Haven't even looked at it yet, but 78MB for a catalogue? Where the heck did the LCBO learn to make PDFs? Ridiculous.

An excellent selection of top tier Burgundy that is well out of my price range! Good luck in the lottery, folks.

quote:

Originally posted by futronic:
Haven't even looked at it yet, but 78MB for a catalogue? Where the heck did the LCBO learn to make PDFs? Ridiculous.

Same placed it learned to make an online shopping site and inventory management system.

As for the offering, not a bad one at all. Can't believe they have Screaming Eagle available.

I'm not that excited about this catalogue.

Some decent Alsatian and Californian options, but the Burgundy selections are way too expensive for me and the Brunello, Australian and Spanish selections are mediocre at best.

The SAQ seems to be capable of offering much more interesting wines...I wish the LCBO would learn from them.

quote:

Originally posted by CSM:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by futronic:
Haven't even looked at it yet, but 78MB for a catalogue? Where the heck did the LCBO learn to make PDFs? Ridiculous.

Same placed it learned to make an online shopping sit:

Click 'Here' if you want to Shop Online.

Click Here if you Really want to shop on Online.

Click 'Here' to see Bin Ends

Click 'Here' if you really want to see Bin Ends... and so it goes....

oh, yes... +1 Lots o nice but too expensive Burgs and the Alsations do look good.

quote:

Originally posted by AML:
An excellent selection of top tier Burgundy that is well out of my price range! Good luck in the lottery, folks.

The DRC's are good prices but does it really matter? At 30 bottles or less each for all of Ontario (and Quebec too). You'll need more than luck, You'll need a miracle, unless you're one of those whom it's alleged that LCBO favours. Most of the others I'm interested in like the Ex Machina and LMHB are, for all intents and purposes, impossible to get. Forgetaboutit.

I'm not sure what you expect with some of the most sought after wines in the world that are subject to limited production. There is no way that they can satisfy everyone. At least they aren't taking a 600% markup to bring them up to market price.

I wish you all many miracles.

I think this is a great offering. I don't really give a flying frack about overpriced Burgundy so it's easy to avoid and find some other things to order.

Those Zind-Humbrecht wines make my mouth water!

quote:

Originally posted by on the wine:
Those Zind-Humbrecht wines make my mouth water!

I thought they might OTW!

If Suckling gives a wine a score of 98 and Dr Jay gives it a 95, does that it make it a 92 or a 90 pointer? Just asking...

I can't believe the LCBO keeps quoting these guys long after their credibility went down the outhouse shitter. Many of the published reviews in this catalogue are worse that useless. Just a senseless waste of good trees that should have gone to Charmin.

quote:

Originally posted by on the wine:
If Suckling gives a wine a score of 98 and Dr Jay gives it a 95, does that it make it a 92 or a 90 pointer? Just asking...

I can't believe the LCBO keeps quoting these guys long after their credibility went down the outhouse shitter. Many of the published reviews in this catalogue are worse that useless. Just a senseless waste of good trees that should have gone to Charmin.

It could be a 90 or 92 pointer OTW. I once applied similar logic to an Aussie given a low score (88 or 89) by Halliday, whose scale usually starts in the low 90s. The tasting note did refer to a 'European style' (probably the reason for the low score - it didn't fit a stereotypical Aussie profile). The wine was quite good.

If 'Joe's Garage' gave Yellow Tail a 98, I wouldn't be surprised to see it published in an LCBO release. Clearly they publish whatever review gives the highest number, regardless of the credibility of the reviewer. In some instances I've seen them publish earlier reviews when a subsequent scoring by the same reviewer dropped. It's more about hype than information, sadly.

Increasingly, this is why I appreciate the insights and experiences of forumites (well, at least those without axes to grind).

I'm not sure that the credibility of Suckling is gone for those that sell the wine. What advantage do they have to stop using him? Sure we poke fun of him here for having jumped the shark, but when SAQ HIRES him to review a pile of wines they are releasing, you know that view is not shared as he is still a valuable tool for marketing wine. Maybe that's it - can we all agree that he's still a tool?

On the weekend, I drank a wine that Suckling rated 94 while he was still employed by WS (i.e. before he started the latest round of score inflation). I would have been hard pressed to give it more than 86 or 87 points.

And speaking of being a tool, I heard that the LCBO was discussing having him come to Toronto to review a bunch of their wine releases. Talk about having a case of SAQ-envy!!!!!

I'd sooner accept the opinion of the guy at Joe's Garage.

I mentioned in another thread about publishing a tasting note from WE that says great price even though it was the US market price, not LCBO grossly inflated price. That's deception.

In this case, however, LCBO has been publishing Suckling's note for years if not decades. Most US retailers do the same and continue to do so. There's no deception here. If you don't trust his palate, then adjust accordingly.

Will do, Stevey! Thanks for setting us straight!

quote:

Originally posted by vijay:
Will do, Stevey! Thanks for setting us straight!

quote:

Originally posted by vijay:
Will do, Stevey! Thanks for setting us straight!

Not sure what your point is but my point is JS is used by many retailers, so why single out LCBO? But at least you made 12-year olds laugh.

quote:

Originally posted by AML:

quote:

Originally posted by vijay:
Will do, Stevey! Thanks for setting us straight!

+2

quote:

Originally posted by Stevey:
I mentioned in another thread about publishing a tasting note from WE that says great price even though it was the US market price, not LCBO grossly inflated price. That's deception.

In this case, however, LCBO has been publishing Suckling's note for years if not decades. Most US retailers do the same and continue to do so. There's no deception here. If you don't trust his palate, then adjust accordingly.

I never said anything about deception.

I was talking about gross point exaggeration!

IMO the best wine in the Tuscany section is Castello dei Rampolla d'Alceo 2006. The catalogue shows James Suckling's tasting note with a score of 98, and I have already expressed my frustration with his exaggerated scoring. But Galloni gave it a rating of 96 which may be more realistic (Galloni gave the 07 vintage a score of 98).

d'Alceo is produced from a relatively small 3-tiered vineyard in the 'Conca d’Oro' at Panzano right across from where Fontodi grows the grapes for Flaccianello. The blend is 85% cabernet sauvignon and 15% petit verdot. I consider it one of the best Super Tuscans that I have tasted. The $180 price tag is up there, but it's very good value for wine of this caliber.

quote:

Originally posted by on the wine:

quote:

Originally posted by Stevey:
I mentioned in another thread about publishing a tasting note from WE that says great price even though it was the US market price, not LCBO grossly inflated price. That's deception.

In this case, however, LCBO has been publishing Suckling's note for years if not decades. Most US retailers do the same and continue to do so. There's no deception here. If you don't trust his palate, then adjust accordingly.

I never said anything about deception.

I was talking about gross point exaggeration!

This is my last point on this subject... but I never said anything about you saying anything about deception. My response was to the statement: "I can't believe the LCBO keeps quoting these guys long after their credibility went down the outhouse shitter." that they've done worse, and quoting JS is standard practice for a lot of wine retailers.

quote:

Originally posted by AML:

OK, this is really my last point.