Mountain Man,

I don't think you have to buy to stay active. I requested to be removed from their mailing list a while ago and I still received the latest one on Saturday.

While a heads-up on the '06s would help, his impressions of what B-C did with the '05 vintage is helpful so as to evaluate the overall trend and quality of the wines being produced.  It also helps to know if one particular bottling stands out from the rest to decide what to do with the $76 wine.  For example, knowing that the Rio Vista and Mt. Carmel Pinots have  trended as follows helps me decide where to put my money:

RV @ $48
'03=94
'04=92
'05=93

compared to MC @ $76
'04=95
'05=94


While it amounts to nothing more than an educated guess, this information leads me to conclude that the Mt. Carmel is not worth $30 more per bottle.

I was in Bend, OR, this summer and was surprised to see the BC on the shelf at a supermarket, albeit, an upscale supermarket. I have to admit, it cooled my passion for ordering, knowing that it was not that hard to source.

Trying to determine value or quality from trends in Parker points is a silly exercise in my humble opinion.  Passing on this one.  I think that B-C makes interesting Chardonnays.  It will be fun to see what they are like at year 7-10.

Value is a personal matter, so I tend to agree. As for quality, based on the track record of these wines, would you think it is more probable than not that the '06 Pinots will score above 90 pts?  I don't think making that estimatation is silly in the least.  As long as your research tells you that the vintage isn't a total bust in the SRH Appellation, there is a strong liklihood that this producer will perform well. Since I don't have stores anywhere near me that sell these wines, the mailing list is the only place to get them. So I am buying a few.