Life is too short to drink 89 point wine

Now this is not something I have made up; every time I think I have seen the ultimate stupidity surrounding the 100 point system someone does something to further astound me. Life is too short to drink 89 point wine is the title of a post on the Squires/Robert Parker wine forum. The posts author goes on to state “There is so much great stuff out there, from Languedoc to Australia, to The Rhone....even excellent Bordeaux below $25. With all this, is there ever a reason to buy a wine below 90 points?”

The thread that resulted from the original post provides some interesting reading, much of it bewildering to my way of thinking. At the time of writing this it had received 73 responses and more than a few in favour of the original premise. Sure life is too short to drink wine you don’t enjoy or bad wine but there are many nights when people come home from work and just want an enjoyable drop that they don’t want to think about, many of these wines would rate below 90 points (on the Parker scale.)

Once again this demonstrates the inherent dangers of the 100 point (and many other points based) systems; the total and utter reliance on the score rather than the tasting note. Whilst the rest of this article could be spent ranting about the 100 point system shortcoming, instead it will concentrate on the positives of tasting notes and what to look for to ensure you get the most from them.

There are many styles of tasting notes from the pros. Some are short, some are medium length and some are lengthly. The best writers have the unique ability to write a short tasting note and whilst they are being very economical with the words, the reader is able to gain a complete perspective and picture of the wine. These writers are very few and far between.

Others can write equally as brief tasting notes and at the end of it the reader may ask themselves “now what does this tell me besides the fact is well balanced and tastes of blackberry.”  Unfortunately some of the well known writers are now heading down this path, possibly because they taste so many wines they do not have the required time to do each wine and its subsequent review justice. Tasting notes that fall into this category are not all that useful.

Many people would only know him from his scores which can cause controversy but whether you agree with his opinions or not, Jeremy Oliver writes very good notes. Many of them are in the medium length category and provide all the details the readers require, however to see them you have to subscribe to his web site or his monthly magazine.

Very few of the professionals write long tasting notes for a number of reasons. They have the experience to say what needs to be said and they don’t have time to waste words; however amateurs like me don’t have the skill of economical tasting note words use.

 In terms of qualifications there are three main categories of wine writers. The first is the professional journalist who happens to have found themself writing about wine. There are some shocking articles and tasting notes written by these guys and in some cases their lack of wine knowledge is almost criminal. In this category there are also some good writers that have a passion about wine and have taken the time to learn and educate themselves. Campbell from Wine Front Monthly started out as a journo by trade and was bitten by the bug and has developed a palate and a lot of knowledge. 

The second category of writer is the wine professional who turns his/her spittoon towards the printed page. Although James Halliday was first a legal professional his initial involvement in wine was as a winemaker. It was as a winemaker he gained his knowledge and experience and then turned to wine writing.

The third category involves people like the Masters of Wine who become writers as an off shoot or as a result of their formal qualifications.

Almost all these writers have one thing in common. Virtually none of them have professional training in both wine and journalism, that’s not a criticism, just fact. There is nothing wrong with being self taught but as wine writers they have different strengths and weakness. Some are better writers than others and some are better tasters than others.

First important point; to make best use of tasting notes it’s important for the reader to understand where the writers’ strengths lie. Reading tasting note after tasting note can be about as exciting as reading the yellow pages (unless you are a completely hopeless wine nut). As a result some authors (especially the journalists by profession) have the ability to dress them up with catchy words and interesting phrases; however the reader needs to take the flowery words into account when assessing the value of the note.

By the same token some professional writers tasting notes are boring but that does not mean they are less valuable. In many cases they may be more valuable because they have been written but a wine professional rather than a wordsmith.

Another factor to take into account is the writer’s stylistic wine preferences and this is the second important point. For example Halliday hates Sparkling Shiraz but gives wine extra points for wine being clean. Parker loves rich gob fulls of fruit in his Oz Shiraz so the likes of more sedate Victorian wines won’t fare well with him.

There are also two types of tasting notes to consider. The first is the “impression” tasting note. These normally provide the reader with a picture of what the wine tastes like, possibly what it smells like and if it’s any good. Then there is the “technical” tasting note. As the name implies, these provide more details about the structure and balance of the wine but may not provide as pleasant a ‘pretty picture’ as the ”impression” tasting note. Some well written professional tasting notes provide both in complete detail but they are few and far between and generally reserved for the best wines.

From this information the tasting note reader should be able to see that to make best use of the tasting notes the reader needs to understand the authors experience, background, style and preferences.

Without doubt the best way to do this is to by a wine you have seen reviewed and put it away for a short while. Then try the wine and write down your own opinion prior to looking at the original review again.  Once you have formed your own impressions and opinions then look at the authors tasting note and see where you agree and differ. Do this consistently and it’s a sure way to work out who you agree with and who you disagree with and once you have that worked out there is no need to rely on scores, you will know by looking at the pros tasting note if you are likely enjoy the wine or not. Your opinion is the only one that counts. And points don’t mean squat!