The Wine Critic's Critic: Jamie Goode: The wine industry’s Anorak and Head Teacher. 87/100 points

'Jamie was born to teach. He has huge breadth and depth of knowledge, and he has that rare gift of being able to distil complex subjects into meaningful and easily digestible words, and do it in an interesting way. He doesn't possess the bigger resources of some other critics but his website and work are outstanding. He is right up there with the world's best critics, and often betters them'.

Jamie’s own sobriquet is the Wine Anorak which reflects his credentials as an expert in plant biology (he has a PhD no less) which is a useful entrée into the world of wine. His scientific background must make him one of the best qualified to write about wine. But don’t be fooled by his paper persona as a geek – his site appeals to all and his style is very personable.

Jamie was born to teach. I love his site and the way he imparts knowledge. Where James Suckling’s style and commentary are flamboyant and, some would argue, lacking in substance, Jamie’s is brimming with substance and science. It is full of juicy bits of information addressing such subjects as the science or otherwise of tasting, bottle closures, microbes, the science of wine making and its sustainability. These topics appeal as much to the professional trade as they do to the expert amateur like me.

But he is also adept at appealing to the average consumer too. Just in the last 6 months, he has covered wines of Stellenbosch, California, Alsace, Chile, Priorat, Georgia, Turkey, New Zealand, Canada, Portugal, Bordeaux and Israel to name but a few. All are written on subjects and in a way which would appeal to the average consumer. He is also adept at using social media to communicate with his thousands of followers.

He is a prolific taster and his tasting notes and vineyard visits, some combined with video, are simple to read whilst giving the reader a very good understanding of what is in the glass. He often combines these with restaurant reviews, bringing the wines to life (see his latest one on Chez Bruce, one of my favourite restaurants in the world and where I would take my wife-to- be 16 years ago when we lived in London).

His site also has features where he focuses on a specific area (e.g. Chile) or grower (e.g. Bruno Paillard and Eben Sadie) or topic (e.g. the concept of a noble wine and carbonic maceration). I like his ability to have a point of view on all subjects vinous as well as an array of other subjects – football, cricket, religion. This makes him a much more interesting writer and personality than some of the other wine critics out there who just seem to be writing for themselves and other wine bores.

On tasting notes, Jamie writes very clearly. Here is an example of one of his tasting notes from Chez Bruce. It is classic Jamie Goode – accurate, measured and evocative. He makes you really want to taste the wine.

Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile 2001 Alsace, France. Beautifully delicate but full flavoured at the same time, this is the special anniversary bottling. Citrus, melon, a hint of lychee, some creaminess. Delicate and precise with a lovely crystalline fruit quality, and with fruit sweetness that adds a rounded character. 95/100.

His depth and breadth of knowledge are very impressive and he knows how to communicate complex subjects. As we know from our school days, this is the real skill of great teachers. Knowledge is irrelevant without the passion and ability to impart it to the audience.

His site is the antithesis of Suckling’s and Jancis’ sites in terms of slickness, structure and functionality, but despite this, it just oozes class, passion, personality and knowledge.

Where jamesuckling.com is a boy band, jamiegoode.com is a real musician.

I know that Jamie has built this site himself, from the ground up, over many years which is testament to his dedication and abilities in web application development. He is clearly a very clever bloke.

Here are my scores for Jamie and jamiegoode.com

Read on. The Wine Critic's Critic: James Molesworth (Wine Spectator): The Wine Industry's Alchemist.

The Wine Critic's Critic: John Livingstone-Learmonth: The wine industry’s Cricket captain. 83/100 points.

'JLL's site is the antithesis of James Suckling’s and Jancis Robinson's sites in terms of slickness, structure and functionality, but it just oozes class, passion, personality and knowledge. Unlike burghound.com, this is a site dripping with love and soul, not legal and commercial mumbo-jumbo'.

The quintessential Englishman, he is dapper, erudite, affable and quick-witted, like Colin Cowdrey, the former England Cricket batsman. JLL is the master of his specialist area, the wines of the Northern and Southern Rhone, whilst also practising as a communication training expert.

Like Cowdrey, he has amazing longevity. He has been batting at the crease in the Rhone valley for over 40 years and his mastery of its characters, nuances and old wines is unrivalled. He was learning about this area nearly a decade before Parker discovered it. Key players in the region such as Christine Vernay and her husband Paul Anseleme venerate him for his vast knowledge going back to the days when he would wine and dine with Christine’s father, Georges Vernay.

His site is the antithesis of James Suckling’s and Jancis’ sites in terms of slickness, structure and functionality, but despite its clunkiness (although I notice that JLL has just upgraded his site), it just oozes class, passion, personality and knowledge. Like Meadow’s site, burghound.com, this is a stellar example of the online specialist communicator. But unlike burghound.com, this is a site dripping with love and soul, not legal and commercial mumbo-jumbo.

I admit that I am a Rhone fanatic so have a soft spot for this site. It is full of information gathered over 40 years and John allows you to access it in many ways. You have regular monthly updates on what has been happening in the region and extensive tasting notes and information about each appellation in the North and South Rhone, from the well known to small artisan wine growers. It also has a glossary of terms.

I love his features of ‘Goings on’, ‘Veterans corner’ and ‘Where to eat and stay’. He also makes a big play on WOW wines (‘what one wants’ – or wines which immediately declare pleasure) and STGT (soil to glass transfer - wines that are very low on intervention, that reflect truthfully their place of origin). He gets excited about these wines, the grower being undoubtedly aware of the importance of terroir, and of his or her role in coaxing that out. Coverage of up and coming areas – Rasteau, Roaix, Cairanne….

There is also a quality of fun and joie de vivre about John who is a horse lover and keen gambler. He loves these wines, their people and region and that shines through in his oeuvre.

I think it is a site for the trade or expert consumer because his notes are quite technical and he focuses on depth of content in his specialist area.

I drink a lot of the wines which feature on his site and I think he has an exquisite palate. He has an eloquent, descriptive and old fashioned style of writing. Take Clusel Roch’s Les Grandes Places from 2009 which he gives top marks to:

“(cask) dark red, black at the centre. Good ensemble on a substantial bouquet – baked fruits, a hint of dates from ripe, not overdone fruit. There are wafts of smoke in what is a full, but lucid nose – a mark of its quality. This is very well-constituted, has real good togetherness of its elements, a sealed-up quality. It builds as it goes, has finesse and strokeable black fruit that culminates in a licorice and an oak sprinkle. The tannins are fresh, live. Has the reserve of the northern zone, but ripe and good quality fruit wins the day. This can become complex, has pure qualities, is STGT. I just prefer the Viallière 2009. 2026-29. Bottling Aug 2011. Nov 2010”.

Here are my scores for John and drinkrhone.com:

Read on:  The Wine Critic's Critic: Jamie Goode: The Wine Industry's Anorak and Head Teacher.

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.

My date with Domaine de la Grange des Pères, Aniane, France

This is real, authentic, love-infused wine-making.

My heart was racing as I turned off the dusty road near the town of Aniane in the south of France. A weathered sign pointed reluctantly in its direction suggesting that visitors were either unexpected, unwelcome or both. I was on a blind date, but my target wasn’t aware of my imminent arrival.

Ostensibly, I was en route to watch a game of rugby in Montauban, but I couldn’t resist the lure of dropping in on one of my favourite growers, the fabled Domaine de la Grange des Pères. I remember using the term ‘dropping in’ then as it made me feel more comfortable, like one ‘drops in’ on an old family friend, but deep down I felt uneasy although the feeling wasn’t strong enough to stop me. I admit it openly – I’m in love with this domaine and its region, and I convinced myself that all is fair in love and war.

Just say it out loud: Domaine de la Grange des Pères. It rolls off the tongue mellifluously like honey trickling from a spoon. Overlay the regional accent du midi and the sound becomes even easier on the ear. For me, these sounds personify the south of France and evoke powerful memories of a time when I lived in the Vaucluse, a neighbouring départment.

In a little over 20 years, la Grange des Pères has entered the pantheon of great French wine domaines, its small stock exhausted swiftly by thirsty and lucky buyers. I had enjoyed their wines over the years (if I could find them), read about Alain, Bernard and Laurent Vaillé, and knew they had a reputation for being reserved and unreceptive to impromptu visits, but this just raised the stakes and piqued my excitement. I knew this would be a test of my character, French language and people skills, but I thrived on situations like this. My elevator pitch was ready.

I eventually found the domaine. The grange or barn itself was on the left, signaled by a garnet-coloured sign on an impressive limestone rock. I drove past it and turned left along a narrow track to their house which was a large but unassuming villa fronted by an imposing set of iron gates. The rusty doorbell was next to a small, hand-made, yellow sign confirming that the house was indeed part of la Grange des Pères. I felt nervous, as if I were gauchely intruding and would be rebuffed with a volley of French patois.

I didn’t even have time to ring their doorbell before Alain, the father, appeared. He was small with pointed features and was dressed in cool denim under the searing heat of the midday sun. He was chewing food. It suddenly dawned on me that I had committed one of France’s gravest sins and interrupted his lunch. Life, I thought, was about to get even harder.

“Bonjour monsieur, excusez-moi de vous déranger”, I stuttered. “Est-ce que vous faites des dégustations?” “Non”, he deadpanned, “nous ne les faisons pas”.

I had blown it. In a moment of excitement and nerves, I had forgotten to show empathy or willingness to engage him first. I had reduced the occasion to the merely functional and rather bluntly requested ‘a tasting’. As though my very existence depended on it, the adrenaline kicked in. I suddenly remembered my elevator pitch which consisted of telling him, in my best midi-accented French, how I used to live in Avignon, play rugby for Chateauneuf-du-Pape, date a French girl from Marseille and drink copious amounts of French wine. Now, I knew his wine, bought it, evangelised about it, drank it and loved it. I spoke passionately about la Grange des Pères - to its maker for goodness’ sake! My eyes implored him to let me in. It worked.

“Revenez après le déjeuner et je vous ferai une dégustation”, he said smiling.

I was ecstatic. I remember that feeling as I made the short drive to Aniane for lunch. The lunch wasn’t memorable for its quality or quantity, but the anticipation had suppressed my appetite. Afterwards, Alain met me at the grange and we spent over two hours tasting his 2006 red in barrique, the cabernet sauvignon, syrah and mourvèdre wines all separated.

I drooled over their quality and the setting. They were all rich, powerful and magnificent even if they were unfinished. His wines, like those of le Domaine de Trevallon (where Laurent, Alain’s youngest son, had trained under the tutelage of the great Eloi Dürrbach), have a distinct flavour and perfume which I rarely taste anywhere else.

La Grange des Pères is a combination of wild garrigue herbs, black fruits, freshness and meatiness. That day, each cépage brought something to the wine: the cabernet brought tautness and freshness; the syrah black fruits, meatiness and garrigue herbs; the mourvèdre some cherry, spice, earth and gaminess. Typically, the final blend also contains small quantities of counoise and petit verdot which enhance the freshness, fragrance and complexity.

We must have been tasting for an hour when Laurent came by, shook my hand and exchanged a few pleasantries, but he wasn’t one for making small talk. He was a shy man in a hurry as he sped past the grange and into the house. Alain, on the other hand, was very talkative and I had to drag myself away, very reluctantly, to get to that rugby match.

All this had happened in 2008 so in early July this year, I dropped in again. There was no point in calling or emailing or tweeting ahead because I knew that wasn’t the way they worked.

This time I tracked Alain down at the grange and he gave me the same generous welcome he had done five years before. He was again denim-clad, obviously older, but looking slim and very fit for a septuagenarian. Under the high sun, I could feel the sun prickling my head as we walked into the cool grange where we chatted for another two hours.

Rather than walk me through the wines this time, he told me all about his family. Bernard, his eldest son, had struggled at school due to poor teaching and become the family’s mechanical genius, able to resurrect old second hand farm machinery. Alain’s father was a marksman able to kill a wild boar at a hundred metres without sights. Laurent is the winemaking genius, constantly searching for improvement. They would like to buy more land to grow more roussanne and marsanne so they can increase production of their legendary white wine, but another local family owns the ideal site. They have stopped adding chardonnay to their whites because the wild boars eat the grapes before they can harvest them.

I bought one of the last cases of their 2010 red for cash which is now maturing in a generous friend’s cellar in the Pyrenees, but they had already exhausted their whites. Inside each case, they place a bay leaf and sprig of thyme, redolent of the warm, garrigue perfume. Laurent thinks his reds are best after a decade of cellaring, but says people who like them young should drink them earlier as there are no set rules for personal taste. Whatever the critics say, taste is in the mouth of the beholder and essentially subjective. It will be some time before I drink mine, assuming my friend doesn’t beat me to it which is entirely possible.

After a couple of very pleasant and memorable hours, I thanked Alain for his time, promised to return in the near future and drove to a restaurant he had recommended near Pic Saint Loup. Surrounded by the chattering cigales and seated under a glorious micocoulier tree which protected me from the high afternoon sun, I enjoyed a slow, late lunch of prawns à la japonaise (yes, even in the deep south of France), beef from the Aubrac region and local cheeses, washed down with a bottle of Mas Julien white (only because the restaurant didn’t have the very rare la Grange des Pères). Life doesn’t get much better than this, I thought.

Like Thierry Allemand of Cornas or Eloi Dürrbach of Trevallon, la Grange des Pères encapsulates everything I love about this type of wine making – artistry, passion, longevity, simplicity, humility, hard work and determination. The Vaillés represent the very antithesis of the quick-fix, blingy and ‘look-at-me’ culture. They cultivate wines not publicity. They just want to make great wines with an enduring sense of terroir.

If you are passionate about this wine and your French is up to it (complete fluency essential) and you don’t mind knocking on strangers’ doors, you could drop in to see them. On the off chance you track them down, you will have an unforgettable experience.