girl expressed interest in the mineral/stone fruity wine—but then her boyfriend said to the consultant, “well, I’m more into wines rated 90 or 91 or around there, can you show me those?” I wanted to walk over and slap him upside his head.

Eh, I don’t mind points, as long as they come with descriptive tasting notes. It’s the tasting notes I pay attention to.
September 25, 2007

Grapedigger
You’ve made a great point in this show. An 89 or 90 point wine might not be much different…I agree with you that ratings are not Gospel and one should try as much different wines, but hey, let’s face it, a lot of people are on a tight budget and prefer to pick up a recommended wine to increase the chance that they’d like it, especially when checking wines less than 20$.
QOTD: line in the sand: midsize sedans: Accords and Camrys as first choice vs new & better value comers like the Sonata!!
Cheers
September 25, 2007

Grapedigger
GREAT show on Ellen..Just watched from your links…Rocks, bacon, cigars, dirt…what is next? Pee Pee du chat or some little poope action would be fun…
September 25, 2007

Robin C.
QOTD: All lines in the sand change with the tides. Is that philosophical enough for you?
All that talk about peach cobbler and mangos and shellfish drives me crazy. Mangos are $1.50 apiece and I’m still buying them. Shellfish are so hard to come by where I live.
September 25, 2007

Kid Winomite
I draw the line at paying more than 15 bones for 1 bottle of wine. Ya’ll pay attention to GV.
There are great wines in this price range and after all, it is just fermented grape juice. geeez
September 25, 2007

Robin C.
I loved the Ellen Show and After show. Really great.
September 26, 2007

wmole
I draw the line when I find an uptight dumbshit…in myself.
September 26, 2007

Road Warrior
Line in the Sand: Light Beer or any other beer where the waste during production is more than the total production of the small brewery. It takes a lot of good beer to make good wine.
September 26, 2007

Eli
I did it! I finally did it. It took me six months, but I went back and watched every single episode, from episode #1 to episode #320, IN ORDER. This is the very first show that I’ve ever seen on the same day that it was posted. And this is my very first post too. I’ve written some emails to Gary, but this post means I am officially no longer a lurker.

Once again, a great show. I actually liked the low key style. Gary’s enthusiasm has slowly built up since the first show, but I think he finally got over the top during the past month or two (and we all know how much Gary’s hates things that are too much over the top — over the top is good, too much over the top is bad).

As for lines in the sand, I think its crazy when people say that they only drink California wine, or only French wine. Similarly, I think its crazy when people say that they only like fruity, new-world wine, or only aged old-world wine. Wine is an adventure. Get out there and try something new. I’ve even had wines from the Republic of Georgia. I like it when wines taste different than I expect.
September 26, 2007

MW_DM,IA
Great show, I actually enjoy the excitement of the 89 pointers, sort of a gamble to see how they’ll turn out.

QOTD: PRICE- 2 cents per mL (15 bones for 750mL) if I’m grabbing something semi-randomly, 4 if I’ve read a review and think I’ll enjoy it. Celebratory occasions warrant no cap.
QOTD: POINTS- None. What do I care if someone else had a long day and is fed up with something they particularly don’t enjoy… 5 bucks, earthy and smokey but not much there? I’ll have a couple glasses with a bag of BBQ chips and microwavable salisbury steak.
September 26, 2007

julian.grey
I have the answer to your ratings issues. I must stress that this is my opinion. I find ratings and reviews invaluable. Not because I think they are a literal interpretation of what I should expect, but because I am familiar with the critic. Movies, for example, I love David Denby’s New Yorker reviews and since I am familiar with his writing and have seen many movies he reviews I am able to make better decisions. When he dislikes a film for a particular reason, I know I will love it because I know what he is reacting to. With wine critics, you get to know the critic by comparing the wines you try to the reviews, and after a bit you build some knowledge about what the critic is reacting to. So when you say “OMG it tastes like crap and mushrooms 91++” I know exactly what you mean. On the other hand if you said, “No ratings but it tastes like crap and mushrooms.” I have no clue of the degree to which you like it. So reviews, scores, etc are nothing without knowledge of the critic. The way to look at scores is the following: you are giving a quantified level of PERSONAL recommendation to the reader/viewer. The thing to stress is that its a numerical representation of your degree of enthusiasm for the wine and says nothing about what someone else would say. Just encourage viewers to get familiar with your reviews so they know what to expect. Simple… even if the damn post was so long, sorry. Keep the scores!
September 26, 2007

Marc
Social/Cultural take on QOTD: Conservatives with their “You’re for the war or against the troops” and Liberals with their “You’re for universal health care or you have no heart.”

Wine take on QOTD: I’ve never seen anybody ever give a Pinotage higher than a 91 or 92. For me, it’s my favorite varietal and I’ve had one I’d give at least a 94 that was only $15. Why can some varietals get only up to a certain score while others are allowed to be in the 95-100 range? It’s silly.
September 26, 2007

Ferrigno
haha nice to see the 2 buck chuk episode at the special selection at the right of the screen… ahaha
QOTD: as a political scientist student I see A LOT of that at least in mexican politics… sometimes rights and lefts take too far away directions on subjects where it’s crystal clear the best was to go………..
HOHOOOOOOOOO SEE YA TOMORROW GARY!
September 26, 2007

Ferrigno
*WAY TO GO
September 26, 2007

Mike B
The linked wine to this video, Miguel Torres Syrah Reserva 2003, is not the same as tasted on the video. Did you taste or link the wrong wine?
September 26, 2007

Koji Peterson
Nice to see the NZ wine up there. Those guys do some great whites (although, as you said, every wine tastes great on vacation). Pinot from NZ, I’ll see for myself. FYI, and though I’m sure this message will be ignored by most in favor of posting their own message, a solid 88-88+ or 89 for some people, Cycles Gladiotor 2003 Pinot Noir used to cost me 9$ a bottle when I lived in Cali 4 or 6 months ago. It’s a good wine. Gawd I miss Cali. Try it. It’s cheap Safeway wine (sadly I have to special order it in Colorado).
Gary, if you read these at all, do you have any thoughts on Aspen/Vale wine festivals? I’m afraid they’re total garbage after tasting some colorado wines which try to be fruit bombs but languish in their own urine of fruity-watery garbage. Let me know.
Any chance you’re going to Napa in the post Thanksgiving weekend? I’d love to shake hands if nothing else. I’ll even go back to my home town Frisco and visit crushpad and buy a case of GV/Wine Library Cab if that’s what it takes. I just can’t stand how much your show has revitalized my interest in wine (that’s a good thing). Great job man. I said it before, but thank you. I love that I have not bought the same bottle twice since watching your show and I thank you for it. Keep it up man.
Mind doing a hard liquor episode? I have a couple bottles of courvoisier floating about that I’d like to know what you think of before I share it with my jack-ass dinner guests. It’s still technically wine, just distilled.
September 26, 2007

Kirk
QOTD: My major issue is people not trying new wines. The people that buy one – five brands and nothing else. Or people that rely heavily on others (scores, magazines, wine store owners, clerks, ect) to make their decisions for them. Or worse people that want your help to find something and then don’t want to describe what they like. Or say SOMETHING more than “I like what I like”…..Argh!
September 26, 2007

Koji Peterson
QOTD: When I first heard your question of the day I had a few clever responses. Unfortunately, my bottle of brandy has retarded me to the point where my main gripe to tell you about is being an associate vs. fellow of the society of actuaries (SoA). Have you seen ‘About Schmidt’? That movie is Jack Nicholson playing an actuary (which is more or less what I do). He’s well paid because he’s presumably a fellow. My stature as associate earns me 20k less (actual figure) than many of my coworkers. I’ll get my cert eventually but the fact I have the same title as they do after their 20 year careers makes me feel pretty good about myself and mad at the same time. My business dictates that I set probabilities that a given group of fatally ill people will die or stay on claim and take a lot of money away from me. Fortunately, because I shuffle money for a large German company which shall remain unnamed (hint: it’s named after a major German city) I’m not that worried. But, the fact that we draw a line between some types of cancer as fatal and others as financial hassles bothers me; likewise that I’ve taken a few tests or else I’m garbage bothers me. It’s not out of a bleeding heart attitude that I’m complaining – we give eachother high fives when we find out a claimant has died (and there’s an extra 50k or so to our consulting firm not including the claim costs that have disappeared) – my concern comes from the fact that, being a young consulting group, we don’t consider we could ever die of this stuff. That’s my artificial line in the sand that pisses me off.

My main purpose in writing you is that I want to add that my parents, in their latge sixties, love your show since I’ve introduced them to it. It appears you care a lot about your family from watching your show and I wanted to let you know that your show gives me and my parents something two-sided to talk about together (whether this riesling is any good or not). Formerly being part of a 70’s era Napa wine tasting group (commisioned by the Mondavi’s according to them, but they’re getting Alzheimer’s so who knows), they say I watch too much of your show when I talk about good vegetable flavors. According to them, if it tastes like vegetables, 30 years ago in Napa that would have been described as some sort of rotten berry. Figures…
September 26, 2007

Hugh McCabe
Gary

Te Kairanga winery is in Martinborough, not Marlborough. Martinborough is over the hill from where I live in Wellington in the lower north island. It was the pioneering area for pinot noir in New Zealand back in the 1980s. Love your show by the way.
September 26, 2007

Matt H.
Loved the hell out of this episode. Watched the ellen thing and the Conan thing, thought Conan was much more responsive as a “victim”.
QOTD: I think the inconsistent and sometimes downright ridiculous liquor laws concerning shipping and sales at “off sale” establishments (ex: grocery stores) would be the line in the sand I most recently despise. Try explaining what “dry time” is to a bunch of old, red-faced booze hounds trying to buy liquor on a lazy Sunday before 10 in the am in the AZ.
MOTD (moral of the day): Some traditions suck.
September 26, 2007

KC Dan
Just watched you on ellen and that was awesome funny stuff . You Da Man G . The thing with the producer was to funny . Qotd : What line in the sand I do things my way !!! Thanks again Gman .
September 26, 2007

Tom L
I can’t believe that the second day of Ellen was even better than the first day. I even think they may have given you more air time on the second day! I was rolling on the floor watching the segment with the producer. Besides great exposure you even got an employee of the show a first-ever award. So now you can say you (and us) are changing the wine world AND changing the Ellen DeGeneres show!

DO NOT give up rating wine! I understand your objections to it. But I, for one, want you to continue putting numbers to your overall impression of the wine.

QOTD: Why does everthing have to be priced with a dollar figure and 99 cents? Hasn’t this marketing scam gone on long enough? I love to see a bottle of wine priced at $14.42!
September 26, 2007

Greg R.
QOTD: That you “HAVE” to cook pork to 180* internal…

What a load of crap! Trichinosis is gone…cook your pork to 140-145* and see how much better, tastier and juicier it can be…has the same mouth feel as a fillet mignon…for a lot less$$!
September 26, 2007

Capt M
A six-bottle show, yeah! Seems to me that you were a little too hard on the Chehalem Riesling Reserve. Too low a score, seems to me. The Minchin Le Clos went in my wish list. The Chateau Saintayme also went in my letter to Santa. QOTD: My mind is blanc at this moment. Great show, thanks!
September 26, 2007

JerseyGirl turned CNY vayniac
Man Gary, I know EXACTLY what you mean about that JerseyTurnpike-smoke-LincolnTunnel-exhaust smell you’re talkin about! Whenever I go home to see my family I KNOW when I’ve hit Jersey – the air is gross, but it’s also home. When you grow up in Jersey you KNOW what that smell is!

Like I’ve said before, I dont pay attention to points. If someone says a wine is terrible like that one you tried today I’ll avoid it. But, otherwise, I’ll try anything I have the opportunity to try. I have my own scale and a wine notebook that I keep with my notes on each wine I try, and THOSE are the only scores that matter to me. There are people who’s oppinions I appreciate (like Gary’s or my friends and family) but when I get to the store, I’m buying what I want to try and what I know I like, end of story.
September 26, 2007

Kristen
Way to go tasting 6 wines today. Exciting show! Love the Diesel and Peach t-shirt, pretty awesome! Also, congrats on getting Kara Hogan an employee of the month award at Ellen’s show.

Next show you should try to do? The Colbert Report! It’s in NYC, the staff and Colbert are great, and Colbert himself will go along with it and try to top you, which would make for an interesting show!

QOTD: Hmmm…I can’t really think of a line in the sand like the 89 pointers.
September 26, 2007

ktw
link to vaniac cab survey says it is closed…is this true?
September 26, 2007

geoffrey
Gary,
first, no misunderstanding : I LIKE YOUR SHOW! But, at the risk of beeing maybe a little tiresome, let me stress again my point, which I made a few months ago : you might uphold this crazy dividing line 89/90 by not accepting that, in the 100 points rating, a 65 note is good start for a reasonably interesting wine (in the french note system, that means 13/20, or ‘Assez Bien’, — and a lot of students would be pretty pleased to get it on their exams…)
Why not, for a good start, blast away this 89/90 anthill, and start again with numbers solidly grounded on what they really mean ?
Continue, mon vieux, c’est super
September 26, 2007

Tom T.
I think you should keep points ratings. It further qualifies the overall “impressions”. For example you and others might say different wines are great but there is 89 point great and 95 point great. That is a huge difference to me. QOTD – going 55mph in the left lane.
September 26, 2007

Capt M
Just watched Ellen. It was hilarious and of course a great exposure for WLTV and our favorite wine critic. But the rehearsal was the real deal, hahaha… AND.. Conan is Conan!!
September 26, 2007

Brant
GV – Stop with the points bashing. For those of us on a limited budget points and the tasting notes are shorthand for where we should be placing our dollars. We all can’t taste unlimited amounts of wine to figure out what we like or dislike. And don’t underestimate your own viewership in terms of placing the requisite value vis a vis ratings and tasting notes. I already know my palate doesn’t match yours in many areas but that doesn’t mean I don’t value your ratings when it comes to the wine you taste. Congratulations on your continued success and keep up the good work.

Line in the sand: Hollywood action movies. Overhyped, over rated, and way overpriced. Why pay for a theatre ticked when there’s no script, the action is all but the same, and heck if they are mildly decent you can always rent the dvd.
September 26, 2007

Raffi
Line in the sign? Why folk still won’t look up problems in google before they call me…actually that keeps me in business…ignore what I said.
September 26, 2007

Andy
Whow G a lot of wine today,,,, Great insight thanks —

QOTD— line in the sand…. How about all those expensive cult wines , EX Sassicaia and Cali Cabs you know the ones … The boys all talk about them and prices go out of here……
September 26, 2007

Susan
Gary- Thanks for your commitment to try sooo many wines in one ep!!!! 6 is a redonculous number!!!
September 26, 2007

pforty
Can’t wait to try Le Clos Delorme!

QOTD: Hmmm…I think I draw a line at being a kooky helicopter parent. I thought I was bad until I took my daughter to Kindergarten a few weeks ago. WOW! Was I wrong. Please, please don’t be a helicopter parent. Bad news.
September 26, 2007

daverdude
Great Job G
Its about time somebody dug into the evergoing points, rating, Soap opera *

Its so true as the Santa Digna or is that ( Santa Pinga ) proved one mans trash (67 points GV) is another mans treasure (ws 89)

I personally dont buy on points, I buy on taste !

Ive had roaring success on picking wines others love and agree with
My system is very simple

Pazz ( Give it to the Dog)
Glass (share with Freinds )
Stash ( Find a locked Room)

Thats really what it all boils down Too

I think This episode just proved That
As educational an episode you’ve done
A+++++

The line drawn here is: What did you feel Like “AFTER” Drinking the Wine ?
Is what determines The “Value” Of the Wine !
September 26, 2007

GrapeStuff
Great idea for an ep. There is certainly validity to the argument than a score of 90 from a major critic does more harm than good. But to try this experiment myself, I am going to go out and buy a few 89 point wines to see how they score on my own palate.

Like many oenophiles, points are only useful to me once I have calibrated my palate to a critics and can then make decisions based on what I know of how my palate compares to his/her palate for a specific varietal/region/winery/etc.

Thanks for the info on the 2003 Bordeaux vintage – sounds like I may like that vintage!
September 26, 2007

wayno da wino
YOOOO BROO !!!
Thank You for another faaantaaastic episode!!
You’re absolutely right about 89 point wines.
I drink alot of 86-89 point rated wines that I
think are BETTER that 90-93 point rated wines.
Ratings are VERY SUBJECTIVE.
September 26, 2007

Arthur
GrapeStuff:

I think that gary would agree that nobody should need to calibrate one’s preferences (as opposed to palate which is the set of skills necessary to detect a wine’s characteristics) to a wine critic’s. That leads us to the fact that the major wine publications’ scores reflect preference rather than an absolute reflection of what the wine has to offer. The whole US wine world has already calibrated their prefences to a certain lawyer’s and thus, many argue, we see sameness in wine tese days.

I encourage people to look at my system of rating wine: http://www.redwinebuzz.com/wrs.htm
September 26, 2007

Tony S.
Hey Gary…nice show as usual. I think one main problem with wine is $$$$$. I think that aside from buying a super rare, old item such as a 1945 Mouton, or something on that level, that wine should never, ever, ever be so expensive. It’s ridiculous. I had a 95 Petrus at a tasting once, and sure, that was a kick butt bottle of wine, but even if I win the lottery and had millions of dollars at my disposal to spend on wine, I think I wouldn’t purchase any of those high dollar wines. No wine will ever be worth $1,000.00. Never. Screaming Eagle?? C’mon…I’m sure it’s probally alright, but $1,500.00?!?!? It will NEVER taste like that, nothing will.

Keep every bottle under $100.00. Even that’s too much for me, but it’s more realistic. OK man, take it easy, see you later,
T

GO BEARS!!
September 26, 2007

sharon
Very funny! Loved the Ellen piece… She’s your perfect foil. Thanks again for all the down-to-earth wine education (though I for one miss the “sniffy sniff”). QotD: all the isms from race to sex but especially age. Even in wine. Some of the best wines I had in Italy were the very young table wines…
Maybe not so complicated as the higher end ones but very real.
September 26, 2007

Aaron
QOTD: The Mendoza Line

With the baseball season winding down I find this to be very fitting. The difference of somone batting .199 vs. someone batting .201 is, as you would put it Gary, ludicrous. There really is no way to sugarcoat a season like this and call it anything but a failure. I don’t care how great your defense is Nick Punto, your season has was pathetic.
September 26, 2007

Nathan L
QOTD: Baseball milestones. The minute a borderline hall of famer get 3000 hits or 500 HR’s they become a lock. 2994 hits NO…3004 YES, I call BS.
September 26, 2007

wannaBconnoisseur
Great show Gary!! I’m guilty of passing on my share of 89pt wines. I agree with you on the ratings, sometimes I feel they are right on and other times I don’t, for example you gave the 2001 Santa Rita Casa Real, Cab from Maipo a PAZZZZ, I had it this past weekend and thought it was AWESOME. That being said, I do think that ratings can be a good reference when choosing from such a huge selection of wines, so long as they are not taken too seriously.
September 26, 2007

Benny Morosco
There is certainly validity to a score of 90 does more harm than good. I definately would want to see if it is a consistant with more than a single critic! I have had my share of 95 point wines and some of them were out of this world but some were so bad I had to keep checking the label to make sure I poured the right one!! The world of 89’s in my eyes is very under rated and 1 point in some cases can make a diffrence, we have learned that from Gary! But I will never not try a wine because a critic said it was 89. I love to explore his or her 89 could be my 98….haha
One off the cuff thing I would like to say is that THANK YOU GARY for bringing the Wine world to a Blue Collar language we can all understand!!
September 26, 2007

jopappa
Great show! I love the fact that the nose of wine is extremly important to your enjoyment of the wine. I fully agree. Really enjoyed the producer eating the dirt on ellen. QOTD…Pre-season college football ranking. what a croc!
September 26, 2007

jopappa
Great Show! I love the fact that the nose of a wine is so important to you. I fully agree the nose in a huge influence on my enjoyment of a wine. Loved the ellen part two clip. QOTD…. Preseason college football rankings. What a croc!
September 26, 2007

BW
Good commentary today. I think the ratings game is overall more useful than not. If you are buying / drinking a lot of wine & you have tasted enough reviewed bottles to know how your pallete tracks relative to some of the critics, then the statistics will work for you over time. Some bottles will excede your expectations, some will be below expectations, but on average you will get the quality you are looking for over time.

Of course the key here is – drink lots of wine to make it work (that goes without saying, doesn’t it ?)

QOTD : In politics & philosophy, there are those who think the world is black & white with no shades of gray – they live in a world of hard lines that can’t crossed. The older I get, the more I realize that the reality is everything is really shades of gray – so I just try to avoid them in general.
September 26, 2007

C.W. Miller IV
AofD: The sand-line marked between god and evolution.
September 26, 2007

Wil
Ah Ellen: sometimes I think that her face moves less than the furniture on her show – good to see it jogged into action by the illustrious Vayniac monarch. Keep on rockin’ the wine world G-to-the-V.

QOTD: The 38th Parallel
September 26, 2007

cumpari
QOTD: New World AVAs vs Old World AVAs…they serve completely different functions. The only commonality is that they identify place of origin.
September 26, 2007

PaVo
Gary,

Great show, One correction that i think one other person commented on. The NZ Pinot is not from Marlborough; it’s from Martinborough, which is on the north Island (as opposed to the south with marl) and is just north east of Wellington. Great region, I actually visited Te Kairanga and really enjoyed their wines about 7 years ago, so it’s good to see their still doing well. Martinborough is a great underrated, or more so, little known region in NZ, so thanks for highlighting it, even if you mistook it for Marlborough!

QTOD: I get pretty upset with the line that’s drawn in the sand by some wine drinkers who say “Bordeaux” is fantastic or “Burgundy” is great or Napa. With so many differences in the terroir alone saying that this region or that region is fantastic just seems as absurd as saying “everyone from Chicago is amazing”. (while this last statement is true, it’s still absurd to say!) And I think it upsets me more because it’s told to new wine drinkers and so they grab ‘a’ bordeaux and then have a bad experience and never go back to wine. Seems silly to me. I think that’s why I like wine library so much, you guys are working to dispel that myth, along with many others.
September 26, 2007

Pat Mc
Tonight am drinking a Rhone Rebel 2003 — opened 24 hours ago. Still a lovely drinking wine. Lines in the sand? the whole glass ceiling thing and now the gray ceiling thing. Jeez, people need to get over the labels and the scoring thing. Just like the wines.
September 26, 2007

addamms3
I know I’m a day late, and always a dollar short, but responding to your “riduculous line in the sand” question: the U.S.-Mexico border. I was born and raised in El Paso, Tx. and now live in San Antonio, Tx. Mexicans, by and large, great folks. Texans, by and large, great folks. Undocumented Mexicans, by and large, great folks who work harder than you or I would ever dream of, for less than you or I would ever consider. My uncle, who farmed throughout West Texas and Easern New Mexico, always cried when Border Patrol shut down the border because all the farmers would lose their crops, rotting in the fields for want of hands to harvest.
By the way, I drink wine too.
September 27, 2007

YoungDave
QOTD: The Old-World, New-World line in the sand… or the varietal lines in the sand (like NO Chards or Merlots or Zins, etc.) People need to seek out value and different expressions of varietals and regions from all over the world without making sweeping generalizations. Some generalizations hold water to some extent, but never in every case… and THAT is where interesting values can be found.
September 27, 2007

MtnCharlie
Great episode. Points, scoring it seems this is what drives the market. Futures. Is this wine or the stock market?

QOTD: B+/A- on a report card. No straight “A’s”. Hmmm… Your future is… mmmm… *limited*
September 27, 2007

EricB
Nice show, I like the values you can find for “89 point” wines. The Ellen clips are hilarious!
QOTD – higher education degrees. Someone takes a few courses and all of a sudden they are “educated”, blah blah. Real life experience counts for so much more!
September 28, 2007

JayZee
QOTD: Let’s see… If Vaynerchuk likes it, I’ll PAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
September 28, 2007

melanie
You make such great effort to pronounce names,regions and foreign words correctly,yet I heard you say “supposebly” instead of the actual correct word, supposedly with the ‘D’ properly placed. Please don’t say that anymore, it makes an incredibly intelligent and wine savvy individual such as yourself sound like a dolt.
I love your show and I think you are Fab ! I know that the general public does influence our speech and slang, but please drop this one.
September 28, 2007

Pastafari Pirate
QOTD: can’t really think of any other such lines, arbitrary or not.

GREAT episode, btw, one of my favorites. You were on top of your game.
September 30, 2007

Elliot Essman
Points are very handy, but so are tasting notes.

Points are necessary for the magazines that have to deal with thousands of wines. I think of a high score as a starting point. It will make me read the reviewer’s notes and seek out other notes.

But I am always aware that, because of my very broad tastes, I may like a wine that scores a little lower than the usual buy signals. Hence, 88 and 89 indicate to me that not only might I like the wine, but it may be a good value besides.
September 30, 2007

Lawrence Leichtman
I don’t look at scores as anything but a starting point. If anyone rates a wine under 80 I won’t try it but I do look at tasting notes to see if they are flavors I’m interested in. Some varietals I just gravitate to and some like Pintoage I can’t warm up to.
October 2, 2007

Mason
Great show for the 89s Gary. I have to admit, I have fallen victim to the “89…hmm…Oh, wait, here’s a 90 pointer!” More recently, though, as I learn more about regions, I try to go into my favorite wine shops and look for specific regions in my price point, and then determine what I think about them.

QOTD: Here I go, and I apologize beforehand. I cannot stand the way restaurants are rated. There are restaurants in my home town (Memphis, TN) that get praised for their bar-b-que, and totally don’t deserve the adoration that they get. Why? Because of their name, and the fact that they have ridden on their name for so long that they just don’t give a crap about making good food anymore. (and no, I am not talking about Corky’s!) So, here is to my pallet…the only one that matters.
October 2, 2007

Mike S.
FREE MARKETING RESEARCH!!!
QOTD: There are so many wines that have a 90pt score for under $20, that my first choice would be to try those wines before I journey into $20 89pt or below wines. Why??????? I dunno. I do not trust my palette enough to say “hey spectator, Partker, etc, I think you under-scored this one…. This one is more my style.” My other ‘line in the sand’ is no-score wines. I know I sound like a score freak, but if there is a wine at a store selling for 10, 15, 20 bucks, with no score and boring tasting notes ,then that wine has NO CHANCE of being bought by me. That’s just the way it is bro.
October 3, 2007

bryon wine
Hey Gary,

I’ve been sucked in by a couple of Miguel Torres wines. I guess I gave them a shot because I really like Veramonte and one other Chilean that I can’t recall right now. But your description about covers them.

I have found Wine Spectator to be fairly consistent with their ratings, unlike some magazine shills that must be receiving payola for their kind words (and numbers). Keep up the good work.

I complement you on your objectivity even though the Torres is on sale on your site.
October 22, 2007

Valentin
Hi Gary, sorry for the harsh words but a retard put a ‘ after the 89 on the black board behind you. It is 89s not 89’s! Just my 2 cents.
December 3, 2007

HuskerJ
QOTD: I know NJ isn’t exactly college football country, but here we find the BCS standings to be the stupidest thing in known existence.
July 8, 2008

CBone
QOTD: It is illegal to drink alcohol until one second after the midnight on your 21st birthday. Why not 14? Or 7? It is so silly, and the forbidden quality of it makes college kids (CKCs!) often see alcohol as a way to escape, rather than engage their lives. Too bad, isn’t it?
August 24, 2008

Dessert Wine Nerd
QOTD: People who give restaraunt reviews online like citysearch.com. I know that a lot of the reviews are helpful, but I recently looked at reviews for two restaurants in my area which are both fantastic, and all the negative reviews were absolute nitpicking. It was like they expected more than they deserved, or something. Either that or they were used to Americanized versions of the cuisines of the restaurants and didnt like true flavors from other parts of the world. Just disgusts me…. Enough of my rant, great show. I agree that wines under 90 do get a bad rap, and I know Im part of that and trying to change it. Loved the comment about throwing the quarters out the window. Bet that winemaker loves you…. ha.
October 29, 2008

Griz4life
I know this is late, but your pronunciation of Oregon disturbs me.
January 29, 2009

Chris Lotz
republican or democrat…. can’t we just be american? Legalize it!
August 13, 2009

Phredd
Fun episode, interesting topid.

QOTD: Most deadlines are fundamentally arbitrary, yet people tend to treat them as drop-dead events. It is the source of much stress in our culture.