Chris Kissack & Jim Budd banned from tasting Huet's 2013s.

Here's the one from Jim Budd: click

Ah, someone else to be banned: click

Chris' site is behind a paywall so only blog articles are available. Here is a seemingly relevant one: click

...which points to this article by Jim Budd: click

So, is either one vituperative or petty? I don't think so. They have a questioning tone, they freely discuss their own imaginations of conflicts between quality and commerce, and they do cast a jaundiced eye on the LRVF and on RWC. But only someone with a spun-sugar fragile ego would be upset enough by these articles to exact such a public own-nose-cutting revenge.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
I suspect that the sensitivity was more around the discussion of Pinguet's departure than around the reviews of particular wines.

[...]
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It's easy to get the impression that Hwang the younger has difficulty disaggregating a detached assessment of the wines from loyalty (imagined or not) to Pinguet.
 
originally posted by robert ames:
check out this blog and jacqueline fredrich's comment that follows.

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www.vinography.com
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Sarah tossed out Jim Budd, too, who has had his issues with JF in the not so distant past.

Things get a bit factional sometimes.

Not that it wouldn't be interesting to hear from the Domaine.
 
originally posted by robert ames:
check out this blog and jacqueline fredrich's comment that follows.

Loading…

www.vinography.com
Click to expand...

Given her run-ins with Jim Budd over l'affaire Baumard, I'm not sure that she's an entirely neutral party.

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
I didn't adore them, but I'm afraid to mention it lest I be blackballed.
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Your comment "The LHL sec is nice wine, not big nor ripe, but clean and balanced," is a bit more than faint praise . . .

I liked it quite a bit, particularly the not big nor ripe part, and I did not detect any rot (you mention severe selection).
 
We had a '12 Bourg sec a few weeks ago and I posted the note below. Not as exciting at this point as, say, the 2010, to my sensibilities; it even seemed to struggle a bit for balance at first. But we may have opened it too early after overseas shipping. My wife liked it plenty; my reaction leaned more Kissack/Budd than Gilman.

This Bourg sec showed nice Chenin acidity in a very lean, austere presentation, with no obvious RS initially to round out the twangy tartness or bulk up the light-ish body. Characteristic aromas of grapefruit, mild pit fruit. The acidity seemed to relax just a bit with extended air time, and a hint of RS entered the picture.
 
I stopped taking Friedrich seriously after she pronounced the lanolin character in Chenin Blanc to be a flaw.

Per JF from her blog:
That said, while it's true that "wet wool" is a descriptor often associated with chenin, I think of it as one of the negative aspects of chenin, in the same way that the horsey or gamey Bretty aromas you find in red wines can either please or displease.
I really dislike that aspect of chenin. This time around I'm doing my darndest to get to the bottom of it. In other words, what causes it? Some of my theories include: lack of phenolic maturity; oxidation or other mishandling of the harvest; reduction.
I will report on some of my investigative efforts on the site but certainly, and greater length, in the book.
 
Actually, exclusion of journalists from specific wineries, as well as from various forms of wine presentation organized by importers and distributors, occurs regularly.
What's unusual is how directly this was handled. Typically, you have unreturned phone calls and emails, scheduling conflicts and sudden trips out of town, and other kinds of "we don't want you" stealth.
 
originally posted by .sasha:
Actually, exclusion of journalists from specific wineries, as well as from various forms of wine presentation organized by importers and distributors, occurs regularly.
What's unusual is how directly this was handled. Typically, you have unreturned phone calls and emails, scheduling conflicts and sudden trips out of town, and other kinds of "we don't want you" stealth.
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I guess I can see banning journalists one views as 'hostile' from one's winery. Doing it at an open trade event is petty and kind of sad.
 
originally posted by John McIlwain:

I guess I can see banning journalists one views as 'hostile' from one's winery. Doing it at an open trade event is petty and kind of sad.
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Yes. "These 500 people can taste with us this week, but you will have to stand in the corner over there."
 
Not to mention the whole, "how dare you say that one vintage if our wines might not be as good as or better than every previous vintage" aspect of the thing.
 
Sarah looks fairly young in photos, and apparently this is her first year at the head of the operation. I imagine she has felt herself to be under crushing pressure, considering Huet's history - both long-term and recent - and she has had very bad luck with weather her first two vintages. In the circumstances, lashing out at two writers who have consistently praised her predecessor's wines is a rookie mistake that is kind of understandable on a human level. It's fixable, and she may learn from it. Most of the criticism directed at her behavior seems fair, but I've read some showy outrage in other discussions that isn't much better conceived.
 
originally posted by .sasha:
Actually, exclusion of journalists from specific wineries, as well as from various forms of wine presentation organized by importers and distributors, occurs regularly.
What's unusual is how directly this was handled. Typically, you have unreturned phone calls and emails, scheduling conflicts and sudden trips out of town, and other kinds of "we don't want you" stealth.
Click to expand...

When you put it that way I now kind of respect Mrs. Hawng for not being a passive-aggressive.
 
I really can't believe at this point that it all stems solely from less than stellar reviews of the '12s. Purely speculative, but I would imagine that their coverage of the breakup with Pinguet might also be at play here.
 
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