Very thoughtful post, as always, Paul. I appreciate especially that you spend more time with wines you are reviewing and rating--the sip-and-spit, factory-line tastings have got to miss a lot of wines, especially more subtle ones. And of the buys I have made based on your reviews, the ones I have been the most tickled with are the more subtle, but still complex, ones. Antiquum Daisy PG and Big Table Farm Pig label PN are good examples. Fruit bombs must stand out if you are doing 50 or 100 or 200 wines in an afternoon, and probably get higher ratings, and that's a bias I see in the higher scoring wines by WS, WA, WE, etc. You have found a way around that bias, and kudos to you for that. I don't know if your asterisks rubric adds to my understanding of your ratings--I can see the price, I can see your score, and I can read the review for the details. To be honest, I'm looking for outstanding wines at less-than-stratospheric prices, and there is no marker for those in your rubric. Not a complaint--status quo ante is not broken. Keep up the fantastic work in 2025, Paul--you are converting me to a PNW guy!
Thanks Bruce. Your feedback is always welcome. Glad you're finding some wines that have pleased you. Can't miss with Antiquum Farm and Big Table Farm. I think the one star wines would be the outstanding at $20-ish prices. Didn't have any of those this time around. I want to give this a chance and if it doesn't work no harm no foul.
Very thoughtful post, as always, Paul. I appreciate especially that you spend more time with wines you are reviewing and rating--the sip-and-spit, factory-line tastings have got to miss a lot of wines, especially more subtle ones. And of the buys I have made based on your reviews, the ones I have been the most tickled with are the more subtle, but still complex, ones. Antiquum Daisy PG and Big Table Farm Pig label PN are good examples. Fruit bombs must stand out if you are doing 50 or 100 or 200 wines in an afternoon, and probably get higher ratings, and that's a bias I see in the higher scoring wines by WS, WA, WE, etc. You have found a way around that bias, and kudos to you for that. I don't know if your asterisks rubric adds to my understanding of your ratings--I can see the price, I can see your score, and I can read the review for the details. To be honest, I'm looking for outstanding wines at less-than-stratospheric prices, and there is no marker for those in your rubric. Not a complaint--status quo ante is not broken. Keep up the fantastic work in 2025, Paul--you are converting me to a PNW guy!
Thanks Bruce. Your feedback is always welcome. Glad you're finding some wines that have pleased you. Can't miss with Antiquum Farm and Big Table Farm. I think the one star wines would be the outstanding at $20-ish prices. Didn't have any of those this time around. I want to give this a chance and if it doesn't work no harm no foul.