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blake murphy

On Tue, 24 Jul 2007 01:28:51 -0000, wrote:

>On Jul 22, 4:40 pm, "James Silverton" >
>wrote:
>> Potomac, Maryland > wrote in message
>>
>> oups.com...
>> On Jul 22, 12:45 pm, "James Silverton" > wrote:
>>
>> > notbob wrote on Sun, 22 Jul 2007 14:01:25 -0500:
>> >
>> > ??>> I guess standards differ. TJs wines are drinkable but I've
>> > ??>> not had a *great* bottle of wine for $5 since the 1960s
>> > ??>> :-)
>> >
>> > n> I have. A 1L bottle, no less. Back around '92-93, Woodside
>> > n> was closing out the previous year's bottling of Zinfandel.
>> > n> They were discounting it all over town and I was just
>> > n> getting started on wines. I bought out all the places that
>> > n> still had some, about 6 cases from different stores, all
>> > n> bottled in different places, all about $5-6. Most of it was
>> > n> just ok, a few bottles had turned, but there were 4-5
>> > n> bottles that were spectacular, even by a neophyte's
>> > n> standards.
>> >
>> > n> While not a $5 bottle, Gallo had a cab in '94 that was
>> > n> fantastic for only $9-10. When people caught on, it went
>> > n> like wildfire. I wish I still had some of those.
>> >
>> > Not to downgrade the bargain too much, $10 in 1994 is equivalent
>> > to $13-14 now and $14 will get you a very decent bottle of OZ
>> > Shiraz. Spending over $20 will get something verging on very
>> > good.
>> >
>> > James Silverton
>> > Potomac, Maryland
>>
>> help me out James, still a novice here, although my hubby enjoys
>> expensive champagne. Let me ask you how a cheap wine WINS a
>> competition like this TJ wine did, if you can't get anything good for
>> under $20.00. I am not doubting you or causing a fight. Just wonder,
>> really, how a wine can win if it is only a couple of bucks but real
>> wine drinkers insist it can't be good. How do they finagle those darn
>> contests? >B.T.
>>
>> It depends a lot on how tastings and competitions are organized. Most of
>> the stuff reported is anecdotal. The only way to really rate wines is a
>> blind tasting like the famous one of 1976 where California wines came out
>> ahead of French and most of the tasters were French. The French have been
>> proclaiming "We wuz robbed" ever since. If Wine Spectator were not in the
>> business of selling wine, they might be a lot more honest.
>>
>> --
>> Jim Silverton
>
>Thank you Jim! I suspect that often a cheap wine gets good marks only
>because it is a remarkable bargain. I'd prefer to have wines reviewed
>next to each other without regard of any kind for the price. Than you
>could really see what the honest feedback is. > B.T.

um, it was a blind tasting. do you know what that means?

your pal,
blake