hop_along -

Something clearly pushed your button. There's no reason to make personal attacks or character judgments based on 2 sentences.

I'm an equal opportunity drinker (both wine and beer) who consciously goes out of my way to frequent small producers versus the big guys. I just know what tastes good (or not) to me. And the VA wines I've had so far don't taste good to me (even though I've had very pleasant tastings, especially at Breaux which like a little Tuscany right here in VA).

Which is why I thought Gekko's statement was funny (and also note Gekko's *opinion* of personal taste).

[end self defense]

OK, sorry for the over-reaction (but I don't really think it was an over-reaction.) .... I read Wine Spectator for years and generally enjoyed it but found its ratings irrelevant to the point of being meaningless. Besides, even WS says its own low ratings of 70s signify good wine, if not what it calls great wine. Perhaps the harsh critics of the so-called lesser efforts should consider that. (It wasn't that many years ago when snobs the world over, including in the U.S., made fun of California wines.) Peace.

"I read Wine Spectator for years and generally enjoyed it but found its ratings irrelevant to the point of being meaningless."

YIKES !!! You dareth speak blasphemy on the vinters bible!!! Thou's loins must lust for vinegret!

Ha ha gt;

It did take a while for California wines to achieve greatness...to the chegrin of the French....but that process was a steadily improving cultivation and maturing of vines, through the miracles of science and horticulture.

This is quite simple.....soil, humidity, temperature deviations/climate conditions and finally the skill of the vinter, determine the flavor of wine.

There is no substitute for mother nature, and Virginia simply does not have the conditions to make a great wine. I'm sure they do make a decent ice wine....like those crazy cannucks do at Inniskillin wines in Ontario....but I would never have a great desire to purchase an Ontario CA wine either.

Just like a good Cohiba...and I am talking about the REAL thing from Cuba....cannot be compared to the legally imported Cohiba grown by the same family, with seeds from the cuban version grown in the Dominican Republic.

Anyone who knows their cigars will instantly know the difference when they light one up....ahh not that I would know anything about that !!! oh no ...not me.. ;>

And just to defend the "bible", I find it a great guide picking up wines of all price ranges.

The only thing that I found better than that was a girl I used to date who was a wine buyer....ohh I was so in love back then....and she was cool too!