Does anyone use Cellar Tracker to pick wines?

It's amazing how divergent ratings can be! "Green and harsh" in one comment "Plush and opulent" in the next. Wierd!

I often compare my reaction with those on Cellar Tracker, Brian. It's a great lesson in the diversity of people's tastes -- and perhaps a lesson on inconsistent winemaking, bottle to bottle.

Sometimes the reactions are so different that I have to believe folks have made mistakes in reading the labels.

But then I go back to notes by several people at an offline, and see great diversity there as well. Better written, on average, of course, but still great diversity. And there usually everyone is tasting from the same bottle.

That is pretty funny Brian, and it is a short course on how to pay little attention to any wine guru's pronouncement. I realize that the notes on WT are by just people, not wine writers, but the idea remains pretty much the same. If you can and do calibrate your palate to a particular writer then you can go by what he/she writes, but if not, it is still a crap shoot.

It's amazing how divergent ratings can be! "Green and harsh" in one comment "Plush and opulent" in the next. Wierd!

I write my notes up there. I have tasted with some people who thought that what to me was plush and opulent was green and harsh to them that I'm not surprised. Like with all other sources for notes, one just needs to read lots from the people who write there and take things with a grain of salt.

[David M. Bueker]

I was just looking up a note on a Turley Petite Sirah (springing it on my wine group tonight), and the same write in tastings two months apart pronounced the wine dead (the older note) and way too young (the newer note).

CellarTracker notes are almost invariably useless (except mine of course).

Cellar Tracker notes (and for that matter notes here) are not especially valuable, until one gets an idea re the taster. But certainly I find it valuable if considering a wine if I see a note from MRichman, Rieslingfan, or TRankin, as I have a good idea of their tastes.

I guess there is also some value to unknown posters if there seems to be a clear consensus, of course.