@@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine If Robert doesn't die before that ... sorry, I heard his health isn't the best anymore, but I wish you all the best and getting RP on by 1M subs video celebration could be fucking epic!
Would be nice though I think a video with Jane Anson or Jancis Robinson would be so much cooler. Or with a wine producer from the Ahr talking about how things are post-2021.
@@therealgoody No it's not. I have served wines blind with an MW as one of the guests. He correctly indentified not only the commune but the wine itself. In this case it was a 1976 Les Forts de Latour from Pauillac.
I correctly guessed that the first wine was Cinsault from looking at the colour and listening to his tasting note. I went with that in part because he was unsure it was of the grape varieties he mentioned. I guessed that the second wine was Pontet Canet by assuming they wouldn’t have bought a first growth and, from that, knowing of the few non-first growth Pauillacs that have been given 100pts, and that are readily available at a reasonable price. The point to know with this is that experienced wine drinkers will draw on perhaps unexpected factors to zone in on what a mystery wine is. I’ve previously correctly guessed mystery wines based substantially on what I know about the person who brought it, with the taste confirming my reasoning.
Very fun video Konstantin! i think the harder thing about scoring wine is how our tastes change over time. I used to LOVE the big bold meaty wines and now prefer a balanced Riesling or Gewurztraminer. What I scored 95 back in the day may be a 90 now. And what is a 95 now may be 100 in the years to come. But that is OK. As you say, recognizing quality is more important. "Is this a well made 'X' that shows the character of the grape and the place" is more important than if I like it. But preferences always sneak in there because we are human (or, in your case, superhuman)
Since wines get exponentially more expensive with the Parker and/or Wine Spectator points they receive, the most important thing for anyone to find value in wine is to identify the critic with whom your taste agrees most.
And South Africa catches Konstantin off guard once more 😂. It’s so ironic that if you get something wrong, mostly the country of origin is South Africa 😅
You should do a series of these types of tastings of wines reviewed by influential critics. Next one on South American Bordeaux blends where you have to find the one James Suckling rated below 98 points.
Your description of the 100, was so well described and analyzed that I was sure it was a Pauillac, yet your 'green pepper' detail made me fear it could have been a haut-medoc, where I would recognize that tendency as one to include some sociando-mallet years, which my mouth is not fond of, and to my appreciation could by no means justify ever a '100' mark. This sent me back to a Pauillac and downplayed the pepper note... When you confirmed the Pauillac Appelation, I was hyper happy to hear it was a Pontet Canet, which ranks as my very favourite wines. Congratulations! Such a Great Wine!!!. Thank You !!!!
The 1869 J.W. Burmester & Co. Reserva Novidade de 1863 (bottled 1932, rebottled 1942) is more than a Port-it’s a relic of time, a liquid memoir of a bygone era. Pouring it feels ceremonial, its color a deep mahogany with amber edges, glinting like a sunset caught in glass. The nose is a layered reverie of figs, caramelized walnuts, and burnt orange peel, softened by whispers of antique wood, spice box, and something ethereal, almost floral, like faded roses. On the palate, it’s an unhurried masterpiece-rich yet balanced, opening with waves of dried apricots, toffee, and molasses, followed by roasted coffee and a hint of bittersweet chocolate. The finish is endless, a meditative interplay of sweetness and warmth, like the lingering notes of a blues ballad under a smoky spotlight. This wine carried me back to Miami, summer 1985, on a sultry Friday night at Mac’s Deuce. That’s where I saw her: a green-eyed goddess, coco-skinned, barefoot, wearing cut-off 501 shorts like a queen of the streets. We were too young to be there, but rules meant nothing that night. When the bouncer’s glare caught us, she grabbed my hand, laughing, and pulled me into the humid night. In Little Havana, at her father’s house, she snuck into the cellar and emerged with this very bottle, her eyes daring me to follow her anywhere. We drank it under the stars, no glasses, just us and the bottle. The Port was like her-intense, intoxicating, unforgettable. On the beach, we passed a joint, laughed, and made love on the cool sand as the waves lapped at our feet. Dawn found us there, tangled and infinite, the empty bottle by our side. To this day, the taste of this Port is the taste of youth, rebellion, and that one perfect night.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for doing this tasting! I appreciated your harsh and direct approach to scoring these wines that weren't worthy AND the praise heaped on to the wines that did deserve praise. I generally like the 100pt scoring system. It's a good way to determine value and if a wine is worthy of more research.
@darillus1 Depending on the reviewer and their commitment to "looking" back at the bottle after x number of years, it certainly can. Now, if you're asking if a higher score is given due to the wine's perceived longevity, I would assume this might be a small factor(2-4 points). But keep in mind, a well structured wine, with balanced fruit, acidity and tannins will ultimately score higher. And those factors already contributes to a more age-worthy wine.
You beat me to the punch on this video theme! Nice tasting and way to get to everything. I too agree that in blind tasting, quality is the most important thing. I thing blind tasting is extremely useful when you are in a theme, like tasting through the same varieties or similar blends. Nice video
I think it's good when there's a bit of agreement between real wine experts; reassuring for people like me, who need a bit of guidance when buying. Nice one Konstantin! Cheers. 🍷🌟👍
I actually really enjoy the fact that you seem to be a bit more harsh in your criticism of wines. Makes the ones which do get an outstanding rating from you seem like they're truly worth it.
I think that this tasting and his breakdown of Parker’s scores suggest that there’s huge variation with wines rated 85-91. I’ve often wondered about this. Different critics seem to rate wines very differently in that range. I wonder if the data shows this?
Great blind tasting! Scores to me are nice gauges as long as you are familiar with the persons palate who's doing the scoring. With everyone's palate being completely different and then the differences of the day, mood and everything else, sometimes it can be "your guess is as good as mine". But in the end, it helps to know that "experts" have given a score that me the novice can look at quickly and help me decide with my wallet. Subscribed!
Great perspective, Konstantin. Many wines are perfect = 99-100. Nothing wrong! Great wines are above scoring, even if flawed in some bad vintages. Really Rare ones can blast the scorer to heaven. Scores. The real fun is being amazed beyond scores. THANK YOU
Great video. You raised a very important point today regarding the 70-79 point range being called “average” despite the fact that by the numbers, this range doesn’t capture the mean of a bell curve of all the Parker ratings.
What a great tasting! I love your blind tastings so i can try to deduce what they are with your tasting clues, I pointed to Grenache/Cinsault as a possibility in the first one since I was in a tasting in Chile last year of Pinots and 2 wines were Cinsault which had more green notes/wild friut character than what you usually get from a Pinot. Cheers from Argentina!
I am Euro and love Euro wines and not much American ones, though I have tried a LOT of both, including the big stuff like 1.Crus and Dominus, Opus1, Caymus SS, Colgin, Stag23 etc. I love RP and WS cause if you take THEIR take on Euro wines, they were at least in the past, NEVER inflated and usually they disagreed, so take (RP+WS)/2 of any Red Bx, between say 1995-2010 then you'll notice VERY few 98+ wines on that scale. And those that DID make that scale were freaking epic, when I tasted them - If I gotta go with one reference, I go with Decanter 97+ and crosscheck if WS/RP gave it minimum 94.
@@bonwatcher Interesting, but how does Suckling being the former European Chief of WS has to do with my take on rating accuracy? WS seems to me to be a group effort anyway. For example, I often disagree with Parker's rating, even though Parker has been around much longer. Maybe Suckling's taste is more aligned with mine because he married an Asian, who knows? LOL. Whose rating do you find yourself agreeing with more?
@@Birdylockso barath4545 saying he follows WS and RP and takes the average and his timeline of 1995- 2010 matches Suckling's time with WS, so I was just saying you guys both use Suckling's scoring as a barometer. Agreeing with someone's palate and ratings is something you learn over time and I agree that Suckling's ratings and notes are also more in line with a lot of my impressions of the same wines. I think RP sometimes gives some over generous scores, but he definitely has a good palate tasting wines.
I think scores can be useful when you find someone whose tastes are similar to yours that scores wine to figure out what you also may like, but you have to take them with a grain of salt as they also involve the taster’s personal preferences.
Im taking my CMS lvl 1 in 2 days . Thank you for all your stuff !! It’s really helped me to find adjetives and understand a lot more about wine ! You’re the man
Thanks Konstantin, another great video. For me if there is one caveat here, it’s don’t always go blindly with a wine rating. I am pleased that you stuck to your guns with the Cinsault. Wine rating should be always used just as a guide; after all we all like different things. Some like marmite with other hate it. I tend to go with a wine critic with whom I appear to have a similar pallet. Pontet Canet by the way is a wonderful wine but like all great Bordeaux wines, is slowly going beyond the reach of most consumers. Perhaps a series of videos on affordable variations of the classics from around the world? Thank goodness, great Riesling is still reachable :-)
I have a contrary streak...if Parker rates a wine at 100 points, I'll nit-pick it to death if I have a chance to drink it. Big "if". (Personally, I'd take the Burklin-Wolf!)
After 7 years of selling luxury wines in Napa, I found scores to be frustrating when discussing wines to customers. Everyone wants to get a hold of 98+ point wines, but sometimes there are some exceptional wines that get scored in the lower to mid 90s. Now that I have moved away from that region, I do believe that consumers do need guidance when purchasing wine without being able to taste them, as well as discovering new high quality producers. Having my own family wine label now, scores are essential to our success and help to bring in new business. Loved this video very much and am now a firm believer in the scoring process.
I think scores can be helpful especially when you are seeking wine that you may not be too familiar with. I do think that they can be skewed and can leave some diamonds in the rough that are good to great but are not scored correctly. Like most things, read many reviews, sample as much as you can, and develop your own barometer for wine that you like.
It lends a lot of credence to the scoring system that you guessed with 100% accuracy, but also leaves room for taste and subjectivity with the 90 pointer. Very cool
I’m not so sure about that. He was given the 4 scores upfront and just had to match them to the wines. I think the outcome would have been more interesting if he had been asked what Parker had scored them without the knowledge he was given here.
Hi Konstantin - great vid! Cinsault is somewhat of a local hero here in SA with there being some truly excellent examples, the Ringmuur being one of them, even catching 'Wine of the Year' from Tim Atkin in his SA Report for the 2018. I don't think you got it wrong, mind you - your comment about 'my taste...' sums it up. I think it would make a great video reviewing some 'blending varieties' that have blown up in local environments... I mean, just look at Malbec! Other local versions of Cinsault I urge you to try: Van Loggerenberg Geronimo (personal favourite) Sadie Pofadder (widely considered 'the best') Badenhorst Ramnasgras (Ringmuur is a tiny bottling from a tiny vineyard, made particularly light in style) Bosman Twyfeling (richer expression) Scions of Sinai Heldervallei (young winemaker - particularly good terroir expression) (Gabriels are my only glass, and I use a Laguiole too, lol) (oh, and we cracked an '84 Pontet a few weeks ago.... mindblowing!)
Scores mean a lot for me, if they are coming from the right critic. I just started with wine one year ago, so I definitely needed guidance. I started with Vivino scores, but those are 100% useless. Wine advocate scores are often in the lower end and it helped me with my first purchases. Now I trust my palate much more, but for me it was good that my developing palate was calibrated by critic scores.
It is crazy that through this video I discovered that my wife has in depth knowledge of wines..she guessed the exact region correctly for 2 out of 4 wines including the Pauillac..thanks dor this video!
For the distribution of scores, I think you also should take into consideration the distribution of wines tasted by Robert Parker. If wines around 90 are the ones that tend to rise up to be tasted, that would affect the distribution of scores.
Would like to see you do a bit on whether RP determines what we think is "quality" or whether the wine itself does. You could say you blind tasted them and came to the same conclusions but has your personal evaluation of quality been influenced, perhaps unconsciously, by an industry that has been responsive to the opinions of RP for the last 30 years?
Spot on the comment about the importance of quality over location in tasting !!! This was one of the best videos ever, with lots of educational stuff ! As a old follower , I notice that the South African wine was again a struggle to spot . And I think there is really hard to sport them , cause they are a mix between old and new world , more than often tasting like old world . Cheers !
A very nice video, thanks a lot! Answering your question: Scores are "Fluch und Segen" a double edged sword. For one, like you said it always is a matter of your own taste, the taste of the buyer. But for me even more important, is the "why" and "when" do I open the wine. With 100 Points wines you might mostly be right, you WILL impress your guests and your self. It's a lot more difficult with wines which in the RP scale are rated around 90 Points. I had 100 Point Moments with Silvaner Ortswein or a rather simple Riesling Kabinett, because they were exactly at the right place to the right time. On the other hand, I had 85 Point moments with quite expensive and highly rated wines, opened at the wrong moment.
Scores? When I started to get into wine they were a guide, I found critics whose palate seemed to align to mine and used them to help me make choices. Now after some additional training I use them as a reference if multiple critics have scored the wine but more often I use back label, a trusted shop employee or importer as my guide. Great video.
Big fun again ! Nice there was a Fitou in the row ! And Badenhurst I also would rate lower. But, yeah, it's personal. Keep up the good work, dear wine-collegue. Greetz from NL !
Enjoyed watching this a lot. I thought your point about not being influenced by label etc, and really tasting the wine in the glass for quality was totally spot on. The Pontet Canet from Pauillac come in around £170 a bottle? How much did you pay? Is your camera equipment safe? Regards Tony
Fantastic tasting, well done. It's also good to get the profile of some very nice wines. I collect spirits as well as wine and different folk use different scoring methods including ABCDE (with plus and minuses); 1-5; 1-10 and 1-100 which operates like the Parker point scoring and the one I use. I think it's a bit more fun because you have a few more points to play with. I don't deliberately buy mediocre stuff so I'm hoping for at least an 85 and that would be a good value drink. Below 85 but not lower than 80 would indicate something slightly disappointing but still good. Anything above 92 has to be seriously good. Most whisky scorers never go above 98 and that would be perceived an exceptionally rare classic from a bygone era. Nothing get's scored 99 or 100 because that level of perfection is unobtainable. What this means is that most of my whisky scores have a range of about 10 points out of the entire 100. I think with wine we are a bit more forgiving and I often see wines scoring Parker points of 94 which really don't deserve it. I'll also buy an 82 point wine and rate it as good value if it's cheap. The big issue is whether we should score for what's in the bottle only or price/quality. Cheers. WT
Tasting notes and the identity of the particular wine critic are more important than any stand-alone score. Tasting notes tell you what they really thought of the wine, and the identity of the critic allows you to interpret the score and tasting notes, as they are often biased in some way. Neal Martin may be the one exception, here, as he is one critic that seems relatively unbiased. BTW, I have 3 bottles of the 2010 Pontet Canet in my cellar, so I'm glad to hear that you think it is within reach of 100. I have far more bottles of PC than any other producer.
Awesome video! Your views on tasting, I feel, are spot on. You clearly know your gear but we are all different. Thanks again and hello from Vancouver BC
Konstantin what an epic tasting, I love this format and ur tasting abilities are superb 🍷👌... Quickly looks at Google for prices of the Pauillac 😂... Cheers 👍
To quote approximately what RP said on the front cover of every issue of his Wine Advocate (in the days when I subscribed): the written comments are my main way of conveying my assessment, rather than the score. Wise words. If you get used to a particular critic’s scores fair enough but what he/ she says means the most. As on your vid, indeed - what you said about the top wine made me want to get my hands on a bottle, never mind the score.
Personally, I like to review and score the wines I drink. Makes me think about the wine, and can compare later on etc. As for some of the Big Name reviewers? Nowdays I am wary, may of them have commercial ties, also many do not taste the wines, but rather have review panels etc. And like the Sth African wine tonight, don't taste, to the same standard they reviewed at. Still useful as a guide, but one needs to make their own assessment. Cheers, Marc D
Super cool video Konstantin! In the end what matters is how the wine tastes for you, and if you like it. Sure sometimes I’ll grab a wine because it has been awarded a high score, but it’s not a necessity in my opinion.
It's always valuable to find a 100 or near 100 point wine for less than $300. The Pontet-Canet is my next target! Happy to know this now, thank you and to Leon.
Another key question is, do you agree with your own ratings! In other words, when you taste the same wine, separate occasion, not too far, separated in time. How often do you give it a different score.
I agree with your assessment of the wines and demonstrating why, when tasting, you need to evaluate the structure, texture, mouthfeel and length of a wine. I tell this to 'new' tasters of wine and comment that the main thing for them is how does the wine 'feel' to them? Does the smell, palate and finish impress you that you may want to taste it again or is it just 'not to their liking'. I ask my clients to go with their first impression but say over time they will recognise quality as they develop their palate and begin to understand the difference between a 'simple' wine and one that has complexity, just like the 2010 Pontet-Canet you described, a great year and an impressive wine coming from a 5ème Cru Classé.
This is a really interesting topic. I have to score a lot of wines on a regular basis and I have a lot to say about this experience. Maybe enough for several TH-cam clips (I do not have a channel though). I remember tasting my first RP100 wine (I did not know it was RP100, but I rushed to check the score right after the tasting). It was Chateau Climens 2001, tasted in 2005.
I look at scores for a relative idea of quality, usually a 90-point wine is better than an 80-point wine, assuming I like that type of wine to begin with. Wine can be worthy of 90+ points but I still don't like it. It is just an excellent and representative example of something that I do not prefer. If it is an expensive wine, I will look at multiple reviewers scores. It's served me well. Back in the day, when 1989 Haut-Brion was just being released, Parker, Wine Spectator, and Decanter all gave it 100 points. It is still being scored a perfect wine today by multiple reviewers. $89.95 a bottle when released. I was a bank teller going to college part-time. I drank one about a decade ago, so I could taste a 100-point wine in case I died young. I have one left. It now costs more than 25 times what it did on release, so I'm not getting any more. Here's to old grape juice!
FWIW, the 2010 Pontet-Canet, Pauillac can be had for around $290 USD (+ S/H) in the US. Your discussion of it is making me think about getting a bottle. 😁🍷
I did a 5 bottle vertical tasting of Pontet-Canet last month. Not that my opinion matters, but I thought the 2009 bottle was a significant step up on the 2010 one.
Thanks for another great video Konstantin! I have a great idea for one of your next videos to invite a very talented certified water sommelier in Germany, Timo Bausch, for us to find out the best water types for different wines.
Great video and as you say for the consumer it hopefully gives an indication of the quality of the wine. I have been lucky to be able to travel and go to vineyards/wineries and find wines that I enjoyed from Bergerac, Margaret River, and the Okanagen BC areas which very rarely make it over here, and it is the same with some European countries as there is so much to explore and find out if you can.
Scores are useful, but on two levels. One for showcasing wine - out of 20; one for rating bottles amongst friends - subjectively - out of 100. Jancis Robertson (an MW too) gives the 2010 Pontet 18.5 out of 20. I think that is more aligned to the objectivity that an expert should share with the potential taster (purchaser). Thereafter, well, score yourself out of 100. This point plays out in the Vid with the SA cinsault. Thanks - just found this channel and very tasteful.
Good video! It would be interesting to learn how much you, and we if we get inspired, would need to pay for the wine that you taste. Of course, I can look it up myself, but im sure you have the information at hand. Keep them coming!
I found it odd you mentioned the ability to detect quality without being influenced by the label. If you mean that literally, it is no problem - wine #1 had an amazing looking label and wine #3 looked cheap, but I don't think that would influence me unless the wine were a gift. If you mean score and price, I don't think I am that biased, but it is a little harder. I have stretched my budget a number of times for very highly rated wines and almost always been disappointed. I have a very good idea what a really great $20 wine is. If I buy a $40 bottle of wine, I have to enjoy it more than 2 really great $20 bottles to buy it again, and very few wines pass that bar, and most aren't as good as even 1 really great $20 bottle. Going the other way, 2 $10 wines have to be more enjoyable than a really great $20 bottle, and again, few pass that test. Score is more about buying a wine I am unfamiliar with. I recently bought my first "orange wine" and went for a reasonably priced 98 point WA wine. That rating meant a lot to me as I am completely ignorant of the category. But a region or producer know well and I like, the score means very little.
Pontet-Canet is outstanding and good value (relatively) . They were the first grand cru to go biodynamic ( in 2004 I think) Did you know that Mr Tisseron has also some amazing cognac bearing his name? well worth a try next time you visit there but I must say I am very envious!
Really cool series of tastings vs critics. It should be noted that Robert Parker himself stopped tasting in 2019 and in the years prior to his retirement he was doing almost exclusively Bordeaux and Napa Valley cabs. Would be fun to do "like for like" ie taste the wines Parker himself rated to get a gauge of the critic's palate vs yours.
I looked up the Pontet-Canet, and while it is a little pricey for a regular wine for me, I was shocked at how affordable it is! I think I might treat myself!
We have the 2010 Pontet-Canet on our wine list at work and it’s 750 Canadian a bottle! Great deal I may have to see if I can go for a dinner and have that for half price…. Of course the wine was properly cellared it’s whole life
Heh, for once I ID'd a wine that you didn't - my mind went straight to cinsault for #1. But yeah, I can see how it won't be most people's first guess. I think I'll arrange something similar with our own wine guide from Chile (trying to find the 95-90-85 point wine, for example), I think it'd be really fun to challenge myself with that. Excellent video, as usual!
It was interesting because, from your tasting comments of you and the color of the wine and the price, I could forecast that the 100-point wine should be Pontet Canet! Thank you for your interest video!!
Pontet Canet makes fantastic wines, a Mouton at 1/3rd the price. You can buy the lesser years that are now 20 years old reasonable, transcendental stuff.
Very impressive that you got it down to Pauillac! I like blind tastings because we get to hear you explore possibilities, it's very interesting. I don't like the 100 points scale myself because I find it kinda misleading (since everything is rated above 80/100, you might think everything you buy with such high scores must be amazing), and everything ends up being rated between 85-95 usually. Why need a 100 points scale if you're only going to use 10 points? I preferred the /20 rating the revue du vin de France used to have, but even them converted to this american rating system.
It's even been somewhat imported in some situations to when I try and check how good a Geuze is, For instance checking BA's aggregated scores, Lindemans Cuvée Rene gets 91 points, Oude Geuze Boon gets 89 points, 3 Fonteinen's Oude Geuze Platnum Blend got 95 points and Cantillon's Oude Geuze got 98. While my thoughts do generally allign with thse ratings, a simple 10 point scale like my own is a lot more honest.
One should be reminded that for a wine to be sold by a retailer, it would have already past the retailer's assessment. So, it can't be bad, with a score of something like 54, right? So, by the time a wine reaches us consumers, it should be above 80s anyway. Personally, I score 85 for a wine that is acceptable, which incidentally are most wines on the market. (Again, the fact that they are available on the market, they really can't be a bad wine to begin with.) Then, if it is enjoyable, the score goes up to 90. Any wine with good balance and a bit of complexity gets 90-93. A wine that I'm excited about would score up to 95. Then wine that blows my socks off would get even higher. It's just me. Cheers!
I think the scores are helpful understanding that they are just a guide that gives me a range to consider if I don’t know the wine. I will try the Pontet
Leon, is really good at picking out wine's. Ponte - canet, was my favorit wine as a teen. it just got hit with the Bordeaux curse. 200e in Denmark, finde it hard to justify.. but its one that i will have to retaste soon . And the GG riesling.. yummy all there is to day about that wine 😁
Fun video. Thanks. I like the scores, but keep in mind I need to discount some of them. A James Suckling 92, is usually more like a 90 IMO. Also, I need to remind myself those scores are only for particular vintages, but they are advertised on bottles regardless of vintage. Cheers.
I knew chances were near zero, however for a very brief moment, I really hoped to see Parker in Person sitting next to Konstantin 😅
One day! 😉
Me too!
@@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine If Robert doesn't die before that ... sorry, I heard his health isn't the best anymore, but I wish you all the best and getting RP on by 1M subs video celebration could be fucking epic!
Me too lol
Would be nice though I think a video with Jane Anson or Jancis Robinson would be so much cooler. Or with a wine producer from the Ahr talking about how things are post-2021.
It's still insane to me that someone can drink a bottle of wine and identify the village where it came from. Nice video!
@@therealgoody No it's not. I have served wines blind with an MW as one of the guests. He correctly indentified not only the commune but the wine itself. In this case it was a 1976 Les Forts de Latour from Pauillac.
@@therealgoody It`s definitively not. Real big wine nerds can actually pull it off after enough experience
I correctly guessed that the first wine was Cinsault from looking at the colour and listening to his tasting note. I went with that in part because he was unsure it was of the grape varieties he mentioned.
I guessed that the second wine was Pontet Canet by assuming they wouldn’t have bought a first growth and, from that, knowing of the few non-first growth Pauillacs that have been given 100pts, and that are readily available at a reasonable price. The point to know with this is that experienced wine drinkers will draw on perhaps unexpected factors to zone in on what a mystery wine is. I’ve previously correctly guessed mystery wines based substantially on what I know about the person who brought it, with the taste confirming my reasoning.
Hahahahahahahahaha @@digitalis909
Very fun video Konstantin! i think the harder thing about scoring wine is how our tastes change over time. I used to LOVE the big bold meaty wines and now prefer a balanced Riesling or Gewurztraminer. What I scored 95 back in the day may be a 90 now. And what is a 95 now may be 100 in the years to come. But that is OK. As you say, recognizing quality is more important. "Is this a well made 'X' that shows the character of the grape and the place" is more important than if I like it. But preferences always sneak in there because we are human (or, in your case, superhuman)
Since wines get exponentially more expensive with the Parker and/or Wine Spectator points they receive, the most important thing for anyone to find value in wine is to identify the critic with whom your taste agrees most.
And South Africa catches Konstantin off guard once more 😂. It’s so ironic that if you get something wrong, mostly the country of origin is South Africa 😅
You should do a series of these types of tastings of wines reviewed by influential critics. Next one on South American Bordeaux blends where you have to find the one James Suckling rated below 98 points.
😁
Nice to see the Gabriel Glas getting a run, the handmade ‘gold edition’ are next level - and a spectacular champagne glass!
Your description of the 100, was so well described and analyzed that I was sure it was a Pauillac, yet your 'green pepper' detail made me fear it could have been a haut-medoc, where I would recognize that tendency as one to include some sociando-mallet years, which my mouth is not fond of, and to my appreciation could by no means justify ever a '100' mark. This sent me back to a Pauillac and downplayed the pepper note... When you confirmed the Pauillac Appelation, I was hyper happy to hear it was a Pontet Canet, which ranks as my very favourite wines. Congratulations! Such a Great Wine!!!. Thank You !!!!
The 1869 J.W. Burmester & Co. Reserva Novidade de 1863 (bottled 1932, rebottled 1942) is more than a Port-it’s a relic of time, a liquid memoir of a bygone era. Pouring it feels ceremonial, its color a deep mahogany with amber edges, glinting like a sunset caught in glass. The nose is a layered reverie of figs, caramelized walnuts, and burnt orange peel, softened by whispers of antique wood, spice box, and something ethereal, almost floral, like faded roses. On the palate, it’s an unhurried masterpiece-rich yet balanced, opening with waves of dried apricots, toffee, and molasses, followed by roasted coffee and a hint of bittersweet chocolate. The finish is endless, a meditative interplay of sweetness and warmth, like the lingering notes of a blues ballad under a smoky spotlight.
This wine carried me back to Miami, summer 1985, on a sultry Friday night at Mac’s Deuce. That’s where I saw her: a green-eyed goddess, coco-skinned, barefoot, wearing cut-off 501 shorts like a queen of the streets. We were too young to be there, but rules meant nothing that night. When the bouncer’s glare caught us, she grabbed my hand, laughing, and pulled me into the humid night. In Little Havana, at her father’s house, she snuck into the cellar and emerged with this very bottle, her eyes daring me to follow her anywhere.
We drank it under the stars, no glasses, just us and the bottle. The Port was like her-intense, intoxicating, unforgettable. On the beach, we passed a joint, laughed, and made love on the cool sand as the waves lapped at our feet. Dawn found us there, tangled and infinite, the empty bottle by our side. To this day, the taste of this Port is the taste of youth, rebellion, and that one perfect night.
Fantastic video - enjoyed it a lot - thank you very much!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for doing this tasting! I appreciated your harsh and direct approach to scoring these wines that weren't worthy AND the praise heaped on to the wines that did deserve praise.
I generally like the 100pt scoring system. It's a good way to determine value and if a wine is worthy of more research.
does the 100-point system take into consideration aging?
@darillus1 Depending on the reviewer and their commitment to "looking" back at the bottle after x number of years, it certainly can. Now, if you're asking if a higher score is given due to the wine's perceived longevity, I would assume this might be a small factor(2-4 points). But keep in mind, a well structured wine, with balanced fruit, acidity and tannins will ultimately score higher. And those factors already contributes to a more age-worthy wine.
You beat me to the punch on this video theme! Nice tasting and way to get to everything. I too agree that in blind tasting, quality is the most important thing. I thing blind tasting is extremely useful when you are in a theme, like tasting through the same varieties or similar blends. Nice video
Very nicely done. Really helps break down the myth that experts can’t converge on quality.
I think it's good when there's a bit of agreement between real wine experts; reassuring for people like me, who need a bit of guidance when buying. Nice one Konstantin! Cheers. 🍷🌟👍
I actually really enjoy the fact that you seem to be a bit more harsh in your criticism of wines. Makes the ones which do get an outstanding rating from you seem like they're truly worth it.
It's almost like shitheads like Parker give high scores to sell wine and keep getting paid to review wines.
I think that this tasting and his breakdown of Parker’s scores suggest that there’s huge variation with wines rated 85-91. I’ve often wondered about this. Different critics seem to rate wines very differently in that range. I wonder if the data shows this?
Great blind tasting! Scores to me are nice gauges as long as you are familiar with the persons palate who's doing the scoring. With everyone's palate being completely different and then the differences of the day, mood and everything else, sometimes it can be "your guess is as good as mine". But in the end, it helps to know that "experts" have given a score that me the novice can look at quickly and help me decide with my wallet. Subscribed!
Great perspective, Konstantin. Many wines are perfect = 99-100. Nothing wrong! Great wines are above scoring, even if flawed in some bad vintages. Really Rare ones can blast the scorer to heaven. Scores. The real fun is being amazed beyond scores. THANK YOU
Great video. You raised a very important point today regarding the 70-79 point range being called “average” despite the fact that by the numbers, this range doesn’t capture the mean of a bell curve of all the Parker ratings.
What a great tasting! I love your blind tastings so i can try to deduce what they are with your tasting clues, I pointed to Grenache/Cinsault as a possibility in the first one since I was in a tasting in Chile last year of Pinots and 2 wines were Cinsault which had more green notes/wild friut character than what you usually get from a Pinot. Cheers from Argentina!
“My taste is not the correct taste, it’s just my taste.” This is why I love watching your reviews. This was a fun one.
I am Euro and love Euro wines and not much American ones, though I have tried a LOT of both, including the big stuff like 1.Crus and Dominus, Opus1, Caymus SS, Colgin, Stag23 etc.
I love RP and WS cause if you take THEIR take on Euro wines, they were at least in the past, NEVER inflated and usually they disagreed, so take (RP+WS)/2 of any Red Bx, between say 1995-2010 then you'll notice VERY few 98+ wines on that scale.
And those that DID make that scale were freaking epic, when I tasted them - If I gotta go with one reference, I go with Decanter 97+ and crosscheck if WS/RP gave it minimum 94.
I just do James Suckling minus 2. Simple and spot on for me!
@@Birdylockso James Suckling used to be WS's European Chief until 2010, so that would seem to fit both of your takes on ratings accuracy. 👍
@@bonwatcher Interesting, but how does Suckling being the former European Chief of WS has to do with my take on rating accuracy? WS seems to me to be a group effort anyway. For example, I often disagree with Parker's rating, even though Parker has been around much longer. Maybe Suckling's taste is more aligned with mine because he married an Asian, who knows? LOL. Whose rating do you find yourself agreeing with more?
@@Birdylockso barath4545 saying he follows WS and RP and takes the average and his timeline of 1995- 2010 matches Suckling's time with WS, so I was just saying you guys both use Suckling's scoring as a barometer. Agreeing with someone's palate and ratings is something you learn over time and I agree that Suckling's ratings and notes are also more in line with a lot of my impressions of the same wines. I think RP sometimes gives some over generous scores, but he definitely has a good palate tasting wines.
Right now the best content maker on all the wine world. congrats. been keeping up with you since the beginning
I think scores can be useful when you find someone whose tastes are similar to yours that scores wine to figure out what you also may like, but you have to take them with a grain of salt as they also involve the taster’s personal preferences.
Im taking my CMS lvl 1 in 2 days . Thank you for all your stuff !! It’s really helped me to find adjetives and understand a lot more about wine ! You’re the man
Thanks Konstantin - I enjoyed this video immensely. I'll even be in Ruppertsberg at the weekend, so I'll visit the winery for sure.
Congratulations, you did very well on this 4 ... thumb up.
Thanks Konstantin, another great video. For me if there is one caveat here, it’s don’t always go blindly with a wine rating. I am pleased that you stuck to your guns with the Cinsault. Wine rating should be always used just as a guide; after all we all like different things. Some like marmite with other hate it. I tend to go with a wine critic with whom I appear to have a similar pallet. Pontet Canet by the way is a wonderful wine but like all great Bordeaux wines, is slowly going beyond the reach of most consumers. Perhaps a series of videos on affordable variations of the classics from around the world? Thank goodness, great Riesling is still reachable :-)
I have a contrary streak...if Parker rates a wine at 100 points, I'll nit-pick it to death if I have a chance to drink it. Big "if".
(Personally, I'd take the Burklin-Wolf!)
After 7 years of selling luxury wines in Napa, I found scores to be frustrating when discussing wines to customers. Everyone wants to get a hold of 98+ point wines, but sometimes there are some exceptional wines that get scored in the lower to mid 90s. Now that I have moved away from that region, I do believe that consumers do need guidance when purchasing wine without being able to taste them, as well as discovering new high quality producers. Having my own family wine label now, scores are essential to our success and help to bring in new business. Loved this video very much and am now a firm believer in the scoring process.
Pontet-Canet 2010, 2009 are both amazing! With a preference for 2010 🎉
I think scores can be helpful especially when you are seeking wine that you may not be too familiar with. I do think that they can be skewed and can leave some diamonds in the rough that are good to great but are not scored correctly. Like most things, read many reviews, sample as much as you can, and develop your own barometer for wine that you like.
It lends a lot of credence to the scoring system that you guessed with 100% accuracy, but also leaves room for taste and subjectivity with the 90 pointer. Very cool
I’m not so sure about that. He was given the 4 scores upfront and just had to match them to the wines. I think the outcome would have been more interesting if he had been asked what Parker had scored them without the knowledge he was given here.
Hi Konstantin - great vid! Cinsault is somewhat of a local hero here in SA with there being some truly excellent examples, the Ringmuur being one of them, even catching 'Wine of the Year' from Tim Atkin in his SA Report for the 2018. I don't think you got it wrong, mind you - your comment about 'my taste...' sums it up. I think it would make a great video reviewing some 'blending varieties' that have blown up in local environments... I mean, just look at Malbec!
Other local versions of Cinsault I urge you to try:
Van Loggerenberg Geronimo (personal favourite)
Sadie Pofadder (widely considered 'the best')
Badenhorst Ramnasgras (Ringmuur is a tiny bottling from a tiny vineyard, made particularly light in style)
Bosman Twyfeling (richer expression)
Scions of Sinai Heldervallei (young winemaker - particularly good terroir expression)
(Gabriels are my only glass, and I use a Laguiole too, lol)
(oh, and we cracked an '84 Pontet a few weeks ago.... mindblowing!)
Have you tried Waterkloof’s ‘Seriously Cool’ Cinsault before?
Scores mean a lot for me, if they are coming from the right critic. I just started with wine one year ago, so I definitely needed guidance. I started with Vivino scores, but those are 100% useless. Wine advocate scores are often in the lower end and it helped me with my first purchases. Now I trust my palate much more, but for me it was good that my developing palate was calibrated by critic scores.
It is crazy that through this video I discovered that my wife has in depth knowledge of wines..she guessed the exact region correctly for 2 out of 4 wines including the Pauillac..thanks dor this video!
For the distribution of scores, I think you also should take into consideration the distribution of wines tasted by Robert Parker. If wines around 90 are the ones that tend to rise up to be tasted, that would affect the distribution of scores.
Really cool tasting. Waiting already your next one!
Would like to see you do a bit on whether RP determines what we think is "quality" or whether the wine itself does. You could say you blind tasted them and came to the same conclusions but has your personal evaluation of quality been influenced, perhaps unconsciously, by an industry that has been responsive to the opinions of RP for the last 30 years?
I missed the black bags...nice tasting.
Scores are part of the fun with wines, and it's always fun when we can compare scores from different sources
Spot on the comment about the importance of quality over location in tasting !!! This was one of the best videos ever, with lots of educational stuff ! As a old follower , I notice that the South African wine was again a struggle to spot . And I think there is really hard to sport them , cause they are a mix between old and new world , more than often tasting like old world . Cheers !
A very nice video, thanks a lot! Answering your question:
Scores are "Fluch und Segen" a double edged sword. For one, like you said it always is a matter of your own taste, the taste of the buyer. But for me even more important, is the "why" and "when" do I open the wine. With 100 Points wines you might mostly be right, you WILL impress your guests and your self. It's a lot more difficult with wines which in the RP scale are rated around 90 Points. I had 100 Point Moments with Silvaner Ortswein or a rather simple Riesling Kabinett, because they were exactly at the right place to the right time. On the other hand, I had 85 Point moments with quite expensive and highly rated wines, opened at the wrong moment.
Very exciting video! Thank you Herr Baum!
Scores? When I started to get into wine they were a guide, I found critics whose palate seemed to align to mine and used them to help me make choices. Now after some additional training I use them as a reference if multiple critics have scored the wine but more often I use back label, a trusted shop employee or importer as my guide. Great video.
Big fun again ! Nice there was a Fitou in the row ! And Badenhurst I also would rate lower. But, yeah, it's personal. Keep up the good work, dear wine-collegue. Greetz from NL !
Enjoyed watching this a lot. I thought your point about not being influenced by label etc, and really tasting the wine in the glass for quality was totally spot on. The Pontet Canet from Pauillac come in around £170 a bottle? How much did you pay? Is your camera equipment safe?
Regards
Tony
300 … the camera is safe
@@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine Good news. 300 Euros? That's a fair few bob (as we say here). Best, Tony.
Fantastic tasting, well done. It's also good to get the profile of some very nice wines. I collect spirits as well as wine and different folk use different scoring methods including ABCDE (with plus and minuses); 1-5; 1-10 and 1-100 which operates like the Parker point scoring and the one I use. I think it's a bit more fun because you have a few more points to play with.
I don't deliberately buy mediocre stuff so I'm hoping for at least an 85 and that would be a good value drink. Below 85 but not lower than 80 would indicate something slightly disappointing but still good. Anything above 92 has to be seriously good. Most whisky scorers never go above 98 and that would be perceived an exceptionally rare classic from a bygone era. Nothing get's scored 99 or 100 because that level of perfection is unobtainable.
What this means is that most of my whisky scores have a range of about 10 points out of the entire 100. I think with wine we are a bit more forgiving and I often see wines scoring Parker points of 94 which really don't deserve it. I'll also buy an 82 point wine and rate it as good value if it's cheap. The big issue is whether we should score for what's in the bottle only or price/quality.
Cheers. WT
Tasting notes and the identity of the particular wine critic are more important than any stand-alone score. Tasting notes tell you what they really thought of the wine, and the identity of the critic allows you to interpret the score and tasting notes, as they are often biased in some way. Neal Martin may be the one exception, here, as he is one critic that seems relatively unbiased.
BTW, I have 3 bottles of the 2010 Pontet Canet in my cellar, so I'm glad to hear that you think it is within reach of 100. I have far more bottles of PC than any other producer.
Incredible blind tasting master class! Thank you, Konstantin ❤
Awesome video! Your views on tasting, I feel, are spot on. You clearly know your gear but we are all different. Thanks again and hello from Vancouver BC
Konstantin what an epic tasting, I love this format and ur tasting abilities are superb 🍷👌... Quickly looks at Google for prices of the Pauillac 😂... Cheers 👍
One of your best videos yet. Many thanks.
To quote approximately what RP said on the front cover of every issue of his Wine Advocate (in the days when I subscribed): the written comments are my main way of conveying my assessment, rather than the score. Wise words. If you get used to a particular critic’s scores fair enough but what he/ she says means the most. As on your vid, indeed - what you said about the top wine made me want to get my hands on a bottle, never mind the score.
Personally, I like to review and score the wines I drink.
Makes me think about the wine, and can compare later on etc.
As for some of the Big Name reviewers? Nowdays I am wary, may of them have commercial ties, also many do not taste the wines, but rather have review panels etc. And like the Sth African wine tonight, don't taste, to the same standard they reviewed at. Still useful as a guide, but one needs to make their own assessment. Cheers, Marc D
Super cool video Konstantin! In the end what matters is how the wine tastes for you, and if you like it. Sure sometimes I’ll grab a wine because it has been awarded a high score, but it’s not a necessity in my opinion.
This is my favourite type of video from you Konstantin. I like all you videos but these blind tastings are the best. Keep it up.
Thank you! Yes for me scoring a wine is important to not only learn but to place in your value system.
It's always valuable to find a 100 or near 100 point wine for less than $300. The Pontet-Canet is my next target! Happy to know this now, thank you and to Leon.
Another key question is, do you agree with your own ratings! In other words, when you taste the same wine, separate occasion, not too far, separated in time. How often do you give it a different score.
I agree with your assessment of the wines and demonstrating why, when tasting, you need to evaluate the structure, texture, mouthfeel and length of a wine. I tell this to 'new' tasters of wine and comment that the main thing for them is how does the wine 'feel' to them? Does the smell, palate and finish impress you that you may want to taste it again or is it just 'not to their liking'. I ask my clients to go with their first impression but say over time they will recognise quality as they develop their palate and begin to understand the difference between a 'simple' wine and one that has complexity, just like the 2010 Pontet-Canet you described, a great year and an impressive wine coming from a 5ème Cru Classé.
Dammmn! what a talent!!! Excellent recollection of wine and locale. I hope you still have your cameras.
Very good content. I enjoy this one a lot. Good job, master!
This is a really interesting topic. I have to score a lot of wines on a regular basis and I have a lot to say about this experience. Maybe enough for several TH-cam clips (I do not have a channel though). I remember tasting my first RP100 wine (I did not know it was RP100, but I rushed to check the score right after the tasting). It was Chateau Climens 2001, tasted in 2005.
There is something that just hits you with a really good wine, just a sudden rush of "oh this is special"
Great video Konstantin, thank you
Brilliant show, thank you an amazing educational experience.
I look at scores for a relative idea of quality, usually a 90-point wine is better than an 80-point wine, assuming I like that type of wine to begin with.
Wine can be worthy of 90+ points but I still don't like it. It is just an excellent and representative example of something that I do not prefer.
If it is an expensive wine, I will look at multiple reviewers scores. It's served me well. Back in the day, when 1989 Haut-Brion was just being released, Parker, Wine Spectator, and Decanter all gave it 100 points.
It is still being scored a perfect wine today by multiple reviewers.
$89.95 a bottle when released.
I was a bank teller going to college part-time.
I drank one about a decade ago, so I could taste a 100-point wine in case I died young. I have one left.
It now costs more than 25 times what it did on release, so I'm not getting any more.
Here's to old grape juice!
FWIW, the 2010 Pontet-Canet, Pauillac can be had for around $290 USD (+ S/H) in the US. Your discussion of it is making me think about getting a bottle. 😁🍷
I did a 5 bottle vertical tasting of Pontet-Canet last month. Not that my opinion matters, but I thought the 2009 bottle was a significant step up on the 2010 one.
Glad you found your #4 bag!
Thanks for another great video Konstantin! I have a great idea for one of your next videos to invite a very talented certified water sommelier in Germany, Timo Bausch, for us to find out the best water types for different wines.
Of course your palate was not gonna miss it.
Pontet Canet 2010 was amazing. But not a 100 on Bob scale.. Great video by the way
Excellent video. I would appreciate more Riesling videos!
Nice video.
Is that a bottle of Pol Roger Blanc de Blancs Brut champagne in the background? I had their 1996 and it was absolutely stunning.
Really enjoyed this. Love to know your background into wine
I have recently opened Pontet 2010, which was purchased since from En-priemer, which was really stunning, definitely 99-100 points wine.
Great video and as you say for the consumer it hopefully gives an indication of the quality of the wine. I have been lucky to be able to travel and go to vineyards/wineries and find wines that I enjoyed from Bergerac, Margaret River, and the Okanagen BC areas which very rarely make it over here, and it is the same with some European countries as there is so much to explore and find out if you can.
Scores are useful, but on two levels. One for showcasing wine - out of 20; one for rating bottles amongst friends - subjectively - out of 100. Jancis Robertson (an MW too) gives the 2010 Pontet 18.5 out of 20. I think that is more aligned to the objectivity that an expert should share with the potential taster (purchaser). Thereafter, well, score yourself out of 100. This point plays out in the Vid with the SA cinsault. Thanks - just found this channel and very tasteful.
Good video! It would be interesting to learn how much you, and we if we get inspired, would need to pay for the wine that you taste. Of course, I can look it up myself, but im sure you have the information at hand. Keep them coming!
I always put the information into the description below the video
Thank you for this video! I would love to know where you got your bottle sleeves!
I found it odd you mentioned the ability to detect quality without being influenced by the label. If you mean that literally, it is no problem - wine #1 had an amazing looking label and wine #3 looked cheap, but I don't think that would influence me unless the wine were a gift. If you mean score and price, I don't think I am that biased, but it is a little harder. I have stretched my budget a number of times for very highly rated wines and almost always been disappointed. I have a very good idea what a really great $20 wine is. If I buy a $40 bottle of wine, I have to enjoy it more than 2 really great $20 bottles to buy it again, and very few wines pass that bar, and most aren't as good as even 1 really great $20 bottle. Going the other way, 2 $10 wines have to be more enjoyable than a really great $20 bottle, and again, few pass that test. Score is more about buying a wine I am unfamiliar with. I recently bought my first "orange wine" and went for a reasonably priced 98 point WA wine. That rating meant a lot to me as I am completely ignorant of the category. But a region or producer know well and I like, the score means very little.
Pontet-Canet is outstanding and good value (relatively) . They were the first grand cru to go biodynamic ( in 2004 I think) Did you know that Mr Tisseron has also some amazing cognac bearing his name? well worth a try next time you visit there but I must say I am very envious!
Really cool series of tastings vs critics. It should be noted that Robert Parker himself stopped tasting in 2019 and in the years prior to his retirement he was doing almost exclusively Bordeaux and Napa Valley cabs. Would be fun to do "like for like" ie taste the wines Parker himself rated to get a gauge of the critic's palate vs yours.
Great video, as always!
Oh my, Pfalz and Pauillac really? Your tasting is just unbelievable...
I love your videos Konstantin. It’s not easy promote wine contents on TH-cam and you make that Great 🔝
Good blind tasting fun. I wonder what the cost in France is for the Pontet-Conet? $225 here in US.
I looked up the Pontet-Canet, and while it is a little pricey for a regular wine for me, I was shocked at how affordable it is! I think I might treat myself!
We have the 2010 Pontet-Canet on our wine list at work and it’s 750 Canadian a bottle! Great deal I may have to see if I can go for a dinner and have that for half price…. Of course the wine was properly cellared it’s whole life
Oh, grats on the new opening!) And number 4 is found!) Grats on it too)
Number 4 is BACK!
The thumbnail is slightly misleading.. 🤨😄
That AA Badenhorst wine is for sale for about 17USD. So price for value pretty stellar there.
Hello Konstantin. Thank you for the another amazing video. Please can you explain how points are given to wines specifically?
Heh, for once I ID'd a wine that you didn't - my mind went straight to cinsault for #1. But yeah, I can see how it won't be most people's first guess. I think I'll arrange something similar with our own wine guide from Chile (trying to find the 95-90-85 point wine, for example), I think it'd be really fun to challenge myself with that. Excellent video, as usual!
It was interesting because, from your tasting comments of you and the color of the wine and the price, I could forecast that the 100-point wine should be Pontet Canet!
Thank you for your interest video!!
Pontet Canet makes fantastic wines, a Mouton at 1/3rd the price. You can buy the lesser years that are now 20 years old reasonable, transcendental stuff.
Very impressive that you got it down to Pauillac! I like blind tastings because we get to hear you explore possibilities, it's very interesting.
I don't like the 100 points scale myself because I find it kinda misleading (since everything is rated above 80/100, you might think everything you buy with such high scores must be amazing), and everything ends up being rated between 85-95 usually. Why need a 100 points scale if you're only going to use 10 points? I preferred the /20 rating the revue du vin de France used to have, but even them converted to this american rating system.
It's even been somewhat imported in some situations to when I try and check how good a Geuze is, For instance checking BA's aggregated scores, Lindemans Cuvée Rene gets 91 points, Oude Geuze Boon gets 89 points, 3 Fonteinen's Oude Geuze Platnum Blend got 95 points and Cantillon's Oude Geuze got 98. While my thoughts do generally allign with thse ratings, a simple 10 point scale like my own is a lot more honest.
One should be reminded that for a wine to be sold by a retailer, it would have already past the retailer's assessment. So, it can't be bad, with a score of something like 54, right?
So, by the time a wine reaches us consumers, it should be above 80s anyway. Personally, I score 85 for a wine that is acceptable, which incidentally are most wines on the market. (Again, the fact that they are available on the market, they really can't be a bad wine to begin with.) Then, if it is enjoyable, the score goes up to 90. Any wine with good balance and a bit of complexity gets 90-93. A wine that I'm excited about would score up to 95. Then wine that blows my socks off would get even higher. It's just me. Cheers!
From your description, I guessed Chateau Pontet Canet 2010, bravo!
I think the scores are helpful understanding that they are just a guide that gives me a range to consider if I don’t know the wine. I will try the Pontet
Leon, is really good at picking out wine's. Ponte - canet, was my favorit wine as a teen. it just got hit with the Bordeaux curse. 200e in Denmark, finde it hard to justify.. but its one that i will have to retaste soon .
And the GG riesling.. yummy all there is to day about that wine 😁
Gracias! I learn so much from your materials
Fun video. Thanks. I like the scores, but keep in mind I need to discount some of them. A James Suckling 92, is usually more like a 90 IMO. Also, I need to remind myself those scores are only for particular vintages, but they are advertised on bottles regardless of vintage. Cheers.