Anyone subscribe to the Tanzer's IWC?

I have subscribed to Parker's Advocate off and on over the past several years but 'am not renewing my recently expired subscription. Although I find it interesting, I find that my preferences not infrequently don't jive with Mr. Parker's. As an example, he ( and his crew ) doesn't seem to appreciate as much as I do the less bombastic examples of Pinot Noir from Cali, like Williams Selyem, that I am quite fond of. Also, I don't have, or no longer have, much interest in a lot of the areas the WA focuses on.

So, having read numerous Tanzer reviews here and there, it seems I might appreciate his take on wines more than the WA. So, I just wondered if anyone on WLP has first hand experience with the IWC and how they like it. One thing I have noticed in all the reviews I have read by Tanzer is that none of them mention drinking windows or speculate on the maturation of the wine going forward...is this a "thing" with Tanzer. Is there a forum and is it worthwhile?

Any input would be appreciated. I do kind of miss puttering around the WA site.

I used to subscribe to the physical IWC and liked it a lot. But I didn't think I'd read it online so I let it lapse when he went digital.

I think my tastes are closer to Tanzer's than they were to WA's and I trust IWC's reviews. Plus there isn't the extreme grade inflation that I used to perceive in WA.

You can probably get a free preview for a day.

I did a comparison a few years back of the same wines that Parker & Tanzer reviewed in their publications and came to the conclusion that Tanzer's scores would be approx 2 to 3 points lower across the board If that means anything to you? ITB and I'm sure you wouldn't like my assessment of most CA Pinots. The Wine Speculator would probably come closer to your palate's likes. To each his own, I'm not a fan of cola flavors in wine.

[Jenise]

The Wine Speculator would probably come closer to your palate's likes.

Note: he said LESS bombastic.

The Wine Speculator would probably come closer to your palate's likes.

Note: he said LESS bombastic.

Oops my bad. It's been a long day and I just got back from the dentist. Not much of an excuse. But the comparison of scores between Parker and Tanzer did take time and was the result of about 100 different wines. I didn't really find vast differneces in their scores.

I did a comparison a few years back of the same wines that Parker & Tanzer reviewed in their publications and came to the conclusion that Tanzer's scores would be approx 2 to 3 points lower across the board If that means anything to you? ITB and I'm sure you wouldn't like my assessment of most CA Pinots. The Wine Speculator would probably come closer to your palate's likes. To each his own, I'm not a fan of cola flavors in wine.

The fact that Tanzer tends to score lower doesn't mean anything to me, actually, it seems that he scores some of the wines I like higher than WA, wines such as Williams Selyem, Peay, Copain and such.

I must admit that I don't have much familiarity with Burgundy, and I am not overly sensitive to or bothered by some cola-ness, especially since there is so much more there, to me anyway, in the pinots produced by the Cali producers I mentioned above. Burgundy always seemed so damn complicated and ridiculously expensive that I just never got into it, as great as I'm sure it can be.

Never heard of the "Wine Speculator", what does ITB mean by the way?

I did a comparison a few years back of the same wines that Parker & Tanzer reviewed in their publications and came to the conclusion that Tanzer's scores would be approx 2 to 3 points lower across the board If that means anything to you? ITB and I'm sure you wouldn't like my assessment of most CA Pinots. The Wine Speculator would probably come closer to your palate's likes. To each his own, I'm not a fan of cola flavors in wine.

The fact that Tanzer tends to score lower doesn't mean anything to me, actually, it seems that he scores some of the wines I like higher than WA, wines such as Williams Selyem, Peay, Copain and such.

I must admit that I don't have much familiarity with Burgundy, and I am not overly sensitive to or bothered by some cola-ness, especially since there is so much more there, to me anyway, in the pinots produced by the Cali producers I mentioned above. Burgundy always seemed so damn complicated and ridiculously expensive that I just never got into it, as great as I'm sure it can be.

Never heard of the "Wine Speculator", what does ITB mean by the way?

The Wine Spectator--In the business--Burgundy nectar of the Gods=Aggravation & mucho dinero. Don't get hooked!

I did a comparison a few years back of the same wines that Parker & Tanzer reviewed in their publications and came to the conclusion that Tanzer's scores would be approx 2 to 3 points lower across the board If that means anything to you? ITB and I'm sure you wouldn't like my assessment of most CA Pinots. The Wine Speculator would probably come closer to your palate's likes. To each his own, I'm not a fan of cola flavors in wine.

The fact that Tanzer tends to score lower doesn't mean anything to me, actually, it seems that he scores some of the wines I like higher than WA, wines such as Williams Selyem, Peay, Copain and such.

I must admit that I don't have much familiarity with Burgundy, and I am not overly sensitive to or bothered by some cola-ness, especially since there is so much more there, to me anyway, in the pinots produced by the Cali producers I mentioned above. Burgundy always seemed so damn complicated and ridiculously expensive that I just never got into it, as great as I'm sure it can be.

Never heard of the "Wine Speculator", what does ITB mean by the way?

The Wine Spectator--In the business--Burgundy nectar of the Gods=Aggravation & mucho dinero. Don't get hooked!

That's advice I plan to take Lou.

[David M. Bueker]

Used to subscribe, but dropped it when I dropped almost everything.

Forgetting the scores, Tanzer and Raynolds (his able henchman) do justice to more balanced wines. Tanzer may rate a fruit bomb well, but he gives realistic assessments about who might actually like such wines.

Used to subscribe, but dropped it when I dropped almost everything.

Forgetting the scores, Tanzer and Raynolds (his able henchman) do justice to more balanced wines. Tanzer may rate a fruit bomb well, but he gives realistic assessments about who might actually like such wines.

Well David, I like that idea. I will say that I am something of an equal opportunity wine guzzler, depending on the wine I can definitely enjoy a monster, just a different experience, not my preferred style for the most part, but at times I enjoy them, and in fact some bombs I find very impressive.

Does Tanzer ever offer his opinion of a wine's likely maturation and drinking window?

I gave up my Wine Advocate subscription in favour of Tanzer's IWC, because I found his palate more in tune with mine. I prefer more old-world style wines, rather than Parker's fruit bombs. That said, I dropped my IWC subscription a number of years ago, too, when I decided I was too old to buy much in the way of young wines (not to mention already having too many wines in my cellar ).

I gave up my Wine Advocate subscription in favour of Tanzer's IWC, because I found his palate more in tune with mine. I prefer more old-world style wines, rather than Parker's fruit bombs. That said, I dropped my IWC subscription a number of years ago, too, when I decided I was too old to buy much in the way of young wines (not to mention already having too many wines in my cellar ).

Yeah, I hear you on that Ted. I don't buy much wine anymore either for the same reasons. What I do still buy are some California wines from some top producers whose mailing lists I am on. I was thinking of subscribing to IWC mostly for reviews on these wines, for archived reviews, and for interesting articles. Think I'll see if there's a preview as Matt mentioned.

Do you receive PinotFile? It covers a lot of American Pinot Noirs and is available free of charge.

Do you receive PinotFile? It covers a lot of American Pinot Noirs and is available free of charge.

Thanks for the heads up JC, I'll definitely be checking that out.

The only subscription I have now is the IWC. I also appreciate Tanzer et al.'s more tempered and balanced approach, and really enjoy that the IWC notes are available in CellarTracker - very handy. There's a very small forum, but I don't find it too useful. If you want to ask a direct question to one of the tasters, though, you usually get a quick answer.

And what's the general consensus about the lack of drinking windows?

I pay a small annual fee to CellarTracker which gives me access to a number of excellent scribes including Tanzer.