Jeb Dunnuck on 2016 Washington State

Jeb’s tastes align with mine, and I find him an incredibly reliable taster. He is not afraid to heap high praise on an inexpensive wine, and vice versa. You don’t see him posting pictures of himself tasting and scoring wines in the presence of the vineyard owner or wine maker, as Suckling does on a regular basis. I find that particularly obnoxious. He lays low and focuses on the wine. For those who subscribe, Jeb’s recent 2016 Washington report contains recommendations on what appear to be fantastic bargains on Syrah, cabernet, merlot and Bordeaux varietals. I am not a Washington aficionado but I’m buying when some become available. Some are starting to come on line now, i.e. 2016 Andrew Will Sorella (99).

Good for you that JD’s and your palates agree - it sure makes blind purchases a little easier, but for me, it seems like JD is getting real close to becoming Suckles #2. For me, it seems like I have to discount his scores at least two to three points these days and for WA wine, I would even increase that discount to a range of three to five points. Just my data point here. Cheers!

2016 Andrew Will Sorella (99).

That seems high. I love Andrew Will wines and they need time. Hard to believe a pop and pour is a 99 point wine.

He turned me on to K Vintners. I have found some good stuff from them at relatively decent prices for the high scores he gives them.

+1
He seems to like everything.

Scott E. wrote: ↑
Wed Apr 17, 2019 5:33 pm
Good for you that JD’s and your palates agree - it sure makes blind purchases a little easier, but for me, it seems like JD is getting real close to becoming Suckles #2. For me, it seems like I have to discount his scores at least two to three points these days and for WA wine, I would even increase that discount to a range of three to five points. Just my data point here. Cheers!
+1
He seems to like everything.

By liking everything the critics get the free samples and make money from subscribers and move products off the shelves.

99 on a young WA wine makes his pts rather worthless for me.

Serves his purpose so good on him!

I’ll serve you one blind when you come in June. See how many points you give it when it is served blind.

He 91 pointed a wine that I recently had that will likely garner 94’s and 95’s when it’s actually released this fall. He’s into hedonistic wines and not so much into subtlety, and not so much interested in what a wine will be like in 5-10 years. Although what reviewer is these days.

Not really blind now, is it?

Not picking on you, but most (all) CA wines are tasted young. So a 99 point young CA cab is worthy, but a young WA wine isn’t??

Wait, there are wines that aren’t a JD 99 or higher?

IMHO, its all subjective to begin with so if you find a reviewer with the same tastes as you his ratings may be more meaningful to you.
I take ratings with a huge grain of salt, as it seems crappy wines are now rated in the high 80s and mediocre wines are now 90-91 regularly.
Seems no reviewer wants to ever really say anything bad and not get “taken care of” by the winery or industry. I have had many so called “better” wines that I would put in the low to mid 80’s, yet I rarely see a reviewer do that.

We regularly do dinners with wine friends where we all like a 91pt “rated” wine over a 94pt “rated” wine.

Dave, no worries, not feeling picked on, just a personal opinion anyways [cheers.gif]

But yes, correct. I think WA bdx varieties do not reach the heights that CA does. I live here and have bought/tasted WA wines for 10+ years…
I actually enjoy Andrew Will as one of the favs for cab in WA. but there’s no way they reach the same level of a Colgin, Scarecrow, or even Ridge MB in my opinion.

At the risk of painting with a general brush. i haven’t tasted any WA wines that are worthy of 99 pt… I’ve had many WA wines that i’ve enjoyed… but at the current time, they do not reach iconic/legendary level - which is what 99 means to me personally.

Not Quilceda Creek?? ducks pepsi [stirthepothal.gif]

[rofl.gif]

How many of you have drank the wines he’s scores?

Give his high scorers a taste if you haven’t

Motor City Kitty [rofl.gif]

Cheers

Got hip to Force Majeure Winery 3 or 4 years ago from Dunnuck. Their Syrah, Cabernet, Epinette (right bank blend) and Tempranillo are world class wines right up there with many of the top producers respectively. Love their wines! www.forcemajeurevineyards.com

One of the fascinating things about Jeb’s palate is that he honed his on CdP and Rhone wines, and in many cases, these were older ones that were more delicate in their power rather than newer versions of them. He also used to sit with wines over night in most cases to assess them rather than assess them in major tastings or direct with winemakers in short meetings - and Jeb, if I am wrong, please correct me. If one is tasting rather quickly, ‘nuance’ is not what will be noticed . . .

Cheers.

My issue is that he, like Suckling, has a tendency to push the numbers up in a big way. It’s a great way to get popular with wineries and retailers. It’s a business strategy. But it seems like nearly everything is 96+ points and that he must put out 1000 notes a year at 99 or 100. There are occasions where I agree, but mostly JD seems a bit like a continuation of Parker’s palate as Parker aged. Bigger is better, alcohol is great, glycerin is a good thing, and high-abv high-aromatics is a recipe for 97+ points.

I do agree that palate alignment with a critic is all that matters. If a consumer and a critic see eye to eye on style and score, it’s a match made in heaven. If the OP connects with JD, that’s wonderful. Lucky him.