'I am sure Allen means it when he says he is passionate about Burgundy but I can’t help feeling that he sounds like an accountant who says he is passionate about numbers. He is clearly very knowledgeable about Burgundy in particular, but I find this site a bit boring. I wish he would liven it up and reveal a bit of love and soul for the subject matter. You can tell this site has been created by a former CFO'.
He is everything you would expect from a former CFO - fastidious, serious, conscientious, thorough and detailed. He prepares his notes and journals like he would the annual report and accounts for a Fortune 100 company, knowing that he will be held to account if there is a serious error. Like every good CFO, he clearly manages the business meticulously and maximizes all subscriber led (not advertiser led, I stress) revenue opportunities.
‘Fastidious’
is my first impression of Alan Meadows as I read the ‘Promise to you’ section
on the first page of his site and the ‘statement of principles’ on the front of
every quarterly journal which lay out his impeccably correct approach to
tasting and scoring.
Meadows
protects his business with all the zeal that you would expect from an American
former CFO. There are rules, terms and conditions, legal definitions, licensing
fees, threats if rules are violated, copyrights and warnings about what is
strictly prohibited (web crawlers, spiders, robots) and what is expressly
forbidden. Al Capone would have been intimidated.
I
always need a drink, smoke and lie down after reading all this, followed by 10
minutes watching a video by James Suckling extoling the beauty of a Monte
Cristo No 2. Only then can I relax.
In
this world of piracy and copyright infringement, I empathise with his feelings
of insecurity and fear that people will rip him off and use his copyright. But
I do find it depressing. Has the world of wine been reduced to all this legalise? Has it just become another boring
business run by accountants and lawyers rendering it soulless, technical and
dull? I’ll just throw that out there to you. Maybe it is one for another
posting. Perhaps I am just suffering from Pangloassian syndrome, a romantic at
heart who loves an old fashioned handshake as the basis for a deal as practised
by so many growers and importers.
However,
in terms of content, burghound is a stellar example of the online specialist site.
I doubt there is anyone in the world who knows the wines of Burgundy and more
generally Pinot Noir (he covers California, Oregon and some champagnes and
sparkling wines) as well as him.
It
is packed full of information – a considerable database, tasting notes, how the
wine was made in the year, quotes from the producer, a glossary of terms,
special reports on multiple vintages of rare wines and a travel guide (extra
cost unless 2 or 3 year subscription is taken out). He also produces a pdf
which you can download and print. Q3 2013’s issue (no 51), just out, is nearly
200 pages long and it covers 193 producers.
He
provides audio and video, information on speaking engagements and wines of the
week. He also writes books and travel guides.
Its
look, feel and the functionality all work very well. Whilst his area of focus
is small (confined to burgundy, a few other pinot noir growing areas and
Champagne) his coverage within that specialist area is first rate. He covers
every nook and cranny of Burgundy.
It
is a very impressive source of information in its specialist areas but more
suitable for the trade and expert amateur looking for depth of content and
tasting notes rather than consumers looking for general information and
updates.
If
I were to reproach him on anything, it would be his delivery, as seen in his
video clips. His delivery is, well, like an auditor delivering the final audit
report to the PLC Board – dry, soulless, wooden, dull. I do recognize that he
addressing detailed, technical and serious subjects such as dry extract, green
meanies (come again?) and premature oxidation but he is no Jamie Goode when
discussing these. Allen could take some tips from Jamie on how to communicate
technical subjects like a great teacher and from James Suckling on how to bond
with the audience in video and bring some of these subjects to life.
Returning
to my point about his passion, I can see he is genuinely committed to the
cause. He is a serious on-site taster, committed to spending 5 months a year in
Burgundy. Looking at his list of appointments, he must have a considerable
appetite and energy for the cause; in April 2013, he spent 9 consecutive nights
at tastings and dinners in Asia. He must have needed a serious detox
afterwards.
I
think Meadows is an outstanding taster and writer although some find his notes
very repetitive. He uses evocative, accurate and clear language in his tasting
notes and your mouth starts watering just reading them. He is also a tough
marker so if he score highly, you really know the wine is good. Here is an
example:
2011 Puligny-Montrachet “Les Folatières”: This is sufficiently ripe that
the nose flirts with the exotic with its notes of tangerine, pear, white peach,
acacia blossom and spice hints. There is flat out stunning intensity to the
extract-rich medium weight flavors that seem to be directly extracted from
liquid rock, in particular on the penetratingly saline-infused and forcefully
explosive finish that seems to go on and on. This is textbook Folatières.
95/2021+.
I
also like the way he identifies wines against other criteria such as ‘top
value’, ‘drink now’, ‘sweet spot’ and ‘don’t miss’.
Here
are my scores for Allen and Burghound:
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