WineAlign

John Szabo, MS

The feature this week is “north of 90”, wines that have scored 90 points or better somewhere in the world. There are many cynics out there who’ll say that if you submit your wines to enough reviewers, sooner or later you’ll hit the magic number (or get a gold medal at a competition somewhere). And the truth of the matter is, they’re probably right. So how much value can you place on these scores? The answer is, ça depend.

Reviewers taste wines in a hundred and one situations: alone, in groups, blind, open, in silence or with discussion, with the winemaker standing and watching over expectantly, with food or without, in one sip or many over the course of an evening, in a hotel room or a dining room, in summer on a patio or in winter by the fireplace. Most of the time, you don’t know the context and conditions under which the wine was reviewed and scored. This makes the apparent accuracy implied by a precise numerical score a little spurious to say the least. Some tasters are more prone to shifting judgment, while many experienced tasters do a pretty good job at filtering out all of the outside influences. The better and more consistent the reviewer, the more reliable the reviews.

The point to take away is that is pays to get to know the reviewer. By following someone for a even a short while, you’ll quickly learn who is consistent and who is less so, and most importantly, with which reviewers you tend to agree the majority of the time.  That is the brilliance of the WineAlign concept. With a few cross comparisons of reviews, you can easily find the reviewer who’s tastes line up with yours. I was recently approached by a couple of long time FIL subscribers who said to me “we are completely in step on virtually all wines, but we disagree on one major point: the use of wood”. Fair enough I say. I don’t like woody wines, this couple did. We can still be friends. They can now also interpret my ratings based on this knowledge, so that if I score a wine lower because of excessive wood (in my opinion), they can likely bank on enjoying it. In the same way, I’ll almost always enjoy a Parker 88 point wine over the 92, because I’ve done the comparisons. All you need do is pick up a couple of bottles from each release, taste them, then compare what Rod Phillips, David Lawrason or I or anyone else from WineAlign had to say. Whose impressions most closely matched with yours? After several comparisons it’ll become more and more clear with whom you ‘align’, and you can set up your account preferences (Palate Profiler) to reflect this rating preferential, and filter on the wines most relevant to you.

On consistency, nearly all, and occasionally 100% of the wines reviewed for the Vintages releases are evaluated in the exact same context, at least I can speak for WineAlign’s reviews. It’s not very romantic in the LCBO laboratory. It’s white, it’s brightly lit; there’s an almost clinical, antiseptic atmosphere. No soft lighting, comfortable chairs, background sultry jazz, amiable conversation or scents of savoury goodies emanating from the kitchen. Wines are lined up side by side like convicts awaiting their turn in front of firing squad. Each taster goes through (mostly complete silence) making his or her notes and ratings, at their own pace. Discussion is strongly discouraged. Glassware is all the same (the LCBO provides ISO glasses). The only thing missing is the lab coat. It’s about as far from the average setting in which wine is enjoyed as you can get. But that’s the point. Believe me, we are not there for laughs, but to work, in concentrated silence to find the best. Every wine gets the same treatment. Let’s call it communist wine tasting (in it’s pure, theoretical form): no favoritism or influence, other than the personal history and experience that each reviewer brings to the room. Under these conditions, any wine that edges into the highly recommended, gold medal, 90+ category deserves a look. Even more so if a majority of reviewers draw the same conclusion independently.

Last week while in Chile, David Lawrason approached me after a tasting at a winery in the beautiful Elquí Valley and said: “I can’t help when tasting but to think about how these wines would fair in the context of the LCBO lab at a vintages release”. Strangely enough, I was thinking the exact same thing at that moment. Even in these stunning surroundings, with an affable winemaker passionately sharing his production techniques, as soon as the nose hits the glass, you’re transported back to that bleak whitewashed laboratory. Bloody hell, that’s a curse not a gift. We concluded that our results would not be much, if different at all. So much for the romance of the Elquí Valley.  David’s been doing this for considerably longer than I have and I consider him to be one of the most consistent tasters around. So no surprise that the standard context in which he does much of his reviewing would impose itself in as far flung a setting as northern Chile on the edge of a dessert. It’s becomes second nature, much like the ‘zone’ that a professional athlete gets into, able to exclude the screaming opposition fans at an away game. That’s what I mean by experience leading to greater consistency, and hence reliability of reviews. Everybody is entitled to an opinion, and anyone who can count to one hundred can rate a wine. But reliability is the key that I would look for in a reviewer.

All in all, in this release I found 24 wines in the 90+ range, that’s close to ¼ of the release which is an unusually high percentage. And no, I was not in a particularly buoyant mood. There are some fine wines here. But of course, it’s up to you to decide whether you agree or not. And I’m sure you can figure out what best to pour for your own Valentine’s sweetie.

Top Ten Smart Buys:
1. 2006 WYNNS COONAWARRA ESTATE CABERNET SAUVIGNON
Coonawarra, South Australia 92pts $24.95 ***
2. 2008 LAMMERSHOEK CHENIN BLANC
WO Swartland 91pts $18.95 ***
3. 2008 CONCHA Y TORO TRIO RESERVA CHARDONNAY/PINOT GRIGIO/PINOT BLANC
Casablanca Valley 89pts $12.95 ***
4. 2007 CHÂTEAU SAINT-ROCH CHIMÈRES
AC Côtes du Roussillon-Villages, Midi 91pts $19.95 ***
5. 2007 THELEMA SUTHERLAND CHARDONNAY
WO Elgin 91pts $19.95 ***
6. 2007 ALTA VISTA ATEMPORAL ASSEMBLAGE
Mendoza 91pts $19.95 ***
7. 2008 OMAKA SPRINGS PINOT GRIS
Marlborough, South Island 90pts $17.95 ***
8. 2006 JUAN GIL TINTO
DO Jumilla 90pts $21.95 ***
9. 2008 TERREDORA LOGGIA DELLA SERRA GRECO DI TUFO DOCG,
Campania 89pts $19.95 ***
10. 2007 LE SECRET DES CAPITELLES SAINT-CHINIAN
AC 88pts  $14.95 ***

To see all of my reviews click here.

Cheers,

John Szabo, MS

PS: advanced apologies for the February 20th Vintages release.  Due to a conflict with the media tasting day at the LCBO, reviews will not be posted until February 18th instead of the usual full week’s advance. Sorry for the inconvenience.