Thoughts on the Guide Hachette des Vins?

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Thoughts on the Guide Hachette des Vins? - 8/12/2013 8:16:21 PM

Jhcwine

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The Guide Hachette des Vins is purported to be the review authority on French wine, at least in France. Anyone have any knowledge of them? Where do their tastes lie? How generous are they in their ratings? For those of us whose tastes run counter to Parker, are they a viable review and scoring alternative?

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RE: Thoughts on the Guide Hachette des Vins? - 8/13/2013 1:40:44 AM

Ricardo

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I have the 2010 edition - it's in French, now and again they publish in English but not every year.

In no way is it a guide to the best wines available, simply because many vineyards don't bother to put their wines up for selection, especially if they already have a good enough reputation to sell their production. I find the reviews to be pretty subjective anyway - often only one wine from one year of the many available is selected, for instance.

I would consider it the vinous equivalent of the Michelin hotel & restaurant red guide - it's a very good tool to use if you are visiting a French wine region that is unfamiliar to you, with addresses. phone numbers and web addresses, but not much more than that IMO..

(in reply to Jhcwine)

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RE: Thoughts on the Guide Hachette des Vins? - 8/13/2013 5:44:42 AM

Yossarian

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I agree with Ricardo - a fairly mediocre book that offers nothing other than bland ratings of a fraction of the wines you'll find in France.

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RE: Thoughts on the Guide Hachette des Vins? - 8/13/2013 11:43:28 AM

DK Amateur

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In my somewhat erratic experience of the Guide Hachette I have not been really convinced about the consistency of their judgments. I fear they might be as arbitrary as my own ...

It is my impression that it should primarily be seen as a guide to people living in France wanting to purchase wines directly from the producer. That is a market which is different from the one that interests the wine geek, i.e. most of us here, I suppose. First, because the really great names (Leflaive, Rousseau, Coche-Dury etc.) probably cannot be bought in that way anymore, so they go for the middle class and upper middle class of wines. In that case there probably is some overlap to our interests in the top end. But the latter is under-represented or absent.

There are also other French sources on French wines. For the geeks, Bettane & Desseauve, and as alternatives to Hachette, Gault-Millau (also online) and Revue du vin de France which goes back to 1927.

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RE: Thoughts on the Guide Hachette des Vins? - 8/13/2013 12:21:51 PM

ericindc

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quote:

ORIGINAL: DK Amateur

In my somewhat erratic experience of the Guide Hachette I have not been really convinced about the consistency of their judgments. I fear they might be as arbitrary as my own ...

It is my impression that it should primarily be seen as a guide to people living in France wanting to purchase wines directly from the producer. That is a market which is different from the one that interests the wine geek, i.e. most of us here, I suppose. First, because the really great names (Leflaive, Rousseau, Coche-Dury etc.) probably cannot be bought in that way anymore, so they go for the middle class and upper middle class of wines. In that case there probably is some overlap to our interests in the top end. But the latter is under-represented or absent.

There are also other French sources on French wines. For the geeks, Bettane & Desseauve, and as alternatives to Hachette, Gault-Millau (also online) and Revue du vin de France which goes back to 1927.

Can you even get La Revue du vin de France in the US? I read some of their articles at larvf.com but my french isnt good enough to call the magazine and ask.

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RE: Thoughts on the Guide Hachette des Vins? - 8/13/2013 1:20:39 PM

champagneinhand

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I tried to look for the app they were talking about on the web site, but no could find in the Mac app store.

I wondered if it was a direct from the producer thing, being that it had many regions, including Alsace in their. One to three stars is pretty general. Gold, Silver and whatever third place gets, doesn't really get to specific.

I don't need somebody to wax all intellectual for multiple paragraphs, but I dod nee some kind of descriptors. It wouldn't be a bad book to own, nice to add to the collection. Plus additional thoughts on the 2009 vintage would always be welcome. I checked out the UK, amazon website. reasonable price for the size of the book, but shipping would be an issue. Maybe a future iBook in the works?

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RE: Thoughts on the Guide Hachette des Vins? - 8/13/2013 2:51:03 PM

Tanatastic

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Subjectivity is everything!

You can bet your bottom dollar that any winery receiving top billing from the Guide Hachette will prominently display it in their window. Montus (or rather ironically should I say, as you can't visit Ch. Montus) Chateau Bouscasse has a gushing article from GH about Ch Montus prominently displayed. Take it like all guides, as just a guide. Rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men, and all that.

Still the best detailed wine guide for me was The Wine Report, but that sadly hit the skids in 2010.

I tend to buy the Revue du Vin de France now. But as has been mentioned above, I do a large amount of my purchasing direct from Chateaux these days (France is only a car drive away on this side of the Atlantic

) so they are really useful tools for picking up addresses etc etc etc in advance. Though, with most wineries coming out of the dark ages and discovering the web recently, this is less important. If you're simply buying wines I would suggest they are largely superfluous, best off sticking to CT and previously trusted sources.

(in reply to champagneinhand)

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