That Old Chestnut - Points Scoring

[KMP]

I have no problem with wine receiving scores from anyone, after all everything else is rated in some way or another. No scoring method (be it for wine , movies, art, ballet, cars etc) is infallible, but so what.

I also don't have any problems with tasting notes even though there is as much variability as there is with scores. While a wine described as having “graphite, warm black currant and blackberry, plus nuances of dried mint, dark chocolate, tree bark, truffles and forest floor” might sound inviting who says that the taster has correctly identified any or all of those aromas, and even if he/she did how many others could identify any or all of the same aromas without having read the note.

In the end it all comes down to how to best achieve your own level of enjoyment, whether it be chasing scores, drooling over tasting notes and just finding wines that suit your taste.

Mike

[Adair]

“graphite, warm black currant and blackberry, plus nuances of dried mint, dark chocolate, tree bark, truffles and forest floor”

I am not sure if they still do it, but the Wine Spectator website used to have a "guess the wine for its tatsing note" quiz, which I used to have fun with. In your above desciption, the warm black currant is conflicting with by idea of truffles and forest floor. Maybe an overripe Otago Pinot Noir grown on very rocky soils and tightly planted and obviously French oaked!

Interesting wine nonetheless!

Adair

[Peter Schlesinger]

What works for me are reviews that provide a sensible description coupled with some form of points score. The 100 system seems most in vogue although I've never gotten my head past the 3, 7 and 10 model. My favourite reviewers (Mattison, Walsh from WineFront and Anthony from Boccaccio) also invariably acknowledge their own palate biases. Points scores are irrelevant for, say single malts which, after all are all good - just different - so the descriptor is the most essential piece of information here. However there are really ordinary wines out there and reviewers can warn their readers without getting into libel territory by attributing a low points score. At the end of the day, it's all data to be used or abused as you wish.

Cheers, Peter

[KMP]

“graphite, warm black currant and blackberry, plus nuances of dried mint, dark chocolate, tree bark, truffles and forest floor”

I am not sure if they still do it, but the Wine Spectator website used to have a "guess the wine for its tatsing note" quiz, which I used to have fun with. In your above desciption, the warm black currant is conflicting with by idea of truffles and forest floor. Maybe an overripe Otago Pinot Noir grown on very rocky soils and tightly planted and obviously French oaked!

Interesting wine nonetheless!

Adair

Maybe I should ask for more opinions before I reveal what it is! Its the 2000 Domaine A Cabernet Sauvignon (Tasmania) written up in Wine Advocate #189 (Jun 2010) by Lisa Perrotti-Brown. For the points people it got a 96.

Mike

[Adair]

“graphite, warm black currant and blackberry, plus nuances of dried mint, dark chocolate, tree bark, truffles and forest floor”

I am not sure if they still do it, but the Wine Spectator website used to have a "guess the wine for its tatsing note" quiz, which I used to have fun with. In your above desciption, the warm black currant is conflicting with by idea of truffles and forest floor. Maybe an overripe Otago Pinot Noir grown on very rocky soils and tightly planted and obviously French oaked!

Interesting wine nonetheless!

Adair

Maybe I should ask for more opinions before I reveal what it is! Its the 2000 Domaine A Cabernet Sauvignon (Tasmania) written up in Wine Advocate #189 (Jun 2010) by Lisa Perrotti-Brown. For the points people it got a 96.

Mike

Hahaha. Really? Awesome. Thanks. I was going Cabernet until the truffles and forest floor which threw me to Pinot, then I had to include the "overripe" to compensate for the ripe Cabernet flavours.
By the way, I found that the Wine Spectator quiz is still going strong.

[Rawshack]

“graphite, warm black currant and blackberry, plus nuances of dried mint, dark chocolate, tree bark, truffles and forest floor”

I am not sure if they still do it, but the Wine Spectator website used to have a "guess the wine for its tatsing note" quiz, which I used to have fun with. In your above desciption, the warm black currant is conflicting with by idea of truffles and forest floor. Maybe an overripe Otago Pinot Noir grown on very rocky soils and tightly planted and obviously French oaked!

Interesting wine nonetheless!

Adair

Maybe I should ask for more opinions before I reveal what it is! Its the 2000 Domaine A Cabernet Sauvignon (Tasmania) written up in Wine Advocate #189 (Jun 2010) by Lisa Perrotti-Brown. For the points people it got a 96.

Mike

I have a bottle of that in the cellar - it was sold to me on the cheap as no one else was buying it (a somewhat simplified version of events). Been meaning to open it for a while now. Might do it this weekend.