So, Jeb Dunnock...

[Jenise]

...is now loose in my home state. Seems to have been seduced by Quilceda Creek already, giving 98+ to the flagship wine and 97 pts each to the two single vineyards which is a substantial uptick for the latter bottlings. I don't believe either's ever been out of the low 90's with anyone before.

What's his palate like? I know he's The Rhone Report, but I've never read an issue and haven't otherwise gotten any sense of him.

...is now loose in my home state. Seems to have been seduced by Quilceda Creek already, giving 98+ to the flagship wine and 97 pts each to the two single vineyards which is a substantial uptick. I don't believe either's ever been out of the low 90's with anyone before.

What's his palate like? I know he's The Rhone Report, but I've never read an issue and haven't otherwise gotten any sense of him.

Just a guess (knowing nothing about him); he likes milk shakes.
Best, Jim

[David M. Bueker]

So yet another guy who treats Quilceda like manna from heaven. I am so glad I no longer subscribe to the sad shell of The Wine-Like-Beverage Advocate

I picked up a few bottles 15+ years ago and they are still pretty oaky but the "date shake" has been some-what diminshed.

still pretty oaky but the "date shake" has been some-what diminshed.

That's because milk has a shorter shelf life than wine.

So yet another guy who treats Quilceda like manna from heaven. I am so glad I no longer subscribe to the sad shell of The Wine-Like-Beverage Advocate

With you..and like many others David.

The only thing I know about Jeb is that he from Indiana which means he is intelligent, earnest and damn good looking.

[Jenise]

So yet another guy who treats Quilceda like manna from heaven. I am so glad I no longer subscribe to the sad shell of The Wine-Like-Beverage Advocate

Well, playing Devils Advocate (no relation, except tangentially ), one could look at the fact that every QC since 2002 has received 99 or 100 points, so Jeb's "98+" for the 2010 is actually trending the other way. I looked just now to see what the scores were for the 09 thinking Galloni would have reviewed that vintage, but I can't find evidence that it was he and one website attributes the 09 scores to Miller. Btw, of all of those I've tasted the 02, 03 and 08 at about the same stage in life, and where both 02 and 03 fit the Parkerized palate to a 't', the 08 lacked the extraction of the others and was instead lithe and elegant. I figured it would be a low-scorer for sure to the milk-shake crowd but no: 99.

Jeb's never met a wine he doesn't like. His scale is: 1. Manna from Heaven, 2. Awesome with Stunning Purity, 3. Really Excellent, 4. Flawed Bottle.

A genius strategy really, leaving everyone happy as the wine collector has a cellar full of 95+!!!-rated-but-not-yet-tasted wine sitting in the cellar, the wine makers are happy and give Jeb VIP access (and do not sue), the advertisers are happy, the wine retailers are happy with the exclamation-point-heavy superlative-laden hype for their shelf-talkers, and Jeb is happy as he appeared on lots of shelf-talkers almost immediately after starting the Rhone Report.

[Jenise]

Patrick, thanks, that's exactly what I wanted to know. We got another Miller; his reviews are meaningless.

[Jenise]

Oh wait! I just remembered, I thought, that Schildnecht, not Galloni, had been assigned Washington when Miller left (you can see how much attention I pay to critics!) So I went looking for a Schildnecht review of a Quilceda Creek in 09. Found his review of the Golitzin: more dense, aggressively-concentrated, superficially sweet and, at the same time, evidently tannic, as a result of which opinions are more likely to divide over whether this pushes, in power and confection, beyond any given taster's ideal. Cassis and horehound candies, chocolate syrup, and espresso dominate. Yields here are small even by the winery's usual standards, notes Paul Golitzin, and much of the wine does malo in barrique, which conceivably explains the undeniably stronger sense of toasted and caramelized oak resin vis-a-vis its stable mates. He adds that heat units in this site are not notably different than in the Horse Heaven Hills sources of Quilceda Creek wine, and that after blending a comparable level of alcohol has been achieved. Still, there is an undeniably outsized and confectionary aspect here that at least accords with widespread assumptions about Red Mountain. This palate-staining, viscous, sweet elixir is likely to have at least a 15-20 year lifespan...93 pts

Ah, for awhile, sanity WAS here.

[David M. Bueker]

Yep - David WAS for a little while. Then they shipped him back to his old German beat where "meh, not so bad" counts as a glowing review!

[Jenise]

I can actually sympathize with the wineries. It would be pretty hard to take getting lower points and less praise from a new reviewer for something you believed as good or better than a previous vintage, especially considering the way the general public shops. Once point-inflation is out of the bag, it's almost impossible to reverse.

If you are on CT, at least for now his old RR scores show (if you are a co-subscriber, I would guess it shows actual notes). If you check your wines that are scored, might be a bit more of a clue than our generalizations. These are the wines I have listed that show a RR score.

Red 2006 J.L. Chave Sélection St. Joseph Offerus , RR83
Red 2008 Château de Beaucastel Côtes du Rhône Coudoulet de Beaucastel RR89
Red 2007 Delas Frères Côtes du Rhône Saint-Esprit  RR89
Red 2003 Domaine de Beaurenard (Paul Coulon et Fils) Châteauneuf-du-Pape RR90
Red 1998 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde  RR91
Red 1998 Château de la Gardine Châteauneuf-du-Pape  RR91
Red 2001 Cuvée du Vatican Châteauneuf-du-Pape  RR91
Red 2006 Terry Hoage Vineyards Cuvée The Pick RR91
Red 2002 Ridge Geyserville  RR92
Red 1999 Château de Beaucastel Côtes du Rhône Coudoulet de Beaucastel  RR92
Red 2008 Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf-du-Pape RR92
Red 2001 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape RR93
Red 2000 Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf-du-Pape RR93
Red 2006 Terry Hoage Vineyards 5 Blocks Cuvée  RR93
Red 2001 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape RR96,
Red 2001 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape RR97, 

Fair point, Dale.

My post, which I admit is a black and white generalization, is based mostly on all the shelf talkers I see everywhere (which are undoubtedly self selected towards his more exuberant notes) and from the dozen or so tastings I've attended with Jeb where wines that nearly everyone at the table don't like, found poorly made or otherwise a bad wine, and Jeb usually just called these "Flawed Bottle/Not Rated" in his subsequent CT write-ups.

Nothing personal at all, Jeb is nice guy and I wish him lots of success, but I don't find his approach (and overall, his palate) useful.

Yep - David WAS for a little while. Then they shipped him back to his old German beat where "meh, not so bad" counts as a glowing review!

I've had the good fortune to have tasted wines on more than one occasion with David Sch. and he is the only wine writer I would buy wines for myself based on his tasting notes. He has a very consistent palate that really is the antithesis of Parker's in most instances.

Patrick,
you have a much better sense of JD that I do. I wasn't objecting to anyone's opinions, just pointing out a way that people could maybe "calibrate" their tastes vs Dunnock's. My overlap doesn't give me a real opinion. I did search for his scores on ESJ wines- just 2, a couple of R&Gs, scores of 89 and 90. Scores bother me less than fact a Rhone specialist apparently only tried 2 ESJs.

[David M. Bueker]

Yep - David WAS for a little while. Then they shipped him back to his old German beat where "meh, not so bad" counts as a glowing review!

I've had the good fortune to have tasted wines on more than one occasion with David Sch. and he is the only wine writer I would buy wines for myself based on his tasting notes. He has a very consistent palate that really is the antithesis of Parker's in most instances.

Total agreement from me. Tasting and drinking (I've done both many times) with David is an amazing experience, and he and I are very well aligned on what we do and don't like.