quote:

Originally posted by dr.darkrichandbold:

quote:

A few of those up wines I mentioned got 95 points. Charvin got 94, Vieux Donjon was 93. Clearly swill.

The '06 Charvin is very nice...had it a couple months ago...

http://forums.winespectator.co...=937105746#937105746

Thanks for the link. Somehow I missed this. Does this wine see new oak?

It is a happy days reference. Fonzi was waterskiing and there was a shark in the water. He jumped it. Completely incredible. It has become a euphemism for when something becomes so outlandish it defies credibility.

Interestingly, when Indiana Jones survives a nuclear explosion in the last movie by seeking cover in a refridgerator, he started a short-lived evolution of the cliche, as some folks began to use "nuked the fridge" in place of jumped the shark.

quote:

Originally posted by Keeno:

quote:

Originally posted by dr.darkrichandbold:

quote:

A few of those up wines I mentioned got 95 points. Charvin got 94, Vieux Donjon was 93. Clearly swill.

The '06 Charvin is very nice...had it a couple months ago...

http://forums.winespectator.co...=937105746#937105746

Thanks for the link. Somehow I missed this. Does this wine see new oak?

Keeno,

No new oak for Charvin. Also, 100% of the stems are kept.

Thanks to french16 and winemuser.
Mareff: Seriously. I have never heard it before, but I am glad my ignorance brings you such amusement. .

quote:

Originally posted by winemuser:
It is a happy days reference. Fonzi was waterskiing and there was a shark in the water. He jumped it. Completely incredible. It has become a euphemism for when something becomes so outlandish it defies credibility.

There is a little more to it than that. Happy Days fan identify that episode as the beginning of a downhill slide in the series that could not be reversed. "Jumping the Shark" has come to mean passing the point of no return in credibility, popularity, or importance.

When Jay Miller started giving outlandish scores, Parker had these choices.

1. Replace him with a competent reviewer.
(Friendship trumped professionalism)

2. Monitor the scores and reign him in.
(Way too much time and energy required)

3. Have two 100 point scales, His scale and my scale.
(Had to maintain the fiction that there can be a single objective scale)

4. Bring up his own scores to be consistent.

Making that choice #4 can be considered "Jumping the Shark."

Parker is a tool.

Sad, he used to have a good palate for the Rhones. From what I have tasted they are good, but lack some of the funk that I really enjoy. (I've only tasted Southern.)

But it is declarations like this that brought Marcoux from a very good qpr $40 in '01/'03 to $45 in '05 not to $60 in '07. And that is just one example, Donjon was a $35 wine inthe '00 vintage, and that is after all the press on '98.

Still, this isn't Bordeaux pricing, but I'm not happy about this.

Much better stated. Thank you!

The St. Cosme wines are terriffic. Had them in CdP this summer. The Janasse VV is also very nice,though no 100 pointer. Maybe the Usseglio wines tickled that level, though not quite. The St. Jean wines are indeed very good. In my opinion the best of the bunch. I think the Pegau and Bois de Boursin wines were better than anything on this list besides the St Jean offerings.

Just read through RP’s write up. Some high scores indeed. Very happy to see 07 La Barroche Pure get 99+. We visited this estate in CDP and the winemaker/owner Julian Barrot could not be a nicer guy. He mentioned that a lot of people thought he was crazy for making a 100% Grenache wine, but it looks like it has paid off for him. We tasted this wine and while it wasn’t anywhere near 99 points for me, it is a real nice wine as are all his wines from 07. Congrats to Julian.

It appears that every month WA comes out with a wine of the century.

Think the initial offering of Rhone may have been a bit less costly before this review.

As for the 100 point scale. Maybe go for 150 range and give RMP and Miller some more room at the top for their 'inane' point spread.

As for me, I'll stick with WS and a few of the fellow forumites whom I trust.

Jfont What was the price range of these Rhones?

Colombier's winemaker is pouring his wines at a store in the retail setion in front of my office. I was talking to him earlier today about Parker's comments on the 07 vintage and he was very interested to know what his wines scored. My eRP subscription lasped earlier this year, so I can't check. If anyone would be so kind to post a few of them, I'm sure he would appreciate it as I am stopping by on the way home to taste the wines. TIA.

The first score is '07, the second is '06:

Domaine du Colombier Fronton Vinum 87 / na
Domaine du Colombier Vacqueyras Cuvee G 90 / 90
Domaine du Colombier Vacqueyras Vieilles Vignes 91+ / 91
Domaine du Colombier Fronton Cuvee Coste Rouge 90 / 89

Vintage of the century, and they're essentially scored the same as their '06 equivalents. A bit of a bummer for him I guess.

I suspect the increase would be bigger if the name of the domain was clos st-jean... maybe something to do with Parker not tasting blind.

Thanks, Jim. Headed over to try them now.

I am feeling "vintage of the century fatigue." Its now a recognized disorder brought on by too much industry and critic hype. I have decided not to chase any 07 CDPs.

There are just so many great unsold Rhones coming to market that just won't sell absent discounting...think of all the backlog of 04-06s, that I will wait and pick up those that are dumped next year.

I am sure 07 produced some great S. Rhones, but who really cares anymore when Parker or whoever declares the next vintage of the century? If you miss this one, there will be another in a year or two.

You know a good pool would be who declares what as vintage of the century next.

I've probably tried 20-25 Southern Rhones from 07, most of which are CdRs, vacqueyras, lirac, etc..., but a few of which are CdPs (I was there this summer). I must say that the 07s do have a certain slutty concentration that hasn't been around for a while in CdP. They also seem to have a lot of structure. I've drunk wines from pretty much every vintage since 1998. Has CdP & the Southern Rhone in general been "Parkerized", or is that the vintage character? Hard to tell right now.

Not to defend RMP's use of 3 digits, but you must admit that a few of those wines on the list are heavy hitters. Are they 100 points worth? I wouldn't know, never having had a perfect wine.

Sadly, the pricing on these has already climbed in the last 24 hours. I got an offer today for the Janasse Chaupin at $85. I bought mine for $65 about 3 weeks ago, about $60 at the Chateau in August. However, we should keep in mind that the Euro is worth $1.47 today. It was worth about $0.98 on New Years 2000. That means that a 50% price increase in European wine since 2000 can be accounted for by currency fluctuations. Using the Chaupin in that argument I would have expected the 98 to be about $40-$45. That's probably not too far off from where it was then (maybe it was $35).

One more thing- 2008 is reputed to be a sub-par year in the Southern Rhone, there won't be another "vintage of the century" yet.

Obviously no vintage is perfection. I bought all my 05's and 07's on futures from premier cru and while I got a good price on them I still picked up some 04 and 06 at really good prices from premier cru as well.

quote:

Originally posted by grossie:
Sadly, the pricing on these has already climbed in the last 24 hours. I got an offer today for the Janasse Chaupin at $85. I bought mine for $65 about 3 weeks ago, about $60 at the Chateau in August. However, we should keep in mind that the Euro is worth $1.47 today. It was worth about $0.98 on New Years 2000. That means that a 50% price increase in European wine since 2000 can be accounted for by currency fluctuations. Using the Chaupin in that argument I would have expected the 98 to be about $40-$45. That's probably not too far off from where it was then (maybe it was $35).

Right - now is the WORST time to buy anything but the lower level $20-30 basic cuvees. Let it ride. They make more wine in Chateauneuf than in all of the Northern Rhone. They arn't going to run out. The saying goes, "sell on the news", not the opposite!

quote:

Originally posted by mpls wine guy:
Obviously no vintage is perfection. I bought all my 05's and 07's on futures from premier cru and while I got a good price on them I still picked up some 04 and 06 at really good prices from premier cru as well.

Agree. Tons of great bargains in 04-06 are coming in the wake of the Parkerization of the 07 vintage. I'm keeping my powder dry because I don't care about the hype anymore.

Eyeballing a lot of unsold 05 CdPs at one of my LWSs. I wonder if they are going to blow some of these out at bargain basement prices. Hardly any movement on any of these wines for quite a while. I am sure they want to make room for wines from the vintage of a lifetime.

quote:

Originally posted by Keeno:
I don' know what to make of it. There are so many superlatives in his report/scores. I feel like I need to balance that with Molesworth (whom I trust a lot) and Raynolds. I bought a lot of '07s. I am sure that I will like the wines, but not to the level of Parker. It will be interesting to see what happens.
A part of me can't help but feel that a lot of my favorite producers just won WOTY and that the price increases are coming. Sort of sucks, but what are you going to do?

Alas, the producers will not see any part of the price increases that come after the wines leave their domaines (most '07s now well into the pipeline here). The speculation now all goes to benefit the distributors, importers and retailers.

The producers will also have a hard time trading in on the success of '07 with the '08s, as it is a difficult vintage...

quote:

Originally posted by Keeno
There are some amazing deals on the '06s right now and these scores will drive down prices further. I have gone back and loaded up. I have seen Vieux Donjon and Domaine Charvin as low as $29.99, Beaucastel and Pegau at $49.99, Saint Prefert Favier at $39.99, and the list goes on.

That's where smart money would go, IMO. No, '06 is not as great as '07 (though it is excellent), but sometimes you have to take 2 btl at $30 each instead of 1 at $60 or more...


Red Guy: I would certainly take a chance that '05s are going to get blown out before too long. Retailers are still skittish about sitting on inventory these days. The deals on '06s keep coming so there can't be much left of that vintage around - making '05 next to get the nice price cuts...

quote:

Originally posted by grossie:
One more thing- 2008 is reputed to be a sub-par year in the Southern Rhone, there won't be another "vintage of the century" yet.

'08 will be quickly forgotten by most folks as they rush for '09s, which by all accounts, looks like a remake of '05 - concentrated, grippy, dense...('08 is not a disaster by any stretch, but there was some rot so selection critical. Good growers saw yields down in the 20 hl/ha range...)

quote:

Originally posted by Red guy in a blue state:
Eyeballing a lot of unsold 05 CdPs at one of my LWSs. I wonder if they are going to blow some of these out at bargain basement prices. Hardly any movement on any of these wines for quite a while. I am sure they want to make room for wines from the vintage of a lifetime.

make the owner an offer. in early jan. of this year, I noticed one of my lws still had 8 bottles of the '05 Boislauzon 'quet' sitting in his store ... i knew they'd been there awhile ... he was (not) moving 'em at $60 or $65 ... I told him i'd take 'em all if he gave 'em to me for $50. Sold. I walked out with a huuuge smile on my face. The worst that could've happened is being told "no." Even if you get a "no," you've planted the seed in the owner's head that those wines will move at lower prices. go make an offer.