Wine Spectator's Top 100 hits the street

[Robin Garr]

I glance over the first handful and realize my taste buds are simply not aligned to the Speck's. What about you folks?

http://assets.winespectator.com/wso/pdf ... Glance.pdf

(Link corrected, thanks to Salil.)

Robin, that PDF looks to be from 2010.

http://assets.winespectator.com/wso/pdf ... Glance.pdf - this is the 2011 version.

Unfortunately, the 2011 version seems a bit closer to my tastes in some areas. I am not thrilled by Huet Moelleux and Graillot Crozes-Hermitage poking into the top 10, but it is nice to see some more love for those sorts of wines, as well as the likes of Dehlinger.

At the same time I notice the 2009 Bernard Baudry Franc de Pied Chinon (which is produced in ridiculously tiny quantities and pretty much impossible to find) is listed #92 there. WTF??

[Robin Garr]

Robin, that PDF looks to be from 2010.

Oops, you are right! I got the Email, then followed the wrong link. Thanks, Salil. I will edit my initial post to make things less confusing.

[David M. Bueker]

Just taking a quick glance, there are a large number of wines on that list that I would be happy to drink. Sure there are plenty of riper styled wines, but lots of people (e.g. my Dad) like to drink them.

Did I only count only two Rieslings on the list?

Yes, but it's really not as if some of us are clamouring to see Donnhoff, Schaefer, Selbach-Oster and such in the top 100 and being chased after.

[David M. Bueker]

Did I only count only two Rieslings on the list?

Not shocking. The Spec does take availability into account for the list, and a great many Rieslings (especially German) are made in tiny quantities.

Not a lot of Burgundies on the list for the same reason.

yeah, but the Spec also put Baudry's freaking Franc de Pied on the list - which comes in miniscule quantities (and are harder to find than say a Merkelbach Spatlese) and is pretty much unavailable anywhere outside of Arlequin or Chambers.

Two things I noticed compared to previous years: only two wines on the list over $100, and no particular region+vintage dominance, as tends to be the case. All in all, looks like a list designed for real wine drinkers, not trophy hunters. Worth noting that some of the WS writer have been singing a "cheaper wines and unsung regions" tune lately. Sign of the times.

I have to admit that The List has become something like a party-game to me: interesting, even fun, to read, but without much practical value.

Now that I'm no longer overtly involved in the sales and marketing and promotion aspects of wine anymore, I find that the Wine Spectator has virtually no relevance in my life. The publication of this list is the same.

[David M. Bueker]

yeah, but the Spec also put Baudry's freaking Franc de Pied on the list - which comes in miniscule quantities (and are harder to find than say a Merkelbach Spatlese) and is pretty much unavailable anywhere outside of Arlequin or Chambers.

Yeah, but only at #93 which hardly counts...

[Jenise]

First thing I did was search for Washington wines. I don't buy that many of them, but I live here and care. The Baer Ursa in the top ten made me cringe. Maybe the 08 is better than the 06 as it's a cooler vintage, but 06 was a coolish year and I despised that wine in that vintage: massive, low acid, sweet, oaky. A much better sign is the Andrew Will Sorella at #32. It's a terrific wine, very structured, restrained and in much need of cellar time, but it's one of those wines that even now proves what Washington can do--at least to an experienced palate. For the rest of the list, I felt like many of you: lot of wine and producers there I approve of and selfishly do not want to see popularized.

I agree on the Sorella. My favorite wine from Andrew Will but too expensive for regular purchasing.

Yes, but it's really not as if some of us are clamouring to see Donnhoff, Schaefer, Selbach-Oster and such in the top 100 and being chased after.

Fair point. I thought about that a soon as I hit "Submit".

I don't know how my tastes jive with the Spectator, being that I've had none of the wines on the list on quick perusal, having had no reason to taste them (and without specific reason, I remain within the kosher genre). However, the most interesting thing to me is the very reasonable prices among those wines listed- a scant few above $100, and a significant number under $20, with $20-$40 very well represented. I haven't read the Spectator for many years, and the last time I looked at a list, I did not find the typical prices of the listed items to be reasonable for a typical consumer's pocketbook. Either my estimation of what's affordable has changed, or the Spectator's estimation of what's exciting reflects a greater trend towards value than it did when I last looked. Presuming the latter, I must commend the staff of the Wine Spectator.

How many ESJ wines are on the list? heh, heh....

[David M. Bueker]

How many ESJ wines are on the list? heh, heh....

Thankfully...none.

Steve obviously doesn't provide enough advertising revenue.

I wonder if I'll have trouble ordering the 2009 Zind-Humbrecht Gewurtz L170 and the 2008 Chateau Brown Pessac Leognan. I'm out of dry Gewurtztraminers and any sort of white Bordeaux, so these two look fairly appealing. Any better suggestions?

How many ESJ wines are on the list? heh, heh....

Sad but you're on my list even if your wines are not. We'll have to stop communicating like this! "Not that there is anything wrong with that".

A good time to add this. Someone posted a link to this on the Guild of Sommeliers site. It might have been posted here before, but it's pretty funny and apropos. (PG-13)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lIvGuCPZOc&feature=player_embedded

WS's top 100 is much closer to my own taste than I would have expected based on previous years. For example, it includes producers like Huet and Baudry, whose wines are the antithesis of the usual oaky fruit bombs, and also Pétalos Bierzo. Let us hope that it does not cause a ramp up in the prices of these.

And now for a bit of pedantry in case anyone from WS reads this thread. "Huet" is spelled without a tréma (=umlaut) on the "e"; i.e. not "Huët". Authority is the Huet website.

wondering when the last time the top 100 came out without including any Chateauneuf-de-Pape? probably when the 2002 vintage was for sale...