3 Easy Ways to Strengthen Your Heart and Add Years to Your Life

Let’s start with the first Good News: Alcohol is Good for the Heart

Dr Malcolm Kendrick is a Scottish physician who has written extensively about heart disease and its causes. In a recent post, he summed up the results of a recent British Medical Journal study this way:

Increased risk of fatal CVD vs. moderate drinking

• Non-drinker = 1.32 (32% increased risk)
• Former drinker = 1.44 (44% increased risk)

Increased risk of all-cause mortality vs. moderate drinking

• Non-drinker = 1.24 (24% increased risk)
• Former drinker = 1.38 (38% increased risk)

Kendrick’s conclusion? ‘I recommended that, from a cardiovascular health point of view, those who do not drink alcohol should start.’

More Good News: Walking Beats Drugs by a Mile

Just put this question into your browser: ‘regular exercise adds 3-5 years to your life’, and you’ll find lots of good news stories in the media. This one is from the National Cancer Institute in the USA: ‘NIH study finds leisure-time physical activity extends life expectancy as much as 4.5 years.’

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They’re Common in Fancy Restaurants, usually on special occasions

‘The canapé we are instructed to eat first is a transparent ball on a spoon,’ Jay Rayner writes in a Guardian restaurant review. ’It looks like a Barbie-sized silicone breast implant, and is a “spherification”, a gel globe using a technique perfected by Ferran Adriàat El Bulli about 20 years ago. This one pops in our mouth to release stale air with a tinge of ginger. My companion winces. “It’s like eating a condom that’s been left lying about in a dusty greengrocer’s,” she says.’

The restaurant? Le Cinq, Paris. The bill? About $1000 for two.

The scene of the crime: Le Cinq at George V Hotel. Photograph: Grégoire Gardette

You’ve done it: booked a big name restaurant for a special occasion, a wedding anniversary or a special birthday or a night out with old friends from overseas. Your expectations are high, you’re in great spirits, you want this to be special and you’re willing to pay for the privilege.

You get there and find that your table is near the front door and catches the cold autumn draft every time someone enters or leaves. Your waiter hands out menus the size of phone books, and you’ve never heard of a single wine on the long list the sommelier hands you. Your first choice of wine raises a resigned eyebrow. You’re the host, and the others expect you to navigate these dangerous waters with competence. You’re terrified.

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I’ve written about this subject before, several times

• Super-Premiums, Wine Wankers and the joy of $20 wines
• Wine Poetry, Aroma Wheels & Perfect Scores
• Aroma Wheels and Wine Poetry – Part 2

Today I received a mailer from a friend who is on the Burge Family mailing list, and it’s from Rick Burge, and it’s funny and sad, and really engaging, so I thought I’d share it with you. Btw, the wine in question is just $10 a bottle  . Here’s from Rick:

Dear Wine-lover,

Every so often a wine comes along that can be best described as a ‘conversation-stopper’ – a wine to stop even the most ardent wine-wanker in his/her tracks. We believe this to be one of those wines!

It all started late last century – 1998 to be precise – when we released the first of two wines labelled simply ‘A Nice Red.’

It was a quality red to take the mickey out of pretentious wine commentary of the period. We released another ‘Nice Red’ from the 2000 vintage, which even rated a favourable mention from James Halliday.

Fast forward to 2010, when we decided to reprise the label to counteract the increased wine-wankery that had become ubiquitous on wine labels and in media releases in those years. We decided to pull out all stops, on both front and back labels, to highlight the hyperbole and specious wine terminology that was creeping into everyday use. So we decided to create a super-ultra-mega-uber red vintaged from equal quantities of Shiraz, Syrah and Shyrazz (a Rutherglen synonym for this variety!)  I felt we had to make a statement on the front label initially so we used every cliched brand-name and coupled with them an imaginary sub-district – Mangalanga – from the West Warpoo region in the Southern Barossa. (Warpoo, by the way, is a legitimate site, albeit a railway siding about 3kms west of Lyndoch!) The wine itself was a 2010 Shiraz, bottled (after maturation in French oak barriques) and labelled in late 2012, and to be launched soon after. We were on a roll ….. what could go wrong?

Then, in mid 2013, I was diagnosed with cancer.

You don’t lose your sense of humour with a cancer diagnosis, however it does take a hammering and changes somewhat … tending towards dark, even black humour, but you need someone in the same boat to share it with!

Previously, this project seemed so funny, hilarious even. Now I had other things to focus on.

My main priority was to see the 2012 wines safely bottled. Very good wines from a fabulous year, right across the range. During this time surgery occurred, to be followed by 40 days straight of radiation therapy. Some were bottled before, some after, but I got them bottled;  all have received most favourable reviews.

Nearly four years on, I’m still here … and so is this wine!

I want to sell it, all of it, and I promise I won’t take the mickey out of wine-wankers ever again!

It’s now five years in bottle and shows complexity and varietal development, all three clones of it, and guaranteed to be a conversation stopper at any barbecue, dinner party or other vinous social functions where there’s a risk of gratuitous wine-wankery.

For a limited time we’re offering reduced freight rates (see order form attached) and as usual, reduced prices on multiple dozen purchases.

And whereas we donated $4000 to the Southern Barossa Men’s Shed, I’ve made a promise to myself to put aside some funds from this sale to take my special mate Bronnie (over 40 years of putting up with me), to her favourite seaside spot after vintage, because partners certainly put up with a lot with this insidious medical challenge.

I look forward to hearing back from you.

Cheers,
Rick B.

In response to last week’s mailer, I received an email from a subscriber that said

‘O Enlightened One,

We bow before your moral superiority. I was under the impression I subscribed to a wine newsletter.  Apparently now you feel the need to inflict us with your political viewpoint? I have to say that I am very offended though – the absence of any Aboriginal or Muslim winemakers in the list is reprehensible. Please have this brought to the attention of the important people and hopefully it can be addressed before next year’s list.

Yours Sincerely,

Your proud local Racist Islamophobe.

I thought it was a joke, and responded: I hadn’t thought of Aboriginal or Muslim winemakers … bugger!

🙂

My apologies

Have a good weekend

It wasn’t a joke, our Islamophobe subscriber emailed back, and added:, ‘Why not publish my response and have a vote as to whether your politics belongs in the newsletter?’

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Will the Barbarians stop at nothing?

March 2017 Update

I’m almost afraid to look these days, in case Max’s collection has grown more garish. Sadly, it has. The range has grown more numerous as well. The wines must be a hit with the punters, perhaps because they leap out from the shelves with their awful packaging. I can’t help wondering how Max Schubert would feel about having his name stuck on these ghastly bottles of ordinary reds. I reckon he’d turn over in his grave and avert his eyes. Peter Gago, hang your head in shame.

Yes, the reds are ordinary. I haven’t tasted them because I refuse to touch these offensive wares or pay money for them, but the guys at the Wine Front have reviewed a few of them. Their scores are in the high 80s, and this is for $35 reds from Penfolds. I can’t find any other reviews of these wines, which is curious for Penfolds wines with national distribution.

Only the lifestyle magazines write about these wines these days, Executive Style and heygents, magazines where advertorial is hard to tell from infomercial. I  suspect Penfolds stopped sending these wines out to serious reviewers because they’re too embarrassed.

The Chinese New Year Edition

Max’s range is not about wine after all, it’s about using a great man’s name to flog cheap grog in fancy clothing to the masses who think they’re getting something special. It’s a cynical exercise.  The exercise in bad taste is made more cynical by adding a Shiraz called The Promise to the range. Yes, it’s obvious isn’t it? Flog it to the Chinese: they think they’re getting something special, and they don’t mind the in-your-face package. Penfolds has even provided Chinese New Year Tasting Notes.

I can only repeat the question I asked last time: Why doesn’t Penfolds make a Promise to Max? To let him rest in Peace with Dignity.

Just when you think it couldn’t, the story gets worse

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What to look for: Meaning, Consistency and Value

POINTS SYSTEMS

The reviewers we respect the most down under are #RealReviews (Huon Hooke / Bob Campbell) and Messrs Mattinson, Walsh and Bennie at the Winefront. The diagram below is Huon Hooke’s, and it’s pretty much the same system we use at Best Wines Under $20.

The Winefront uses a similar system, but the stars are not aligned the same way

The American, English and European systems tend to go down to 80 points, as the Wine Spectator’s 100 point scale shows

• 95-100 Classic: a great wine
• 90-94 Outstanding: a wine of superior character and style
• 85-89 Very good: a wine with special qualities
• 80-84 Good: a solid, well-made wine

MEANING

That means that you have to recalibrate the point scores from overseas reviewers, since they’re generally lower than ours. However, at the top end you’ll rarely see a 100 point score from a reviewer down under, while Robert Parker has scored some 500 wines at 100 points in recent years. Parker even claims that not giving a 100 points to great wines is irresponsible.

Knowing a reviewers scoring system is one thing, knowing how it’s applied is another. Here it helps to know the preferences of the reviewers, and their likes and dislikes. Parker is a case in point: he loves rich, ripe, alcoholic reds regardless whether they come from McLaren Vale or the Medoc. Huon Hooke doesn’t mind some grapefruit in his Chardonnays, I do. I don’t like huge reds, and I’m not that fond of Shiraz. I try to compensate for this bias in my reviews, or remind readers of it,

CONSISTENCY

I find the RealReview and the Winefront are the most consistent. By that I mean that the reviewers know what they’re doing, that their assessments and point scores are accurate, and that they focus on the wine in front of them. Let me explain the last comment: big name reviewers like Parker and Halliday front large commercial operations that make a lot of money. The money comes from wine companies and retailers paying for the right to republish their reviews and their point scores.

That explains the inflated scores from those reviewers, whose real constituents are no longer wine drinkers but wine companies who like high scores because they help to shift their wines. Not sure about Parker, but Halliday’s scores are generally 3-5 points higher than the RealReview’s and the Winefront’s.

We have a similar phenomenon at the other end of the scale: The Key Report. The scores Tony gives to most of the ALDI wines are incomprehensible. I get the same samples from ALDI, and I scored several of these in the low nineties, but the vast majority are simply good value quaffers in the 85 to 89 point range. I have no idea how or why Tony comes up with his inflated scores.

VALUE

We’re the only review site with a sharp focus on the quality / price ratio of wines. So here’s our value scale at BWU$20:

The obvious bargains are: $10 wines that score 90 points, $15 wines that score 93, $20 wines that score 96 and so on. We could add $7 wines that score 88 points, $12 wines that score 91, $17 wines that score 94, and $22 wines that score 96.

Hope that helps

Kim

The trick is knowing them, and confronting them

When it comes to tasting and reviewing wine, we all have blind spots. So says Matt Kramer at the Wine Spectator, and adds: ‘I frequently see one such blind spot among fanciers of Cabernet Sauvignon who just can’t wrap their heads, and thus their palates, around the particular beauty of Pinot Noir. Devoted to Pinot Noir as I am, I can’t see how they could possibly miss it. But they do.’

Some of my wine friends have accused me of having a blind spot with Hunter Semillon, or with Shiraz. I’m not so sure they’re blind spots, which make you miss important things; I think it’s more about the likes and dislikes we all have, and the prejudices we have about wines or wine styles.

Right or wrong, we all have our Ideas

Most of us have collected a set of reference points about wine styles over the years. For example, I have a clear idea of what I look for in an Aussie Rieslings or in a Cabernet Merlot, but another reviewer will have a different idea, because we’ve all gone to different schools and travelled different roads to learn about wine.

‘I increasingly meet fanciers of California Pinot Noir,’ says Kramer, ‘especially those wines with lush, intense fruit, actively rejecting red Burgundies as being too thin, too light and too acidic. Talk about a blind spot.’ I’d say that we’re really talking about preferences here: many of us love the lush, ripe Pinots that are made in the new world, from Oregon to Otago, and have trouble with Burgundies that can come across as mean and anaemic by comparison.

Semillon and Shiraz, our workhorse grapes

Yes, almost all of our table wines were made from these two varieties until the 1970s, from the Hunter River to the Swan Valley. Then the ‘noble’ Cabernet Sauvignon pushed Shiraz off the stage for a while, and Chardonnay became the champion white.

My blind spot about Shiraz comes down to a dislike of the busty, alcoholic Barossa fruit bombs that are all the rage. I have a preference for the more elegant, peppery, spicy cool climate styles. My blind spot with Hunter Semillon has more angles to it, as I explained to a good friend just this week:

1. I haven’t tasted any Hunter Semillons in years that reached the sublime heights of the ones Karl Stockhausen’s made for Lindeman’s in the 60s
2. I’ve stopped buying good Hunter Semillons such as Tyrrells Vat 1 because they’re too expensive
3. I’ve stopped buying young Hunter Semillons because they take 20 years to mature, and I’m not sure I’ll be around when and if they do.

The Power of Education

I reckon the great Hunter Semillons are flukes that emerge with great irregularity from a wine region that has little going for it apart from its proximity to Sydney. Wine men like Len Evans have educated thousands of eager young wine lovers to the virtues of Hunter Semillon, to the extent that they’ve developed a blind spot that makes them think any unripe, green and ugly young Hunter Semillon duckling will turn into an elegant swan given enough time. Most of them don’t. Now I’m expressing and opinion, not a preference.

Kramer says, ‘I struggle with Sherry as I simply don’t care for oxidized wines. Yet obviously oxidation is part of the very particularity and beauty of Sherry. It’s one of my biggest blind spots, I know.’ I suspect Matt missed out on that particular lesson, but he knows that and has no illusions about it. That’s the key.

Into the Unknown

For most of us, it comes down to what we’ve learnt, what we know, what we’re familiar with. That’s why we have courses in wine appreciation. When we run into new grape varieties such as Fiano or Teroldego, we struggle to get our tasting gear tuned to the unknown aromas. With  unfamiliar wine styles such as the vins jaune du Jura or the Georgian wines made in giant clay pots, we’re driving without a map. We’ve lost our reference points, and we can’t appreciate these wines.

The most common reactions to unfamiliar things or people are dislike and ridicule.Wine reviewers are human, and none can claim to have perfect judgment. Knowing your likes and dislikes is key, and sharing them with your readers. I do that often, and I’m very generous when it comes to sharing my opinions I’m told.

Kim

It was a Great Riesling Vintage

The 2016 vintage was the best in a decade for Riesling in South Australia, with the Eden and Clare Valleys stealing the show so far. The other good news is that Riesling provides enormous value for money, since you can buy the best for less than $20, and even as little as $15. Riesling is the perfect crisp and refreshing summer wine, great with cold chicken and ham on picnics and at BBQs. More here: It’s official: 2016 is a Great Riesling Vintage.

Rosé came out of the cold

I’ll never know why it stayed there so long, like a prisoner condemned to spend the rest of his life on a remote island. Here’s another great wine style that suits our climate and way of life, another wine that matches cold cuts and salads, and another wine that is great value for money.

Just look at these stunning examples: Yalumba Y series Sangiovese Rosé 2016 – $9.50 at Dan M’s, Angove Nine Vines Grenache Shiraz Rosé 2016, $10 at 1^st Choice, and Deep Woods Margaret River Harmony Rosé 2016 $12 at Summer Hill Wine. When it comes to wine at least, we still live in the lucky country.

New varieties still unconvincing

I’ve seen a lot of samples of wines made from fancy new varieties, ranging from Vermentino and Nebbiolo to Negroamaro, but none has really grabbed me yet. I say yet because the wines come from young vines for obvious reasons, which may produce better fruit with greater maturity.

The other problem is the price if these ‘trial’ wines. That’s what they are, in effect, but I guess they’re a hit with the trendy bistro and wine bar set. Most are $20 or more, when you can buy better wines from Italy for $14 such as this Terre di Sava Luccarelli Negroamaro 2013 from Puglia.

Pinot Grigio has taken off, and may well give Sauvignon Blanc a run for its money since wineries have figured out that it walks out the door if you make it sweet and obvious enough. As an aside, Grenache is a variety we’ve grown forever, but the Spaniards make more consistent wines from this variety at much better prices.

Over-the-top Wine Ratings and Medals

This cynical side of the business has become big business, with Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) and the International Wine Competition (IWC) handing out close to 20,000 awards (trophies, medals and commendations) after judging 30,000 entries. The money they make comes from the stickers they sell to wine companies for adorning the prize winning bottles. This quote says it all: ‘If a wine didn’t make you retch, it got a Commended.’ More Here: How the Wine Trade is Taking Consumers for a Ride.

Down Under, Fran Kelly on ABC radio breakfast talked to several wine reviewers including yours truly under the heading Australian Wine Industry Questions Integrity of Wine Ratings.

This followed veteran reviewer and wine judge Huon Hooke’s move to rename his review site The Real Review. Huon has teamed up with Bob Campbell from across the Tasman, and has added more contributors. Good to see.

Good calls and bad calls, lessons learned and more

We get it right more often than not at Best Wines Under $20: the emails praising our recommendations outnumber those disagreeing by about 12 to 1. I’m pretty please with that ratio, and getting wrong from time to time is inevitable in this business.

Finding a wine like the Topers Chardonnay 2013, at such an attractive price, is a long shot. I thought we found it in the Mountadam Barossa Chardonnay 2014, which Winedirect sold for $129 a dozen. I’ve tried 3 bottles of it since recommending it, and it’s more restrained than I recall, and not that engaging right now. The structure is there, and the wine may just need another year or so to come out of its shell, so give it more time. That Halliday gave it 95 points doesn’t make me feel better.

I’m a huge fan of Rosily vineyard in Margaret River, and I’ve recommended their Cartographer Bordeaux blend more than once. I opened a 2011 over Christmas and didn’t enjoy it much: a bit thin, a touch green, lacking fruit and depth – did I keep it too long or is it just going through a stage?

I’ve also been a long term fan of Hoddles Creek in the Yarra Valley, especially their Estate Chardonnays, and bought quite a few of them going back to 2010. The rewards have been patchy: Some vintages even show a petrol character like that we find in old Rieslings, caused by a chemical compound called 1,1,6-trimethyl-1,2-dihydronaphthalene, known as TDN to its friends. More in Petrol Sniffing.

One reader took me to task for giving similar points to a couple of reds: a Devils Ridge Block 60A Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz 2014 – $10 at Kemenys (92 points), and a Devil’s Lair The Hidden Cave Cabernet Shiraz 2014 – $17 at Dan M’s (92+ points). He argued that the Devil’s Lair was at least a couple of points better than the Devil’s Ridge, and I have to agree with him.

On the positive side, we’ve found many great bargains close to the magic $10 line; I’ve listed the best of these in this week’s Best Buys Weekly. After all, that’s the tough terrain that we pride ourselves of knowing better than anyone.

Higher up the scale, we continue to find bargains like the Rosily Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 – $22 at Kemenys – which would give many more expensive Margaret River Cabernets a run for their money. Opened a bottle of this last week, and it was even better than I remembered. I think it’s a better wine than the Ringbolt 2013; both featured in Decanter’s top Margaret River Cabs and scored 93 and 94 respectively. I’d score the Ringbolt at 93 and the Rosily at 95/96, it’s that good.

Changes for 2017

It was a good year for great wines under $20, and we never had to scratch around for bargains. I’m thinking of cutting down the number of wines we recommend since subscribers keep asking me to, or rather pleading with me. I’ve even lost subscribers who said they simply bought too much wine. In my defence I can only protest that we find good wines at sharp prices, and rely on you to choose and buy according to your taste, need and capacity (financial or otherwise).

One thing I started late last year, and will continue this year, is to use more of the 100 point rating scale. We see that in America and Europe reviewers use the last 20 to 25 points of the scale (for recommended wines); here we use 12 – 15 points, don’t ask me why. I’ll publish a slightly expanded scoring scale for the way we judge in the near future.

I’d be happy to receive any suggestions you have for improving the newsletter and website. My thinking is to simplify the newsletter and have more time to update the website content such as Best Lists and short term specials. All ideas are welcome but can’t necessarily be implemented.

Kim

The best wines cost plenty, but there are plenty under twenty

I’m in America for family reasons, so this is not a wine education trip for me. How I’d love to visit the Finger Lakes, that exciting new American Viticultural Area (AVA)in New York State just south of Lake Ontario, or the Columbia Valley in Washington on the other side of the country.

Both areas are making exciting Rieslings, we’re told, but my exploration is confined to the bottle shops of Colorado Springs, the web and wine magazines. I first heard about the Finger Lakes when Sheldrake winery won the top trophy at the 2015 International Riesling Challenge 2015 with its wild ferment icewein. Read more about the Finger Lakes here, here and here.

Washington is an older AVA on the west coast, where Riesling has become a star performer. Read more here. The 5^th International Riesling Rendezvous was held here at the Ste Michelle Winery last July; it’s a cooperative venture between Ste Michelle and Dr Loosen Estate on the Mosel, and everybody who’s anybody in Riesling was there. Read more here.

Fancy Reds and High Prices

It doesn’t get much fancier than a third of the bottle covered with red wax, does it? And it’s only a $50 wine a friend had given to my brother. It so happens that the winemaker Joe Wagner was on the cover of the current Wine Spectator. The Belle Glos Clark and Telephone Pinot Noir 2014 is a well-made medium-bodied red from the Sonoma Coast that bears no resemblance to Pinot Noir in the accepted sense. By that I mean it lacks any hints of mushrooms, dank leaves, broken twigs and forest floor. Clean as a whistle, this could be a cool climate Shiraz.

Wine Spectator’s November 30 2016 issue is not about Riesling but about California Cabernet. The list of top wines struck me for two reasons: The outstanding wines scoring 97 to 95 points are expensive, ranging from $90 to $400. The average is around $200.

The second thing that struck me was the neat alignment of points and price points: as the point scores come down to 88, the prices come down to the twenties, and the list suggests an order in the wine universe that we’ve yet to find anywhere else. Maybe California Cabernet is unique in the wine world, or maybe the reviewers know these wines and their price levels too well.

High prices for top reds are becoming more common down under as well, as this list of 2 dozen wines with price tags over $400 shows. That’s not the world we live in, or drink in, and there are plenty of good wines made in the USA in the price range we explore for bargains. Chardonnay is still king among whites, occupying most of the shelf space in bottle shops, and cheap reds tend to be Cabernet blends.

Down to Earth

A perfect example is Francis Ford Coppola’s Diamond Collection Claret 2014, a Bordeaux blend of 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Petit Verdot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 1% Merlot. The grapes come from the Napa and surrounding areas. The wine is perfectly blended and well-judged, medium-bodied, smooth and satisfying, fruit and gentle oak in perfect balance. I scored it at 93 points, while local reviewers give it 90 points.

90 points from US reviewers is actually a pretty high score. Yes, it’s hard to believe that we have different scoring systems in the international world of wine, but the American system uses far more of the 100 point scale than we do – see below.

The Coppola red is about US$15, and the white Coppola Pavillion 2014 is about US$13. Both are under AUD$20, in other words. The Chardonnay reminded me of the crowd-pleasing Toper’s 2013, with its opulent fruit and creamy oak. Very polished. 92 points.

La Crema Chardonnay2014 from Sonoma is another $15 wine, and a pretty classic Chardonnay with subdued white peaches and cashews woven into a pretty fine cloth.  It’s a little less obvious than the Coppola, a bit more focused, more elegant and a touch more complex. 93 points. So much for the notion that California wines are too expensive.

Sonoma Cutrer Chardonnay 2014 – Just over $20, from Russian River serves up more pineapple than stonefruit, and it’s too sweet for my liking, pretty disappointing since I expected more from Russian River.

Mer Soleil Reserve Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay 2014 is a US$25 wine at Costco and $30 at other places, which makes it a $40 wine in our money. It didn’t impress me though, even if it clearly had the kitchen sink of winemaking thrown at it. This wine was also made by Joe Wagner, it turns out, in the same Santa Lucia Highlands as the Belle Glos Pinot Noir, and once again you’d be hard-pushed to pick this as a Chardonnay since the fruit is in the pineapple and mango spectrum. There’s nice oak here, well integrated but not enough to save the wine. 90 points.

Rieslings are even better value: You can buy the basic Ste Michelle Riesling for $7.20 in a dozen from the vineyard (if you join the club). This is an off-dry wine, not too off mind you, with a hint of Germanic softness, quite full-flavoured (12%) and good drinking on its own or with Asian foods. I’d give it 90 points. Serious value here.

The Forge Cellars Riesling 2013 is a dry Riesling from the Finger Lakes, more serious and more expensive at $20. It’s different from Aussie Rieslings, round and rich on the nose, more ripe apples than limes on the palate, not much talc but some minerals and a dry finish. Not a Riesling to worry the makers of our better types. 91 points.

 Two American Rieslings aren’t enough to draw conclusions from, but that was all I could find in Colorado Springs. The Chardonnays show the experience Americans have making this style, and the commercial wines we tried were pretty slick and convincing while the fancier wines were not. Strange that.

The reds were a mixed bag as well. The Apothic Red 2014 (no image) is an easy-going, smooth and round blend of Zinfandel, Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s fruit-driven and easy on the gum and $10s. 88 points.

The Cloudveil Pinot Noir 2014 from Oregon (US$25) showed some of those Burgundian characters that were missing in the Belle Glos Pinot Noir, but it lacked focus, depth  and conviction. 89 points.

The Rutherford Hill Merlot 2013 showed that this vintage was good for Merlot, with subdued fruit balanced by a strong backbone of fine acid and tannin. This $20 wine got better and better over 3 days, always showing distinct touches of class. 92 points

Point Scoring

This is the scoring system used by Wine Spectator, which is similar to that used by the Wine Advocate.

• 95-100 Classic: a great wine
• 90-94 Outstanding: a wine of superior character and style
• 85-89 Very good: a wine with special qualities
• 80-84 Good: a solid, well-made wine
• 75-79 Mediocre: a drinkable wine that may have minor flaws

The story is similar to ours from 90 points upwards, then it diverts. Wines that score less than 90 down under are hard to sell, and I can’t recall the last time I saw a score of 85 points or less from our reviewers. In the USA, these are solid, well-made wines.

Kim

Basic Buying

I had a chance to check out the Costco in Colorado Springs today, and it was a bit of a letdown: smaller than I’d expected, and with a pretty poor selection: a few bottles of decent US wines in the middle of the shop, and cheaper wines along the walls including litre bottles. There were loads of spirits and other drinks.

The number of staff (4) was surprising for this little shop which sat separate from the main Costco hangar. They claim to have the best prices for wine but my brother said that wasn’t so in many cases. I checked online but Costco’s website didn’t even mention wine.

ALDI opts for off-line

Earlier this year, ALDI in Australia announced that it was closing its online liquor business. I knew from Jason Bowyer who set the project up, that this was a first for ALDI in the world. It looks like these old grocers aren’t really comfortable outside their bricks-and-mortar supermarkets.

The first problem with that idea is that goes against the trend of increasing online shopping. The second problem is that ALDI’s range of wines differs from store to store, in line with its floor space. The third problem is that some ALDI stores don’t sell wine at all. All of this makes it hard to know in which ALDI shop you can find the wines I recommend from time to time.

The Bottom Line

I have long voiced serious reservations about guys like these guys selling fine wine, which is not a commodity that suits their discount barns. Happily, these grocers seem to be creating their own obstacles: ALDI going backwards, and Costco has not found the degree of popularity it expected down under. I’m not shedding any tears for either of them.