Discrepancy

V

VS

Victor de la Serna
Sorry to bring up something as vulgar as numbers, but this is just too eye-catching...

The three Marcassin pinots noirs 2005 as rated by The Wine Advocate in Dec. 2008: 94, 96 and 98+.

The same three as rated by Burghound now: 76, 79 and 82. Meadows describes them as mercaptan-ridden.
 
One of the things that's been interesting over the years is watching people learning about wine flaws and realizing that Parker is really insensitive to a number of them. Perhaps more so than almost any other major critic, in fact. And I've seen Marcassin be the vector for a lot of those realizations. (Screaming Eagle, too, but of course not many can afford that.)

I still shudder every time I remember any of my encounters with Marcassin. They were caricatures before caricature became a popular winemaking style.
 
Timing may be a factor, Thor. The two tastings are almost two years apart. Mercaptans-thiols have a way of growing, growing in the bottle...
 
Absolutely. But I think the assertion is generally true. I obviously notice it most with my own personal Javert (VA), which has no level of elevation that appears to bother the critic in question (and a lot of the ultra-late-harvest wines he loves are riddled with the stuff), but even at release there have a been a lot of wines that have been identified as top of class by Parker and indelibly flawed by others at release. It's not a new thing, but the realization even amongst fans that it's the case is a fairly new thing.

But of course, anyone who loves, say, Carlisle is similarly insensitive to VA and can rely on his judgments in that regard.
 
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