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One California winery tackles the wine-ratings conundrum head-on | Uncorked | Wine advice and commentary - wine tastings and events around Dayton, Ohio
 

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One California winery tackles the wine-ratings conundrum head-on

By Uncorked | Monday, May 5, 2008, 06:49 AM

An alert reader who noticed the robust response to our Uncorked entry of 10 days ago entitled “Clive Coates slams Parker, Wine Spectator and ‘emasculated’ wine trade” shared an email he received from high-profile Siduri, the Sonoma-based winery that makes several highly regarded pinots from throughout California and Oregon. With a subject line that simply said, “Some Thoughts from Siduri Wines,” here’s how one California winery tackles the wine-ratings conundrum (and the issue of very divergent wine reviews of its wines) head-on, directly with its customers.See if you find it the breath of fresh air that I did.

Dear Friends,
We wanted to chat a bit with each one of you about the press, wine reviews, and Siduri Wines. As you may recall, we introduced the last newsletter writing about the press and the power of wine reviews. We wrote, “ We always have to be cautious that our excitement for reviews doesn’t become so consuming that we start to produce wines with these reviews in mind. Nor can the success of our sales efforts be wholly determined by reviews. With both Siduri and Novy we are committed to doing everything possible to produce wines that we believe in. We want to make wines of increasing complexity that are the finest possible representations of the place and the vintage. We are also committed to selling these wines honestly, certainly using reviews at times, but also selling the wines based on their merits and honestly representing what we think of their quality.”
These comments were especially prescient as we have recently received a slew of interesting and very divergent reviews. Here is some of what is being said:
2006 SiduriChehalemMountainPinot Noir ($29)
90 Points, Wine Spectator : “Smooth, harmonious, and appealing….Has style and transparency.”
87 Points, Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine : “…if not one for finesse, either now or in the foreseeable future….”
;
2006 Siduri Sonatera Vineyard Pinot Noir ($49)
95 Points, Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine: “…this opus from the Sonoma Coast is a rich and lavishly filled wine whose impressive complement of very deep and delicious fruit comes with no debt to overdone ripeness.”
88 Points, Wine Spectator : “This is marked by herb and cola flavors….that turns delicate
2006 Siduri Rosella’s Vineyard Pinot Noir ($48)
93 Points, Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine : “…A classy and complete package that ranks among Siduri’s best efforts in 2006
85 Points, Wine Spectator : “Dried herb, cola, and sassafras flavors thin out on the finish”.
So, as a consumer, how are you supposed to make sense of such wildly varying thoughts on our wines? Here are a few suggestions:
1) Taste the wines and decide for yourself. Honestly (and obviously) there is no greater indicator of quality than your own palate. Many smaller wineries are not open for tasting but we believe very strongly that we need to make our wines available for you to taste. Accordingly, we are open 7 days a week, from 10 am to 3pm, by appointment for tasting. Anytime you want to come by and taste we encourage you to do so. And, should you want to taste a specific wine we encourage you to ask about it and we will do our best to accommodate your request.
2) Attend one of our Open Houses. We have numerous events throughout the year (the next one being the huge 10 th Anniversary Novy Party on June 7 at the winery). At these Open Houses we pour a huge range of wines so that you can taste them side by side and decide for yourself which ones you prefer.
3) We realize that for those of you who live away from the Bay Area it is not so easy to just come up to the winery and taste. Consequently, those of us that work at the winery are spending quite a bit of time on the road selling wine and, in every market, attempting to do winemaker dinners, public tastings, etc. We attempt to email each of you to let you know when we are coming but if you would like a full listing of our current travel plans you can always reach out to us at vino@siduri.com.
4) We also attempt to make it easy for you to sample our wines. Unlike some wineries, we don’t have minimum orders, bundled offerings, hostage wines, or any of those other practices that bother us too. And we are happy to hold your wines here at the winery, consolidating orders until you’ve reached a quantity that saves you some money on shipping.
5) Finally, please take the time to get to know those of us that work selling wine at the winery. You can always reach out for Jody ( jody@siduri.com ), Kate ( kate@siduri.com ), Jonathan ( jonathan@siduri.com ), Jeff ( jeff@siduri.com ), Dianna ( dianna@siduri.com ), or me ( adam@siduri.com ). We are all more than happy to share with you our honest thoughts on all of the wines (we have favorites and not-so-favorites ourselves), get to know your particular tastes, and recommend wines that we think you would like. Despite the obvious self-interest involved, we have truly found that it not only makes us feel better about ourselves but is really in the best business interest of the company to only recommend wines that we honestly think you would like.
We hope that this is interesting to you all. Please feel free to reach out to any of us should we be able to help you at all with any of our wines. And should you want to see for yourself what the wines taste like we have attached an order form below. You can send that in by return email to vino@siduri.com , call us with an order at 707-578-3884, or fax it to 707-578-3884. Thanks for your continued support.
Cheers,
Adam & Dianna Lee and Everybody at Siduri & Novy Wineries

So, what do you think? Were those reviewers tasting the same wines? When’s the last time you saw a winery call attention to wildly divergent reviews of their wines? And if wine distributors and retailers took the same approach as that of Siduri, would Clive Coates still call the wine trade “emasculated?”

Just wondering …

Mark Fisher

Permalink | Comments (9) | Post your comment |

Comments

By Adam Lee/Siduri & Novy Wines

May 7, 2008 12:54 PM | Link to this

Lenny, I honestly don’t think CA winemakers should be saying “burgundian” at all when it comes to their wines. In fact, just saying that is, in and of itself, anti-Burgundian. Burgundy is, IMHO, as much about a mindset - that the wine should represent a specific place - and to try to duplicate a certain style of wine from a different location is folly. —Adam Lee, Siduri Wines

By Vigneron

May 7, 2008 11:59 AM | Link to this

I don’t think 12.5% alcohol was ever considered hedonistic.

By Lenny Pepperidge

May 7, 2008 9:47 AM | Link to this

Vigneron, Could the discrepancy in taste between the 1993 Cabernet and the 2004, simply be a function of time—i.e. I’m sure that the 1993 was a “hedonistic” wine with “gobs of fruit” and a “high pleasure factor” when released but like most of the Frankenwines coming out of Napa Valley simply did not have the structure and acid profile to age even moderately gracefully. California winemakers like to talk European, but produce Australian. They can say “Burgundian” until they’re blue in the face, but there’s nothing Burgundian about growing Chardonnay in overly fertile, volcanic soils, bringing the grapes into the winery at 26 brix and putting the wine into the bottle at 15% alcohol with a ph approaching 4.

By Vigneron

May 7, 2008 1:26 AM | Link to this

Winemakers now pick based on flavor maturity. This might result in higher alcohol, but you can’t look at what Adam Lee is saying and tell me he’s wrong. I had a 1993 NV Cab the other night, and it tasted like a bell pepper. Is that what consumers want? I don’t think so. Same winery, same wine, 2004. You could tell it was the “same wine”, but much better. Re: wine reviews, I have seen Wine Advocate reviews vs: Wine Spectator vary by 20 points. Go figure. Wine is a changing thing, and all tastings are different events. Moreover, there is no “best wine”, only that wine on that day. PPS: I love Siduri wines, and the 2005 Rosella’s is one of my favorites of all time.

By k2

May 6, 2008 3:02 PM | Link to this

I really like the one responder’s use of the word “organoleptic” over and over. The debate will always rage over the use of wine scores and reviews. Like everything in life, these reviews should be used in moderation, not as a singular means to formulate one’s buying decisions. Wine has not only been a commodity, but also an artform. It should hence be treated as such, though the tug-of-war will continue. And as for the reviewers speaking “the truth,” isn’that more of a philosophical debate and not a factual one? The reviews are based upon opinions, not fact, for one person’s junk is another one’s treasure, is it not? It’s supposed to be a free universe, and even though I think most reviewers are just overexercising their egos, everyone has the right to voice their own opinion, especially about wine. Having said that, it’s quite refreshing to see a winemaker committed to making his wines and his company so accessible to the public, because after all, it’s the public that matters, not a handful of critics.

By MJ

May 5, 2008 3:58 PM | Link to this

Nice profile on you at the Fermentation blog.

By Arthur

May 5, 2008 2:19 PM | Link to this

Oy Vey…. Where to start?… I’ve tasted both Siduri and Novy wines. I’ve had leaner and more elegant wines and I’ve have riper and hotter wines than theirs. I am particularly intrigued by the way their letter focuses on the disparity in the tasting notes (and scores). I feel that despite all the current hoopla over “scientific” research into wine and sensation and perception, with time (and hopefully better research) we’ll see that these discrepancies in sensory observations: 1) arise from a lack of proper training in a) organoleptic assessment (and not some wild variation in sensory acuity) b) wine sciences. and 2) serve only the producers, distributors and resellers of wines, but not consumers and collectors who invest much of their money and resources into the purchase and storage of these wines. Organoleptic assessment is reproducible and can be taught. When integrated with an understanding of wine science, it yields better information that a preference-based score – regardless of the scale used. Massive, marathon comparative tastings are not conducive to successful organoleptic assessment (but they are conducive to selecting out the most powerfully extracted wine). Ratings are still based on personal preference and not on the understanding of what sensory assessment of wine tells us about the grapes and wine making as well as the state of the wine and its future potential. When one realizes that some general criteria about wine quality can be deduced from skilled organoleptic assessment gauged against an understanding of wine science, very helpful, reliable and reproducible guidance and information can be attained. Of course, the bulk of those making a living from writing about their experience of wine recoil at this notion because it potentially threatens not only their track record and credibility but it triggers their “you’re trying to stifle my creative style” reflex. One can be as creative as they want, but we’re dealing with a consumer good. Since wine can be pricy proposition, our artistic ambitions should take a back seat to the interests of the consumer. And are luxury goods exempt from a journalist’s duty to report the truth?

By Adam Lee/Siduri & Novy Wines

May 5, 2008 2:19 PM | Link to this

Hey WineSupplier, Wow, little bit harsh here, eh? And anonymously too! First off, I really don’t think that our wines can be categorized as easily as you imply. The 2006s are our current releases and I don’t believe any of those Pinots were over-the-top - from an alcohol point of view or any other point of view. I’d say the same goes for 2005 (and 2007 for that matter) as these were all cooler vintages. — Let me also give you a real world example of something that winemakers deal with. In 2005 we picked one section at one vineyard in CA at 21.7 brix. We picked another section of Pinot Noir at a different vineyard at 33.3 brix. Using the narrow mindset of alcohol (which you site), the 21.7 would be relatively low but the 33.3 would be way over the top. However, when you look at pH values the 21.7 had a pH of 3.65 and the 33.3 had a pH of 3.33. So from an acid point of view the 21.7 was over ripe and 33.3 was just about right. Tell me, when should we pick then? Numbers don’t really tell the story very well. As far as my Chronicle quotes go - I stand by them all. I don’t think it was a coincidence that wine became increasingly popular with an increase in higher alcohol, lower acid, more immediate drinking wines. Nor do I think that people who are desirious of lower alcohols and less extract want less flavors. As far as I know, most wine lovers want more complex wines possessing a wider range of flavors. Finally, tell me about the integrity of the varietal. In my mind, wine is about expressing the site, the vintage, and the marriage of these elements with the decisions made by humans. The varietal is important - but really is the conveyor of these other elements. Pinot Noir is so special because of its transperancy - allowing the place to shine thru. Adam Lee Siduri Wines

By winesupplier

May 5, 2008 12:58 PM | Link to this

Sorry if I do not join the chorus of “breath of fresh air” believers, since Siduri makes stylistically the exact wines that Clive Coates rails against in his slam of the critics, high-alcohol, over saturated fruit and jam bombs meant to appeal to the wine press at the Spectator and at the Wine Adovcate and wine festival judges. Many of Siduri’s most recent offerings are way above 14% alcohol with some approaching the 15% level. Their “some thoughts” piece is just self-serving blather, if you ask me. Read the quote below from Adam Lee. “Alcohol levels are rising, and red wine sales are at an all-time high. Is this a coincidence?” asked Adam Lee owner of Siduri Wines as reported in the San Francisco Chronicle. “If someone wants lower alcohol wines, they don’t want lower flavor wines. They want weight and flavor. They don’t want a light, wimpy wine.” Mr. Lee is hardly an advocate of finesse,elegance, or food friendly wines, or one might add, maintaining the integrity of the varietal. Just more Pinot Noirs that are suited expressly for a steakhouse wine list. Thanks, but no thanks.
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