If you drink wine on a regular basis but feel like you don't know much about wine, do you want to try something a step up from the wine you usually drink? Even so, for those who don't know what to choose, we will tell you how to step up.
How to choose a wine that is one step higher
If you have been incorporating wine into your daily meals and have started to understand your preferences for varieties and flavors, do you want to enjoy wine even more?
Once you've been familiar with something for a certain period of time, you want to aim higher, learn more about it, and experience it more. The same goes for wine; it's natural to want to drink something better than the wine you're currently drinking. But how can I step up?
Of course, you can learn about wine by studying and gaining knowledge about it, but it takes time.
In such a case, what to do is to rely on others!
Who do you rely on? Wine critics.
wine critic
In the world of wine, there are "wine critics." Wine critics have deep knowledge of wine and high tasting ability, and they taste and evaluate a huge number of wines.
Let's take a look at these professional evaluations.
robert parker
The most famous wine critic is, of course, Robert Parker. Robert Parker founded Wine Advocate, an American wine rating magazine, in 1978. The 100-point rating system was easy for consumers to understand, and Robert Parker became very influential. Wines that received high scores from Robert Parker began to rise in price.
There are pros and cons to assigning points to wine, but there is no doubt that Robert Parker has a genius tasting ability.
Robert Parker also announced his retirement in 2019 at the age of 71. Even after his retirement, ``Wine Advocate'' continues, so you may want to refer to its scores. In wine shops, "RP" stands for "Robert Parker," and "WA" stands for "Wine Advocate."
Wine is first given a basic score of 50 points, followed by 5 points for appearance, 15 points for aroma, 20 points for taste, and 10 points for overall quality, for a total of 100 points.
The meaning of the score is as follows, and a score of 80 or above is considered a "good wine".
100 points to 96 points: exceptional
95 points to 90 points: Outstanding
89 points to 80 points: Excellent
79 points to 70 points: average
69 points to 60 points: below average
59 points to 50 points: unacceptable
James Suckling
The most popular wine critic at the moment is James Suckling. James Suckling, now 63 years old, started JamesSuckling.com in 2010 after working as editor-in-chief and European director of Wine Spectator for nearly 30 years.
James Suckling is a superhuman who has tasted nearly 250,000 types of wine so far, and says he has tasted 18,000 types in 2020 and will increase to 25,000 types this year. JamesSuckling.com currently offers 130,000 wine ratings and rates 2,000 wines per month.
This incredible number of wine reviews is also the influence of James Suckling.
He also puts effort into communicating on SNS, with 290,000 followers on Instagram, 79,000 followers on Facebook, and 54,000 followers on Twitter.
In particular, Instagram posts multiple times a day, and there are also videos of conversations with producers around the world, so be sure to check it out. Just watching James Suckling surrounded by tons of wine is fun! Tasting so many wines requires an iron liver. I can't believe we're the same person, and I'm so jealous.
Furthermore, James Suckling holds over 20 large-scale events a year and is extremely popular. At first glance, he looks like an ordinary person, but when he has this much influence, he starts to look cool.
James Suckling is also evaluated on a 100 point scale.
The scoring method is different from Robert Parker's, with 15 points for appearance, 25 points for fragrance, 25 points for body and structure, and 35 points for overall impression, for a total of 100 points.
The meaning of James Suckling's score is as follows.
100 points to 95 points: Must buy (must buy)
94 points to 90 points: Excellent wine
89 points or less: Wines that may be worth buying but require caution.
When you see "JS" written in wine shops, it refers to James Suckling. It's fun to try wine based on JS scores and James Suckling's social media.
James Suckling releases his ``TOP 100'' wines once a year. The 2018 vintage ``Trainta y Dos'' from Argentina's Bodega Chakra took first place in this much-anticipated ranking in 2020.
Here, I would like to introduce you to Bodega Chakra.
bodega chakra
Bodega Chakra is a winery founded in 2004 by Piero Incisa della Rochetta. Mr. Piero Incisa della Rocchetta is the grandson of Mr. Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, the founder of Tenuta San Guido (Sassicaia), an Italian manufacturer of Super Tuscans.
In Argentina, where Malbec is the main producer, Piero Incisa della Rocchetta took on the challenge of growing Pinot Noir. We use biodynamic farming methods to grow grapes in harmony with nature.
This is "Barda" made by Bodega Chakra. This wine allows you to easily enjoy Bodega Chakra's Pinot Noir. It has fruity aromas of strawberries and raspberries, with floral nuances. It has a supple taste with a balance of beautiful acid and tannins.
Next, we would like to introduce Clos Apalta's ``Clo Apalta 2017,'' which received a perfect score of 100 from James Suckling and ranked 10th in the TOP 100 in 2020.
Clos Aparta
Clos Apalta is a Chilean winery founded in 1994 by Alexandra Marnier Lapostolle and her husband Cyril de Brunet. We cultivate grapes without compromise and carefully brew wine. In addition, we have obtained certification for organic farming and biodynamic farming, and are active in sustainable initiatives. In addition to natural wine-making methods such as fermentation with natural yeast, we are also environmentally friendly by introducing mechanisms to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and using pomace residue for compost.
"Clo Aparta 2017"
Aged for 27 months in French oak, this wine has a complex aroma, full of fruit notes including raspberry and wild strawberry. The taste is smooth, with silky tannins. You can also feel the spice aroma in your mouth, and the aftertaste is long and elegant.
summary
You drink wine on a daily basis, but somehow you choose wine. By choosing wine with the help of wine critics, you can taste highly rated wines and learn about current trends. It is the wine critic's job to provide indicators, so there is no reason not to use them. In this day and age where we are overflowing with information, let's make good use of it, step up, and have fun drinking wine!
