This is one of the moments where the wandering palate puts modesty aside and has a bit of a bitchy “I told you so” session. Having received my December copy of the Wine Spectator emblazoned with the Top 100, and reading it in no less the one sitting in the ablution block, it reaffirms my decision to let my subscription lapse next year. Apart from being a publication largely at odds with my vinous ideologies, I do flick through the content and car ads, somewhat hypercritically eyeballing wine scores. However, I actually religiously read Matt Kramers column, whose commentary I enjoy greatly and to my mind one of America’s intrinsic and intuitive wine exponents, right up there with Kermit Lynch.
Suffering numbers fatigue as early as 10 out of the 100 my attention was grabbed by No 3 on the list, namely Quinta do Crasto Reserva 2005, a winery that I had spoken of some two years back in an article I wrote for the Hong Kong Standard, actually more on the polemic of wine scores and ratings, but also highlights the element of discovery or faith in one’s own palate beyond scores. Visit this hyperlink,
http://www.thewanderingpalate.com/2006_oct_14.html
http://www.thewanderingpalate.com/2006_oct_14.html
Sorry, wrong number... 14th October 2006, The wine rating system is flawed, suggests Curtis Marsh, because it doesn't take into account the human factor.
A more recent piece I wrote for Cuisine & Wine Asia, will be posted on the wandering palate website shortly, “Wine Ratings: Catering To The Herd Mentality, A Necessary Evil?”
As a teaser, the extract below from “Sorry, wrong number” is central to my rodomontade and the oracularity of my extraordinary foresight in recognising the quality and looming popularity of Portuguese reds. Yes, I can see the raised eyebrows and hear your groans of umbrage; acknowledging I am hardly the first person to identify the potential of wine beyond port in Portugal. In fact if you want to skip the theory and go straight to the tasting test, I suggest you contact Noel Young, of Noel Young wines in the UK, regardless of where you reside (he will get it to you!) as he has doggedly covered this territory and has a nose keener than a truffle dog in searching out the best quality and value in Portugal - noel@nywines.co.uk http://www.nywines.co.uk/
As a teaser, the extract below from “Sorry, wrong number” is central to my rodomontade and the oracularity of my extraordinary foresight in recognising the quality and looming popularity of Portuguese reds. Yes, I can see the raised eyebrows and hear your groans of umbrage; acknowledging I am hardly the first person to identify the potential of wine beyond port in Portugal. In fact if you want to skip the theory and go straight to the tasting test, I suggest you contact Noel Young, of Noel Young wines in the UK, regardless of where you reside (he will get it to you!) as he has doggedly covered this territory and has a nose keener than a truffle dog in searching out the best quality and value in Portugal - noel@nywines.co.uk http://www.nywines.co.uk/
To find out more on Quinto do Crasto, visit http://www.quintadocrasto.pt/uk/intro.ht
m
I have not tried their 2005 Reserva yet, which I am sure will have much of the complexity and profoundness of other vintages; indeed an extraordinary wine that has shades of sangiovese-Chianti Classico elements, the cigar box and tobacco leaf of Rioja, yet the plumpness and richness of Chateauneuf du Pape. As I understand it, this is a blend of no less than 30 different grape varieties to which I would be most interested to know more about (although would not suggest ceppage percentages on a back label!); I am sure some of them will have lineage to the beginning of viticulture, indeed one could use this as your Master of Wine thesis alone. Moreover, the un-irrigated vines average age is over 70 years-old, embedded in decomposed schist, yielding meagre quantities, all tossed in to a open lagares and foot trodden, just like they make Port. The wines are neither fined nor filtered; all sound like real wine to me. And if you think this outfit is Johnnie come lately made famous by Wine Spectator points, the property has been around since the late 17th Century and in the same families for the last 100 years.
mI have not tried their 2005 Reserva yet, which I am sure will have much of the complexity and profoundness of other vintages; indeed an extraordinary wine that has shades of sangiovese-Chianti Classico elements, the cigar box and tobacco leaf of Rioja, yet the plumpness and richness of Chateauneuf du Pape. As I understand it, this is a blend of no less than 30 different grape varieties to which I would be most interested to know more about (although would not suggest ceppage percentages on a back label!); I am sure some of them will have lineage to the beginning of viticulture, indeed one could use this as your Master of Wine thesis alone. Moreover, the un-irrigated vines average age is over 70 years-old, embedded in decomposed schist, yielding meagre quantities, all tossed in to a open lagares and foot trodden, just like they make Port. The wines are neither fined nor filtered; all sound like real wine to me. And if you think this outfit is Johnnie come lately made famous by Wine Spectator points, the property has been around since the late 17th Century and in the same families for the last 100 years.
Sorry, Wrong Number.... “The growing cast of wine consumers obsessed with scores - seemingly an inherent process for choosing super-premium wines these days - troubles me. It is not just the credulous trust in scores that is a concern, but the dependence of wine merchants and marketers on critics to sell wine through the blatant exploitation of ratings. I encountered a ratings-obsessed individual not long ago when emceeing an options tasting, the entertaining - albeit masochistic - sport of identifying masked wines guided by multi-choice questions.
There were muffled groans of embarrassment when one of the participants announced, in irritating manner, that she and her husband only drank wines rated 95 points and above.
Blind tastings are merciless to wine snobs and our self-proclaimed connoisseur humiliated herself with an unequivocal preference for a non-rated, humble Portuguese red over and above a celebrated 1998 Henschke Hill of Grace Shiraz, rated 97 points by the esteemed American critic Robert Parker and valued at more than HK$3,000 per bottle.
On the positive side, she was both enlightened and made more confident of her own palate when the Portuguese red was announced the unanimous favorite of the evening. It was, incidentally, the 2000 Quinta do Crasto Reserva Vinho Tinto, selling for HK$240 per bottle...” follow the hyperlink to read more http://www.thewanderingpalate.com/2006_oct_14.html
There were muffled groans of embarrassment when one of the participants announced, in irritating manner, that she and her husband only drank wines rated 95 points and above.
Blind tastings are merciless to wine snobs and our self-proclaimed connoisseur humiliated herself with an unequivocal preference for a non-rated, humble Portuguese red over and above a celebrated 1998 Henschke Hill of Grace Shiraz, rated 97 points by the esteemed American critic Robert Parker and valued at more than HK$3,000 per bottle.
On the positive side, she was both enlightened and made more confident of her own palate when the Portuguese red was announced the unanimous favorite of the evening. It was, incidentally, the 2000 Quinta do Crasto Reserva Vinho Tinto, selling for HK$240 per bottle...” follow the hyperlink to read more http://www.thewanderingpalate.com/2006_oct_14.html
Cheers
