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- Auburnwine - 12-05-2002

So, what value do you ladies and gents give to the WS Top 100?

Historically, I have found some selections spot on. Others (like the 1994 Marques de Caceres Rioja Reserva) were high on the WS list, but far lower on my personal list.


- hotwine - 12-05-2002

I regard the list as something of a curiosity, with little practical value - other than as advance warning to expect price hikes in the wines listed. The consensus of the board members here has more credibility with me than does WS, so I'm more likely to buy a case of a consensus board favorite than a single bottle from the WS list. We all learn from experience how to judge the credibility of information sources, and WS commercial interests sometimes seem to cloud their published judgements - IMHO.


- Botafogo - 12-05-2002

From this week's WINE EXPO Hot List:

We would like to start with our heartfelt condolences to all of you assistants, secretaries and go-fers out there whose boss is about to plop down the year end issue of an (overly!) influential wine rag with their Top 100 Wines of the Year and tell you that your continued employment depends on finding him a case each of the top five or ten listed. Don't bother trying to tell him that the list is a compendium of wines highly reviewed throughout the year and nearly all are now either sold out or being flipped at 3 times the release price. He will just do his best rendition of Kevin Spacey as the evil studio exec in Swimming with Sharks and tell you "You are nothing, you do not think, you exist to make my thoughts into actions, find it or you are fired!". We've been touting lawyer customers for years on this being a rich vein for a class action suit for harrassment....and, no, we don't have any of the wines either. But we DO have new, great stuff arriving daily (hourly?).

We get phonecalls from people literally in tears and in fear of their livelyhoods on a daily basis from this thing. Last year there were three wines on the list that we HAD carried but sold out of, this year we ducked the bullet entirely, not one of them made our selection....

Roberto


- ShortWiner - 12-05-2002

Ha! That's good stuff there, Roberto. How do I get on your mailing list?


- Botafogo - 12-05-2002

e-mail me your hard copy address to

WineExpo@earthlink.net

or call us at 1-800-WINE EXPO

Cheers!

[This message has been edited by Botafogo (edited 12-05-2002).]


- Thomas - 12-05-2002

Well, at is-wine we neither carry what WS touts nor do we carry what everyone is told to ask for.

I even had a wine in here that got a 90 something from the Wine Expectorant and so I stopped offering it.

Our aim is to talk to people and to sell what will really make them like wine, and like the price of wine. Hype has no place here--only solid wine in a good price range, preferably from producers with little promotion budget.


- Thomas - 12-05-2002

Well, at is-wine we neither carry what WS touts nor do we carry what everyone is told to ask for.

I even had a wine in here that got a 90 something from the Wine Expectorant and so I stopped offering it.

Our aim is to talk to people and to sell what will really make them like wine, and like the price of wine. Hype has no place here--only solid wine in a good price range, preferably from producers with little promotion budget.

Roberto and Winexpo on the West Coast, us on the East Coast. It's a danged conspiracy!


[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 12-05-2002).]


- winoweenie - 12-05-2002

Giving credence to Robertos' post....I was in my favorite jernt yesserday picking up some of the 99's I'd ordered 2 to 4 months ago and that have just entered our market because of extremely slow 98 sales and there were 4 customers standing around clutching their lists. As they asked about almost in order, Cinq (not released here), Pine Ridge SLD, Shafer Napa, Duckhorn Napa, Whitehall Lane Napa, and Silverado Napa each were told politely that the wines had been sold out for weeks and some for months. I had picked up the Duck 2 months ago along with the Shafer and as they wheeled the Whitehall, Pine SLD, Silverado and 2 cases of the Simi Al;ex out it was as if I was committing the "Great Train Robbery" . Noone wanted to listen to any explanation that I'd had them on order and lambasted the owner. To his credit, he looked at all of them and asked how many times they'd patronized his store in the previous 12 months. As he knows his regulars by name and CC#, he knew the answer. All left and I guess proceeded to the next shop on their list. SHEEEEEESSSSSHHHH!!!!!! WW [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/frown.gif[/img]


- Bucko - 12-05-2002

The sad part is that the customers do not want to hear from shop owners such as Foodie or Roberto, who can offer much better QPR wines. They have that !@#$%^&* list, and it is the friggin' gospel........ Truly sad. I have not seen the Top 100 list yet, so I reserve judgement on the wines there.


- ShortWiner - 12-06-2002

We don't grow up in this country drinking wine every day and knowing it like we know other foods. It seems like a big, scary world out there, full of different wines with funny names and the possibility that you'll be looked down on by European people or wealthy people if you're caught drinking the wrong one. We don't trust our sense of taste, so we go to the "experts" and drink from a list. Also I think Americans are particularly susceptible to an addiction to consistency--witness everything from McDonalds to the McMansions that sprout up everywhere.


- wondersofwine - 12-06-2002

My usual wine merchant offers many expensive, quality wines with more of an emphasis on European wines (and Australian) than American. He is partial to burgundy which fits my fondness for red and white burgundies. But, he also provides plenty of tasting opportunities (wines open in the shop on Saturdays), special paid wine tasting evenings, wine dinners at the affiliated restaurant which also offers 1.5 oz., 3 oz., etc. pours. So usually, when I buy a bottle or more of a wine, I have already tasted it and liked it. Recently at a tasting I was disappointed in the 2000 vintage of an expensive wine that I had pre-ordered after tasting the 1999 vintage. The store has agreed to let me exchange the unopened bottle for other wines I would like to purchase. And the store does carry many inexpensive wines as well--bargains in German rieslings, the Marquis-Phillips line from Australia, Bourgogne Blanc or Rouge from dependable producers, some South American wines, etc.
I would balk at buying something like a barolo or brunello without having an opportunity to taste it and see if I like it enough to pay the price and to store it until it matures.


- winoweenie - 12-06-2002

An extremely wise path to jog. I NEVER buy a bottle of anything I don't taste first. My freindly wine merchant knows my preferences and will hold a box of my favorites till I taste and pay fer them suckers. Left a lot of boxes of 98s' on his warehouse floor. Conversely, I've bought a whale of a lot more 99s' than I left 98s' and wasn't intending to buy none of them dudes. WW


- hotwine - 12-06-2002

Only one of our local wine shops offers weekly tastings, and those frequently feature wines that I'm unlikely to buy. Tomorrow's for example, according to the fax just in, will feature first growth Bordeaux - Lafite '90, Margaux '94, Mouton '94, Haut Brion '94, and Dom. Peri. Thanks anyway. So my method of "tasting" is to buy a couple of bottles each week of potential candidates, then grab a case (or more) if they pan out.


- Thomas - 12-06-2002

Tasting every Saturday at is-wine--it's the only way.


- Drew - 12-07-2002

I haven't looked at the list yet either. I buy what tastes good to me and rely on recs from board members, friends and the several wine merchants that I have relationships with. Walked in on of my fav wine stores yesterday and was offered the other Marquis-Phillips line (Cabernet#9, Cabernet, and Shiraz). There's something to be said for patronization.

Drew