Has there ever been so many highly reviewed vintages from so many areas? More quality wine to buy (or is it ratings inflation)? RP calls '07 S. Rhone a "truly historic and profoundly great vintage" with 10 100 pointers, a number of 97 through 99 ratings. Piedmont is reviewed "I have n...

Congratulations Nic. It'll be fun for Simone to have a sibling, and it is sure a discovery process at how unique a blessing each child can be.

Mar 25-28 works for me as well.

I'm more likely to make a Chicago event....but our kids spring break is April 5-9, and it might be hard to make it during the break. I'm thinking you should take a poll of dates. There's quite a few holidays in April/May, e.g. Passover Tues, Mar 30 - Mon, Apr 5 Easter Sun, Apr 4 Yom Hashoah Nis 27, ...

RDD - I recall an earlier post where you were talking about doing the P-B-P. Is that still the plan? Have you done all the brevets to qualify? I used to ride hilly, double-centuries until I came down with overtraining syndrome. It wrecked havoc on my sleep pattern for several years, then with small ...

This is likely to get lost in the festivities to the east, with good reason, but this is an interesting article on an good, small producer from Washington State, making subtle wines that develop with age. What a novel concept. http://cadencewinery.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/WFW-25-Veraison.pdf

The lack of Oregon and Washington wines is appalling. Shameful. Disturbing. Oh well, just more for the rest of us. Great job on the '05s, Blanquito. My stats..... HDL 42. Bdx 54% Burg 10% Wash. 8% Germany 5% Rhone 5% Italy 4% Sauterne 4% Oregon 3% Calif 2% Spain 2% Misc (Loire, Austria, Australia, N...

From what I see, RP has reviewed Gruaud Larose every vintage from 2008 back to 1970 (except for '72 and '77). He calls the '08 the finest since '00.

I liked the Perin Reserve enough to buy 6, and drank the 2nd this past week. You described it well; Its $12 sibling, the CdR Perin Villes Vignes, is a couple steps up in quality and another bargain. They are both bordering on too sweet for me, but not over the edge.

Sounds like a great experience, Alex. Thanks for the report. It will be fun to observe all the hooplah and drama about reviews and pricing. I would also guess the pricing would be high, not only for the perceived demand but to try to make '06 - '08 appear as values in comparison. It is hard to say w...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125192460913580955.html

This is a "luxury good" approach.....contrived scarcity to keep prices and profits high. It makes me want to drink a California bubbly......but I have none in the cellar!

Perhaps this is Phil in England is doing market research in preparation for the release of his wines......

How are your vines doing, Phil?

That is awesome. Thanks very much, Ian. Friday night is the low key night for my wife and me.....but certainly looks like now it will be the best. I'll report back with notes.

I'm thinking the Ledbury would be impossible to get into this late of a notice. This Friday night, party of 2? The wine list is amazing. We're flexible on time if there's a way we could be fit in. Otherwise, Brinkleys looks like good values and probably more in keeping with the restaurants we normal...

I have a brief trip to London coming up, and am staying in the Chelsea(?) area (101 Knightsbridge).

Are there any interesting wine stores in the area, or recommendations for restaurants?
Is Vinopolis worthwhile, or just a tourist trap?

2009 is the greatest. The greatest is always the one being sold, but with 2007 clearly having challenges, and RP, despite his enthusiasm, giving vintage ratings for 2008 that are just slighly above his average, that only leaves 2009.

Thanks Alex (and Tom). A thoughtfully worded answer.

It will be interesting to watch this unfold.

Alex - so what is the word among the Bordelais about the '08 vintage? I remember reading a couple of threads where you were saying that the Bordelais knew the high quality of '82 (which RP affirmed, although many other critics were dissenters). While the weather was very challenging in '08, is the B...

....and I'm not sure RP will ever throw in the towell voluntarily....he may stick around into his 80s, just focusing on less areas. What with '09 being the next vintage of the century.....his charismatic influence on futures will probably not wane soon (although if '08 turns out to be a quality bust...

Thanks for the note, sounds like another good wine along with Barde Haut. I have a case of Haut Bergey in the cellar, but was waiting to taste when my 375s arrive. You'd think PC would be deliverying them, but no, they have the '06 HB in stock and on sale for $17, as Bill noted above, and can't even...

Apparently a large US importer/distributor who historically was a major Bordeaux futures buyer, is offloading their considerable '06 inventory, and has decided not to purchase Bordeaux futures anymore. So the lower prices seem to be widespread....like the Pop's prices (first growths at up to 50% off...