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Red

2017 Arnot-Roberts Syrah Clary Ranch

Syrah

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Community Tasting Note

  • rlove wrote: 88 points

    June 10, 2019 - Deep purple. There's so much going on here: Violet, white pepper, chalk, and a lifted quality from a hint of VA that quickly blows off with air. Most impressive, however, is the penetrating minerality — all the more notable given the heat this vintage. Great stuff and possibly underscored. Drink starting 2023.

    2 people found this helpful 2,561 views

4 Comments

  • KPB commented:

    10/1/19, 3:50 PM - This is a helpful TN but your scoring system is wildly at odds with the prevailing approach. That harms the winery (and I have no affiliation with them). I know that probably you think of the score as being for yourself, or think of this as a kind of statement of independence, and I'm fine with that. Even so, do consider the potential that you are hurting the winemakers.

  • rlove commented:

    10/2/19, 6:02 AM - Ken, 88 is a fine score. 2017 was a rough year and the team pulled off a good wine given the constraints.

  • KPB commented:

    10/2/19, 8:22 AM - I disagree: as most people use the scoring system, 88 is a pretty poor score, more or less "I didn't pour it out, but would certainly not want to buy it." Wines that are recommended, even weakly, start at 89. 90 is "pretty good" and closer to the tone of your review, but I would have expected 89 or 90.

    Look, this isn't about how I grade or how you grade. There are simply community behaviors and norms here -- on the whole, professional reviewers and CT scoring sends a negative message with 88 or below. If you didn't like the wine much and think people should steer away from it, 88 or lower is a fine score and also a good way to signal this. But if you intend to say that "not a bad wine to own and cellar" there is just a reality here -- people score such wines 89 or higher.

    Or write (as I sometimes do): "Score: I'm putting this in as 88 because for me, this number feels right. But many people would probably score this more like 89 or 90, because many people and even many professionals inflate scores way too much."

    A bit like college grading. You can explain to students that a B- is a fine grade, a passing grade, hard to earn from you. But the bottom line is that convincing them that this isn't a form of F is hard. And yet B really is considered to be a fine grade.

  • rlove commented:

    10/2/19, 10:09 AM - Ken, I earned plenty of Bs in college. And worse.

    From Cellartracker's own guidance[1], an 88 is "very good." Moreover I drink plenty of fine Burgundies rated in the mid/high 80s by Allen Meadows, the finest critic I know, and no one argues he is saying those wines are subpar.

    Arguing one should put 89 vs 88 here is hardly worth our time, particularly given I already note my score may be low in the note itself.

    [1] https://support.cellartracker.com/article/49-tasting-notes-and-ratings

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