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Carl
Grape Fermenter
Posts:462
 | | 07/12/2003 4:54 AM |
| In Stephen Brook's "Bordeaux - People, Power and Politics" (2001), he has a section called "Infant Samples: Do they represent the real thing?" He suggests a lot of indirect evidence that wineries showing their barrel samples at the gigantic UGC tastings in March of each year (which is where most journalists and wine merchants first get to sample the new crop of bordeaux) are creating blends custom-made for that purpose.
"It's inevitable that chateaux will present a blend that shows the wine at its best, even if it may not be fully typical of the finished product," he writes.
A non-conspiratorial explanation is that, because March is so early in the process of creating the final blend, further changes are inevitable given the tension between quality and quantity. Eventually the wineries might decide they can sell a little more of the wine under their top label, even if the quality is sacrificied. Brook points out that the line between first and second wine had almost never been deliniated in March when the barrel sample is presented.
Has the suggestion of misleading barrel samples been made by others or is he looking for conspiracies where none exist? Given the importance of barrel tasting ratings, I can certainly understand the temptation of wineries to select grapes from the best parts of the vineyard for the one the journalists taste.
I guess I should look for evidence. Do any 2000 classed growth Bordeaux stand out as having been seriously demoted by both Parker and Suckling between barrel sample and bottle (5 points or more decrease)? | | | |
| Seek
Upstate NY
Wine Thief
Posts:2772
| | 07/12/2003 12:51 PM |
| | I guess with a suspicious society it is normal for many of us to think this way, me included. The fact still remains that it seems many of the wines from bottle do perform up to or even better than the sample's tasted from barrel. Regarding the 2000 Bordeaux this was the case. Almost all of the wines performed to at least the expected level and many better than when first tasted by RP. With that said I for one would not be suprised if the best lots and/or barrels are selected for early reviews. | | | |
| skwid
Wine Connoisseur
Posts:5452
| | 07/12/2003 5:51 PM |
| | While the best lots/barrels may be used the key question is "what is the variance between lots/barrels?". If this is small then it really doesn't matter. If it is large (as in Marquis Phillips case) then there is definely a problem. | | | |
| ojeffso
warren, new jersey
Wine Lover
Posts:4877
| | 07/13/2003 3:59 AM |
| | there is no doubt that it is in the best interest of the chateau to put their best foot forward when submitting barrel samples for review. as long as futures play such an important role in the economics of selling wine, this will continue to happen. in the case of the 2000's, the hype was so great that very little help was needed. ultimately, most of the chateau performed at barrel ratings or better. in average to good years the opposite seems to happen. this is why one has to be cautious when using barrel samples ratings from less than excellent vintages. | | | |
| Carl
Grape Fermenter
Posts:462
| | 07/13/2003 8:52 AM |
| A further factor to consider when weighing the validity of barrel tasting ratings is the fact that the first growths and most of the super seconds do not permit the opportunity for journalists to taste blind from the barrel. At the UGC, the wines are organized by appelation and certain other categories but otherwise can be tasted blind. However, the following estates do not participate in the UGC tastings: all five 1st growths, Petrus, the two St. Emillion 1er Grand Cru Classe "A", d'Yquem, Ducru-Ceaucaillou, Leoville-las-Cases, Cos d'Estournel, Montrose, Palmer, Dufort-Vivens and Climens. With respect to nearly all these wines, an appointment has to be made at the chateau, where the wine can be tasted alone in the appropriate setting, usually with the winemaker at hand to answer questions and maybe the prioprietor there to "press the flesh" a little if the person doing the tasting is important enough.
Again my source is the Stephen Brook book. | | | |
| skwid
Wine Connoisseur
Posts:5452
| | 07/13/2003 5:08 PM |
| | Btw, cbmac Yquem does not allow any tastings until the wine is released. | | | |
| Carl
Grape Fermenter
Posts:462
| | 07/14/2003 3:01 AM |
| Thanks. Although the list of estates that don't participate in the UGC tastings is pretty clear in the book, it was not clear from the book if "no UGC = barrel tastings on their property", which is why I added that (very lawyerly) nearly.
Now that you mention it, I vaguely recall hearing somewhere at some stage about Yquem only allowing tastings in the bottle (which is why the ratings are so delayed compared to anyone else). Do you know why they do this? | | | |
| skwid
Wine Connoisseur
Posts:5452
| | 07/14/2003 4:08 AM |
| | I have no idea why Yquem does not allow barrel tastings. They started this in the 80's I believe. Although Yquem may have stopped allowing the tastings in the 70's. From Michael Broadbent's "Vintage wine, Fifty years of tasting three centuries of wines" he states he tasted the 1970 Yquem from barrel in 1973. I can't tell if he tasted any other Yquem's from barrel after that (the 1972 and 1974 were not made). | | | |
| Norb
Grape Stomper
Posts:125
| | 07/15/2003 6:14 PM |
| Parker at least once pointed out a specific Burgundy producer that he thought was prepping his barrel
samples. Led to a rather notorious law suit but settled afterwards. | | | |
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