The Wine Critic's Critic: Burghound and Allen Meadows: The wine industry’s CFO, Head of Compliance and Audit. 83/100 points.

'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:

Read on. The Wine Critic's Critic: My view on James Suckling.

The Wine Critic's Critic part 1. Want to know who the world's best wine critics are? Then read on...

They are an eclectic mix of the clever, entertaining, interesting and boring. Read my 'Wine Critic's Critic' series of articles to find out more.

I love the idea of critiquing the wine critics and quantifying them at their own game. I have reviewed 10 of the world’s most formidable against a range of criteria and scored them using my ‘100 point’ scale. How will they take it? Will I be excommunicated from their world of wine, hoist by my own pétard?

Eloi Dürrbach of Domaine de Trevallon, one of France’s great pioneering wine makers, visionary and Picasso’s godson no less, inadvertently gave me the idea. “The problem is sometimes I don’t understand what wine critics say. They use obscure words and phrases when describing wine which most people can’t comprehend”. These are Eloi’s words when I visited him and his daughter, Ostiane, in July this year. The irony of course is that critics are meant to educate, inform and entertain consumers, not confuse them.

As I drove away from his beautiful Trevallon through the limestone hills and sun baked landscape of Les Alpilles in Provence, I thought about Eloi’s comments and how perverse it is that one of the great pioneers of French wine can’t, sometimes, understand what the critics write.

I wonder whether this is generally the case. Are all critics guilty or just some of them, some of the time? What is the problem? Incomprehensible words, over complication of language, illusory aromas and flavours or do they just write plain twaddle? Does this really make tasting notes ‘pernicious’, as Eric Asimov asserts? Or do they serve a useful purpose? These are just some of the questions I address in my postings over the next couple of weeks.

My questions come into even sharper focus as I travel down to see Alain Vaillé of the fabled La Grange des Peres in Aniane. If you have ever met Alain, or his son Laurent who is the real wine making genius down there, then you will appreciate the juxtaposition of the simple artisan wine maker, nurturing his vineyards and performing alchemy, and the urbane critic, dissecting, fault finding and describing his wines, often in a sterile city location. If Eloi struggles to understand the critics at times then Alain has no chance.

Like Eloi and Alain, all the growers I meet are of their type. The list reads like a role call for the Wine Oscars; these are truly some of the great growers of France -– Etienne Grivot, Thierry Brouin (Burgundy), Vincent Avril, Marc Perrin, (Chateauneuf du Pape), Jean-Louis Chave, Michel Chapoutier (Hermitage), Stephane Robert, Thierry Allemand (Cornas), Jean- Michel Gérin, Stephane Ogier (Cote Rotie), Marcel Richard, Jerome Bressy (Cote du Rhone Villages) …. Some may be better educated than others, but at heart they men of the soil, artisans practising their trade simply to give enjoyment to consumers; they are not looking to mystify wine and make it harder to appreciate. When I see them, I must ask them whether they feel the same about the critics’ language as Eloi.

There seems to be a gap in understanding between those who ‘do’ and those who ‘teach’. I acknowledge that the growers are on the producer side rather than consumer side, with the critics obviously targeting the latter, but don’t be fooled; the producers are just like the spectrum of people for whom the critics are writing. If notes are incomprehensible for one group, they will be for the other. Furthermore, all these consumer groups meld into one: the novice, the enthusiast, the expert and the trade. We all drink wine.

Eric Asimov in his recent book ‘How to love wine’, writes in passionate terms about the ‘tyranny of the tasting note’, which exaggerate aromas and flavours. He actually goes as far to say that tasting notes are, at best, a waste of time and, at worst, pernicious. Eric is perhaps exaggerating too but I do understand the basis for his sentiment.

My conclusions are not meant to be definitive but they will provide the consumer with a guide on the quality of each critic and which ones best suit their requirements.

The 10 critics and critics

I have selected who, in my mind, are the 10 most formidable critics in the world of wine. Not everyone will agree with this list (it is my list so influenced by who I read and rate, and where I live, namely the UK) and I will add others to it over time. Here are the 10 in alphabetical order:

1.     Tim Atkin

2.     Jamie Goode

3.     Andrew Jefford and Decanter

4.     John Livingstone-Learmonth

5.     Allen Meadows

6.     James Molesworth and Wine Spectator

7.     Robert Parker

8.     Jancis Robinson

9.     James Suckling

10.  Stephen Tanzer

You will see that for the 2 main print publications of Decanter and Wine Spectator, I have also selected one of their key writers who has a high profile in the market. Here are the key facts for the 10 critics:

Name Web site Twitter Type of site	Commercial model of site	Annual subscription cost, if applicable (as of Nov 2013)	No of subscribers/Twitter followers (as of Nov 2013)	Target audience
Andrew Jefford/Decanter Decanter.com andrewjefford.com @Decanter @andrewcjefford Decanter is a comprehensive subscriber based web site, not focused on any particular country or region. Andrew is a key contributor	Subscriber and advertising	Normally £121 pa for print and digital. Currently offer price of c£75 pa	>17,500 subscribers for Decanter. 57000 twitter followers. Andrew has 3000 Twitter followers.	Expert and enthusiastic amateurs
Burghound (Allen Meadows) burghound.com @burghound Comprehensive subscriber based web site specialising in burgundy but now widening out to cover other Pinot Noir growing areas such as Californi and Oregon	Subscriber only	$145 pa for full access to database and 4 electronic quarterly issues	7500+ subscribers to burghound.com in 2010 (according to slate.com). 11,000 Twitter followers	Trade and expert amateur
James Molesworth/Wine Spectator winespectator.com @jmolesworth1 @WineSpectator Comprehensive subscriber based web site, not focused on any particular country or region. James is a senior editor	Subscriber and advertising	$75 pa for magazine and web site. c$50 for web site only.	350,000+ subscribers to WS (according to goodgrape.com), WS has 110,000 twitter followers. James has 13,500 Twitter followers	Trade, expert and enthusiastic amateur
James Suckling jamessuckling.com @JamesSuckling Video based web site specialising in cigars and wines from Italy and  Bordeaux although he is widening this out	Subscriber and advertising	$144 pa. Web site only - no print available	Unknown no of subscribers to James.suckling.com. 23,000 Twitter followers	Expert and enthusiastic amateurs
Jamie Goode wineanorak.com @jamiegoode Comprehensive free web site with features, wine controversies, wine travel advice and a special section for those new to wine	Advertising	Free	Unknown no of regular viewers to jamiegoode.com. But it gets a lot of hits - as many as Decanter.com. 20,500 Twitter followers	Trade, expert and enthusiastic amateur
Jancis Robinson jancisrobinson.com @JancisRobinson Comprehensive subscriber based web site, not focused on any particular country or region. Jancis is the leader but has a strong team supporting her	Subscriber only	£69 pa. Web site only - no print available	Unknown no of subscribers to jancisrobinson.com. 198,000 Twitter followers	Trade, expert and enthusiastic amateur
John Livingstone Learmonth drinkrhone.com @DrinkRhone Comprehensive subscriber based web site specialising in northern and southern Rhone	Subscriber only	£40 pa. Web site only - no print available	Unknown no of subscribers to drinkrhone.com. JLL doesn't use twitter much - 40 Twitter followers	Trade and expert amateur
Stephen Tanzer http://www.wineaccess.com/expert/tanzer/index.html @StephenTanzer1 Comprehensive subscriber based web site, not focused on any particular country or region. Stephen is the leader but has a  team supporting him	Subscriber only	$90 pa. 6 bi monthly issues by the web plus 12 months on line access to IWC archives and forum	Unknown no of subscribers to his site. 1600 Twitter followers	Trade and expert amateur
Robert Parker erobertparker.com @RobertMParkerJr Comprehensive subscriber based web site, not focused on any particular country or region. Stephen is the leader but has a  team supporting him	Subscriber only	$99 pa. Web site only - no print available	65,000+ subscribers to erobertparker.com. 54,000 Twitter followers	Trade, expert and enthusiastic amateur
Tim Atkin timatkin.com @timatkin Comprehensive free (generally) web site with features, reports and tastings. Tim charges for specific tasting reports	Advertising and individual payment for reports	Free. Certain reports can be purchased for £10-20	Unknown no of subscribers to timatkin.com. 28,000 Twitter followers	Expert and enthusiastic amateurs

This is just a small sample of the world’s critics. There are plenty of other critics and writers who could have been included.

Read on: The Wine Critic's Critic part 2

The Wine Critic's Critic part 2. How I rate the world's best critics using my 100 point scale

So where is the science behind my 100 point scale?

I have reviewed my top 10’s web sites and blogs (which contain most of their tasting notes, commentaries and reviews) and scored them using the following criteria and scores:

1.     Quality of web site (look, functionality and ease of use): up to 15 points

2.     Ability to inform the consumer (regular updates on news and events): up to 15 points

3.     Ability to educate the consumer (depth and breadth of content): up to 15 points

4.     Ability to entertain the consumer (so the information and education is easy to assimilate and enjoy): up to 15 points

5.     Quality of tasting notes (content, style, intelligibility): up to 15 points

6.     Overall impression: ability to communicate with their target audience: up to 25 points.

Therefore, I am scoring more than just their tasting notes. I am critiquing their overall ability to communicate effectively with their audiences. My scores also reflect how they compare to each other so out of this will emanate a ranking. I recognize that they are often covering different areas and different consumers and with different resources but consumers like rankings so they will be useful.

The overall scores will be allocated as follows:

Classic (grade A*)	91-100
Outstanding (A)	81-90
Very good (B)	71-80
Average (C)	61-70
Belly wash (D, E,…)	Below 60

In the results, while I add up the scores for each criterion and given a grand total, I think the individual scores against each of the six criteria are more meaningful because each site has different strengths and weaknesses, and may be targeting different consumers. My results will show, for example, which sites are best for information vs education vs entertainment.

Consumer groups / target audiences

Having reviewed the 10 sites at length, the critics seem to be targeting four types of consumer groups: 1) the trade; 2) expert amateurs; 3) enthusiasts; 4) novices.

I know I am generalizing with these groups but I do think they are useful. The target audiences, to differing degrees, want to be informed, educated and entertained. They should determine what and how the critic communicates. I refer to these groups throughout my review.

The Trade: The trade represents the body of professionals in the wine business those who typically import and/or supply wines to the restaurants and consumers. They will subscribe to many of the 10 critics identified above.

The Expert Amateur: The expert amateur - I presumptuously put myself in this category - is the marketing man’s dream. We probably read or subscribe to all 10 of the critics. We will not only buy Decanter, La RVF (Revue de Vin Francais) and WS but will trawl the bookshelves looking for yet another tome (think Clive Coates’, Allen Meadows’ and Jasper Morris’ books on burgundy or JLL’s on the Rhone Valley) which explain not just the wines but every contour and nuance of hills, growers and vineyards. Our idea of a holiday is to go on a wine tasting and gastronomic trip to rural France (in my case places like Gigondas, Cote d’Or, Chateauneuf-du-Pape or Hermitage). We have voracious appetites and want to be constantly informed and educated. We are big tasters and drinkers of wines (to justify another important purchase, I cheekily remind my wife that I don’t indulge in cars, drugs or hookers, I do wine). We want to know it all now and they want more tomorrow. Maybe we are wannabe wine professionals who just don’t have the bottle to take the plunge.

The Enthusiast: The enthusiastic amateur takes an interest in wine and could take out paying subscriptions. He/she would prefer to buy their wine in a specialist boutique where they get specialist advice and more focused customer service.

The Novice: The novice is the person who watch Saturday kitchen and buy their wine at one of the major general or wine supermarkets (Tesco’s, Sainsbury’s, Majestic).

Results

I will release the reviews over the next few weeks starting. I will post them on:

·       My blog: http://www.frenchchronicle.blogspot.co.uk

·       Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thefrenchchronicleblog

·       Twitter: @dberesford12

Disclosure: my preferences

As I often reproach the critics for not offering up their personal preferences when tasting and scoring wine, I want to declare my preference for critics.

I like irreverent and contrarian critics, commentators and mavericks who challenge the status quo and refuse to subjugate themselves to conventional wisdom. I like writers who can embrace a wide range of tastes and styles and recognize and appreciate wines with a sense of place, not just those who espouse international formula.

I don’t look for perfection and definitive conclusions in tasting notes. But I do look for colour and passion in the writing, not just knowledge and experience. I want to be stimulated too. I want the writer to reveal the life and soul of the wines. I am as interested in the context (stories, history, food, people, sport – their whole culture) of wine as much as what is in the glass because this conveys so much more to me than the simple recital of intricate flavours and aromas.  Drinking wine is about the whole experience not just smelling, tasting and dissecting it. Great wines should pose as many questions as answers as they are constantly evolving.

Therefore, before I pass go and offer you my monologue, please remember that these are my personal, subjective views. Feel free to take them with a pinch of salt, in the same way that I treat the critics’ tasting notes and scores. This posting is meant to be a mix of the humorous and serious. I greatly admire the work of all of them, which is why they made my top 10.