Cellertracker - do you or don't you?

For me, Michael Broadbent at Decanter has alway been one of my favourite commentators because he can capture the essence of a wine in a few words nothwithstanding that age has made him just a little pompous in the last few years towards New World wine.

Mark
I think you mean 'the last few decades' I think he's always garnered such criticism and FWIW I agree with it (and indeed I believe he himself acknowledges he holds a certain bigotry in this matter). I wouldn't take note of Broadbent for Australian wines as I don't consider he has meaningful expertise there (beyond Grange perhaps). In other areas though, he's a very uniquely qualified commentator and one whose notes I also enjoy reading.

I do like his manner in his writing, sometimes very modest, sometimes showing childish enthusiasm, whilst on other occasions there is a rapier like cut to his words, that others would use a battle-axe to deliver the equivalent blow. I have Vintage wine books I and III, plus the small-format and edited down softback update to III. Copies of the 2nd book are very cheap on the 2nd hand book market and I keep toying with the idea of getting a copy. Useful? not especially I suppose, but his writing is engaging and I'm sure I'd read a good chunk of it.

As for personal notes, that thread IIRC illustrated the difference of opinions of what's good and what's not. I suspect most of us have suffered doubts or crises of confidence as to whether our notes are good enough, fearing them being dull, inaccurate or formulaic. Even folks like Otto have expressed such doubts before and yet he's very much a man of words, with plenty of skill in using them, an interesting (even challenging) palate and the confidence to express his opinions. If he worries about whether his notes are worthwhile, then what chance the rest of us!

In the end, I think the only way to do it, is to write the notes for yourself. Write what's useful to you, with the words that best allow you to remember and recall what you thought of the wine... and in doing so, the words reflect you as a person and your tastes... which is what's likely to make them interesting to others.

regards

Ian

I also made a conscious decision to not use any electronic devices or means to record my inventory.

I respect that approach (and the reasoning with it!). We'll keep quiet about you posting on an electronic wine forum though

regards

Ian

Busted!!

I use Cellartracker religiously. The bulk of my wine is offsite and I like to keep track of it.

I look at other user's notes a lot, always with a grain of salt. If I'm thinking about buying a bottle of wine I'll frequently look at CT's notes about it. I find them mostly pretty good. The only user I've actually tagged is Dale.

I use the drinking windows function. I enter my own windows, although frequently the user average windows aren't far off.

I actually think the percentage of idiots on CT is far lower than a lot of places, say eBob for example. So while skepticism is warranted and everyone's tastes vary, if you read 10 tasting notes and 8 of them are similar I think you get a pretty good picture of that wine. I find it very useful for wines that may be nearing maturity, to find out how they are doing.