Any opinions on Tanzer as a wine critic?

WINE TALK
41

Personally, I really like Tanzer.

His scores seem to generally be closer to what I would agree with than any other critic, and I think he is more consistent than BH…

Just my 2c…

42

[quote=“Lance Smith”]
I am not sure I have ever seen a 96/97 ‘pointer’ out of him as a matter of fact.[quote]

2005 Cayuse Wallah Wallah Neutral Barrel Cailloux Syrah = 96pts!!

**that is the wine…to your left

43

Tanzer and Raynolds are my go to guys for Chablis, Central Coast Cali, Sancerre, Germany, Rhone, and I like his take on WA State as well. Tanzer rocks the hizz-ouse!

44

I haven’t read Tanzer’s reviews - a few on CT, that’s all - but after reading this thread I’m considering it. A comment, though, about CT reviews: I find they aggregate in the 84-88 range for about 80% of what I see. Often, the reviews are paragraph-length synonyms of “I don’t know” and an 85 is tacked on. That said, I loooooove CT and the reviewing functionality, and some of the reviewers are dyn-o-mite. I just need to get better about identifying favorites, I suppose.

45

I have been lucky enough to taste with Tanzer over the years and have always enjoyed it. Highly intelligent, and superb palette. I always walk away feeling like I learned something. Getting a 95+ from him is very hard.

46

wow–they’re letting anybody in these days! Welcome.
alan

47

I think the Tanzer crew are the best - no irrational exuberance, respect for wines of finesse and not star struck.

48

I subscribed only because of the integration with CellarTracker, but have been a repeat customer of IWC for 3-4 years now. If I didn’t find it valuable, I wouldn’t keep paying…

49

My gripe isn’t about the staff, but about the current format. They went to web-only, and they haven’t added anything additional. Parker’s site updates quite a bit during the during week, and I only find about 1 or 2 updates per month on the IWC site. Even it was just an essay or some words on a vintage, goings on in the wine industry, whatever, it would be welcome to get more info from these guys.

50

+1

51

But can anyone name any prominent wines that Parker jizzes over and Tanzer calls out as bad wine? What does Tanzer have to say about the Harlans, Pavies, Sine Qua Nons of the world? It’s fine if he thinks they’re great wines too, but if that’s the case he doesn’t deserve the rep of being a champion of elegance or classicism in alternative to PArker.

52

I don’t think anyone calls him the anti-Parker but I do think he is more open to all styles. That’s the biggest reason I like Tanzer. The notion that it has to be one or the other is woefully tiresome.

53

Noone’s saying it has to be one or the other, just that anyone following Tanzer because they believe he respects wines of finesse, as was said above, should be aware that he also respects wines that are the antithesis of finesse. That might negate the value of his advice for finesse-seekers.

While I agree the notion that everyone needs to choose sides is tiresome, equally tiresome is the notion that you can’t call a wine junk if it’s a good example of what it’s trying to be. Sometimes the genre a wine is trying to be, is junk.

54

My theory is that guys like Parker and Tanzer and Suckling, who sample 5000 to 10,000 wines per year, have long since lost their tastebuds [and their senses of smell], to the point that the Harlans, the Pavies, and the Sine Qua Nons are all that can arouse them anymore.

Anything less than that probably tastes like water to them.

55

Other than my wine geek friends, I trust ST more for my palate than the other pros.

56

I have not seen a WA or IWC in three + years. Amazing how that was my go to read for a while. I trust one palate. Mine.

57
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58

Gilman is more of a “finesse-terroir” guy than tanzer.

59

I subscribe (and have for many years) to Tanzer and Parker.
When Tanzer gives a wine a reasonably priced, 89 score, I am out the door, ready to buy!

60

Just discovered this site ( thanks Michiel). Looks most interesting and great to catch up with many of the RPrejected . Only concern is do I want to belong to a group that permits me and Ebbe to be members [shock.gif]

I find that Tanzer is a very disciplined and consistent taster and while a little more tight on scores he still has the common, across most critics, problem of too compressed score ranges for numbers to give a true relativity of wines.