EWBC12 ? Tech Tools

Every year at the EWBC, I conduct a workshop on tech tools that you may, or may not, be familiar with. Some are right off the innovation line, while others, have been around for awhile but need a reintroduction as to how they’ve grown or changed. I try to make it as jam packed as [...]

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Spectator Surprises (almost) Everyone with Shocking Pick

Wine Spectator revealed their 2012 Wine of the Year today and I don't think anyone saw this one coming. The winning wine was the 2008 Shafer Relentless -- 96 WS/$60/3,300 cases produced.

It certainly hits the metrics we've been looking for (95+ points, < $100, 1,000+ cases produced) so why was it surprising? Why didn't we see this coming? I think there are several reasons...

First, Wine Spectator has now chosen a wine from California the last 3 years. Last year was the Kosta Browne Pinot Noir (Sonoma) and the year before that was the Saxum James Berry (Paso). Taking it further, the prior winner was also domestic - the Columbia Crest Reserve Cab. Taking it even further the year before that was the Chilean Clos Apalta. This makes it 5 straight years of new world wines. I think a lot of us thought it was time for an old world wine to win, and with the great vintages from France rated this year the timing seemed right. Further, there's been some speculation that Spectator likes to spread the task of writing up the wine of the year around their senior editors. Poor James Laube had to do the write-up once again! Oh well, I guess he gets bragging rights that he's selected the Wine of the Year 3 years in a row.

Second, I think a lot of suspect that they're going to choose a wine from a region whose story they want to tell. For wines released this year, that story seemed almost certain to be from 2010 Rhone. Or 2009 Bordeaux. But what story is there to tell from 2008 in Napa for a somewhat quirky blend like the Relentless? Not much. It seems to be a play towards telling a story from a specific winery rather than a category.

Finally, Spectator just rang the bell a couple years ago for a California Syrah blend with the Saxum James Berry nod. That wine is a Grenache/Mourvedre/Syrah to the Relentless' Syrah/Petite Sirah but still -- it seems strange to have another wine so similar to the Saxum just 2 years later.

I admit: I was stunned by the California selection. Didn't see this one coming. The only time I had the slightest hunch there might be a California wine selected was when I was watching their Top 10 videos and James Laube (their editor for the wines of California) only made one appearance for wines 10 through 2 for the Beringer Reserve Cab selection. But I didn't expect California to take the top spot this year because there hasn't really been an extraordinary category from California rated this year.

So, it was a well-played suspenseful list from Spectator. And a well-played entry from Scott B!

There's a Wine Spectator connection with Scott B. No, he's not an editor or employee so don't get your hopes up for a scandal - the prize is his. But after noticing he was the winner I recalled he'd written a guest post for us earlier this year on Wine Spectator's Las Vegas Grand Tour. Looks like he deftly used the event to refine his selection. ;)

I do appreciate the actionable nature of this year's pick. I bought the bottle I tasted from Wine.com of all places - not exactly a boutique retailer! Availability at the time of the announcement of the 2008 Relentless was limited to begin with since the wine was released and rated early in this year's cycle. And even the 2009 vintage (which I'd bet is just as good if I had to guess without having tasted the 2009) is vaporizing quickly.

Here are my tasting notes from CellarTracker on the 2008 Shafer Relentless from back in June:

For my taste, this is a gorgeous bottle of wine. A powerful, inviting nose of dried blueberries and black currant with supporting savory notes which translate seamlessly to the palate and finish. 75% Syrah/25% Petite Sirah. 15.6% alcohol. $60 release price. I can totally see my way to the favorable rating Spectator bestowed upon this one. Spectacular.
Somehow I forgot to include a numerical rating. (?) What's up with that? I love scores!

My recommendation would be to remain calm if you're looking for the 2008 Relentless. It's going to be very difficult to find and it's not worth overpaying for. For my palate, it's a nice buy at $50. But north of $60 my enthusiasm tapers off. Best bet would probably be to try it at a restaurant (they tend to go through highly rated wines at a slower clip because point chasers ability to devour the wines is stymied by overall high markups and meal costs). Or perhaps at retailer who doesn't have an e-commerce site. May the best searchers win!

And if it's like the Columbia Crest Reserve - the next few vintages won't be too exorbitantly priced after a while. You can find subsequent vintages of the CC Reserve happily resting on warehouse club shelves with no buyers even in the mid to high $30s. Do you really think the 2005 vintage of that wine was magical and subsequent vintages haven't been as good?

A better strategy, if you're looking to buy wines that tend wind up on Spectator's Top 10 list ahead of time, is to find a retailer who offers them before Spectator recognizes them. My thanks to New York wine retailer Grapes the Wine Co for this sponsorship of the contest this year (a $200 Amazon.com gift card!). If you're on his mailing list you'll note that he offered a bunch of the Top 10 wines in the weeks and months preceding Spectator's list. Well, at least the ones he thinks are good. :)

The fun had to end some time. My thanks to everyone's enthusiastic participation this year. We'll do it again next year!

So that ends the fun for this year. Back to our regularly scheduled programming. I'd love it if you subscribed to the site - we've got a lot of fun things to talk about in the coming weeks. I might even motivate and crank out my own Top 25 this year.

Related Links:

Question(s) of the Day: What do you think of Spectator's Shafer Relentless pick? Have you seen it around at retail? If so, let us know in the comments!

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Competition Winners Announced

The winners of the 70th annual Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition were announced today and the list is an impressive one! A box wine, a Scotch whisky, repeat winners (Armida Winery and baseball legend Tommy Lasorda) and so much more! Take a look at the winners here then check out the buzz on [...]

Source: http://blogs.fairplex.com/blog/wine/?p=78

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There?s no future for wine

Try this exercise. Imagine the world in 50 or 100 years. Picture the innovations, the changes to everyday life, and the things that will remain the same. How will life for you or your kids be different? [Maybe have a glass of wine while you think about it, why not?] Here’s a shortcut. Think of [...]

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A Return to Normalcy Sets Up a Thrilling Wine Spectator Finale

Wine Spectator revealed wines 5 through 2 in their 2012 Wine of the Year campaign. It was largely a return to normalcy that, in one sense, calmed the experts in our Scoop the Spectator contest, and set up a cliff hanger of sorts to see which wine will be named their Wine of the Year.

More on that in a moment, but here are some thoughts on the wines revealed today...

5. Château Guiraud
Sauternes 2009


What can I say about this one? This wine has won the whole thing before, but I have a hard time even spelling it. Sauternes, a dessert wine from Bordeaux with honey-lemon flavors and a quirky after taste, is a bit of an acquired taste that I haven't acquired yet.

Wine-Searcher

4. Clos des Papes
Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2010

I think what we're seeing here is how reluctant they are to repeat a wine. The 2005 Clos des Papes was Spectator's Wine of the Year in 2007 - can you imagine the groans and zzz's they'd hear from subscribers if they repeated the same wine just 5 years later? What new story would they tell?

Great birth year wine (I've got the '05 and '07 set aside for that purpose) but how many $100+ bottles do we need in our lives? I don't think this nod does much to move the market on this wine. All of the good news was already baked into the price. Even when it won it didn't escalate out of control and could still be found months later. And the well-regarded 2007 was widely available for around $100 for a long time as well. It's a great wine, but Spectator can only move the market on a widely available $100 wine so much.

Wine-Searcher

3. Two Hands
Shiraz Barossa Valley Bella?s Garden 2010

This wine is always in the Top 10 and you frequently see at at Costco at a fair price. Spectator seems to love it, and as much as Harvey Steiman (who rates their Australian wines along with other categories) has turned me on to some great values I like the more affordable bottlings from Two Hands better.

Kind of like the Schild they seem to go nuts for every year that's got great QPR metrics but ultimately doesn't taste very good in my opinion, I'm a pass on this one. But I probably shouldn't bash it until I try this vintage.

Wine-Searcher

2. Château de St.-Cosme
Gigondas 2010


I definitely had this as the favorite going in. Thomas Matthews' comment earlier this week was interesting. In hindsight it seemed to carry a conciliatory tone:
But I must note the love shown for Chateau de St.-Cosme. Louis Barruoul was at our Wine Experience last month presenting his Gigondas Valbelle 2009, our #10 wine of 2011, and both he and the wine were extremely impressive. I hope you all get to enjoy some of his wines, no matter what rank they may take in our Top 100. 
Kind of a "their wines are great! we love 'em! but we could only have one winner!". I think this wine getting the number 2 nod (as opposed to number 1) is a good thing for people wanting to buy this wine because it won't vaporize quite as quickly as if it had won. But the net of it is St. Cosme is on value hunter radar screens now more than ever. I'm interested in trying other bottlings from them. They crushed it (once again) this year.

Wine-Searcher


Although @EvanDawson (our first entry this year) is in the lead now, I think we all agree it's likely someone has guessed the winner already.

I've got to think it's @RichardPF's entry - the 2010 Le Vieux Donjon. There might be some concern about 2010 Rhones taking 3 of the top 5 spots, but I think since the Cosme is a Gigondas and not a true Chateauneuf-du-Pape the Donjon is still the favorite. I've heard of some panic buying of this wine today - kind of like the rush on D batteries before Hurricane Sandy.

@NWTomLee has been beating the drum for 2009 Bordeaux. It was a great vintage for sure, but so was 2010 Bordeaux. Further the Leoville Barton was already in the top 10 along with Sauternes. I think Bordeaux is done in this year's Top 10. More importantly - where's the value in Bordeaux? I don't see it. But I could be eating my words tomorrow!

If the Donjon doesn't get it, I think it would be a statement from Spectator that the wine wasn't all that great. Remember, a panel of their senior editors get together to taste the contenders for the Top 10. I've tried the wine, and it's tight. It needs time. But I think they can see through that near term stuffiness and I think it will win.

If it does, expect the price to shoot through the roof and further fuel interest in future Top 10s. It's a wine you've likely walked past if you've been an a fine wine shop the past couple months. As of this morning you could still find it in the $50 range. And Magnums for $110. Certainly a great arbitrage/flipping opportunity if you think this is the one! I've never resold a wine ever and I'm not interested in starting. But if I had to bet I'd think this is the one.

But you never know - a Bordeaux could sneak in there.
We shall see tomorrow at 11 am Eastern.

If you haven't already, have a look at the videos Wine Spectator produced for each of the Top 10 wines. They're quite good I think and provide insight into how to pronounce some tricky French wine words.

So what do you think? Will it be Chateauneuf or Bordeaux in the top spot?

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