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This month’s issue covers many Southern Rhône, West Coast Pinot Noir and Red Burgundy wines that were scored in the last 30 days by the wine critics.

 At the high scoring end, the 2007 Clos du Mont-Olivet, Rhône Red Blend Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Cuvée du Papet received an average score of 96 points and at $65 is 38% of the average cost of a similar scoring Southern Rhône which rates it a “Great Value”.

 At a value index of 35%, the 2007 Chasseur, Pinot Noir Russian River Valley Freestone Station scored 94 points and cost $61 which is 35% of the average $174 cost of similar scoring West Coast Pinot Noir earning it a “Great Value” moniker.

 At the low price of $12, the 2007 Durigutti, Malbec Mendoza received an average score of 90 points and is 48% of the average $25 cost of a similar scoring Argentine Malbec earning it a “Great Value” moniker.  Another low price point value wine is the 2007 Quinta do Crasto, Port Douro that scored 88 points and cost $16 which is 31% of the average $51 cost of a similar scoring Port wine.

 A total of 821 wines are profiled in this issue.

For most people who publish their wine opinions online (wine bloggers), it is in vogue to dismiss professional wine critics and say “Don’t rely on critic scores. Trust your palate.” It seems I can’t read a profile of a wine blogger without them proudly saying they hate ratings and people shouldn’t follow them.

Yes, I do think wine is a living creature, part art, part science, and it evolves over time. But I also believe some wines are better than others, and I believe professional wine critic scores are a valuable short cut to determine what is good and what is great.

Scores help the wine consumer to both narrow and widen their choice of wines. If a consumer wants to try a new varietal, German Riesling as an example, then you want the consumer to try the best German Riesling within their budget and that is what WineBlueBook does. We take the score and compare to the street price to show the best values along with the so-so values and terrible ones too.

When a consumer is staring at 100+ wines in the supermarket wine aisle and has two minutes to choose a wine, a numerical score is a great aid. Much better than choosing the cutest label, cheapest price or recognizable name. Comparing the wine score and price and choosing the best value is what most people want. When you ask someone “What wine do you recommend for x” you are essentially saying “What wine do you recommend for x that is the best value for my money.”

The majority of the wine buying public doesn’t have the time, nor passion, to read/research/drink and discuss every wine before buying. The wine enthusiast spends their time reading/researching and drinking wine yet use similar short cuts when deciding what movie to see. Most don’t bother to read/research and discuss directors/actors when deciding what movie to go see. They rely on a “thumbs up/thumbs down” or rottentomatoes.com (a similar model to WineBlueBook but for movies).

Yes, they could trust a wine retailer, but is a wine retailer going to recommend a wine they don’t sell? Or are they tempted to sell one wine over another because they make more commission or are spiffed in other ways for recommending one region, or producer over another? It happens.

And if I trust the recommendation of a retailer, why can’t I trust the recommendation of a professional wine critic?

I am not advocating blindly buying cases of wine without first trying the wine. I recommend you take the score, price and WineBlueBook’s quality index (measures the average score to price ratio) into consideration then buy a bottle that fits your budget, try it and if you like it, buy more.

WineBlueBook takes an average of two or more professional critics. A wine must be scored by two or more professional wine critics before it is published. This ensures a score is not swayed, one way or another, by one critic.

If you are in the minority who make wine apart of your everyday life, then yes, trust your palate. But don’t criticize others who are not wine enthusiasts and choose to use wine scores in deciding which wine to purchase.

WineBlueBook is donating 50% of our new subscriber revenue to Stand With Haiti (standwithhaiti.org/haiti), a Partners in Health organization.

50% of new subscription revenue received before January 31, 2010 will be donated to Partners in Health (http://www.standwithhaiti.org/haiti).

Visit http://www.winebluebook.com/subscribe.html to subscribe.

I was on KRON last month talking about Champagne Values (December WineBlueBook issue): Neil Monnens of WineBlueBook.com on KRON4 San Francisco

I admit it… I do a terrible job of explaining WineBlueBook.  I should have picked up the Veuve Clicquot and Piper Heidsieck and said “both of these wines received 89 points, but the Piper is $17 cheaper.”  Then I should have put down the bottle of Piper and picked up the bottle of Charles Heidsieck and said “both of these wines cost $37, but the Charles received 91 points vs only 89 for Vueve.  That is what WineBlueBook does, it lists wines by score and price and shows you the values.”  Next time.

This Special Summary Issue covers 2001-2008 Australian Shiraz wines.  Updated Australian Shiraz wines, scores and prices in this issue shows the “Average Price per Score” from 2004-2008 wines scored by at least two of the major wine critics and available for sale in the US.

We did a comparison between March 2006 and December 2009 prices and found the following:

The Dec 2009 ‘price per score’ for wines lowered across the board for all scores except the high scoring 96 and 97 point wines.

At the high scoring end, the 2004 Greenock Creek, Shiraz Barossa Valley Alice’s received an average score of 97 points and at $65 is 35% of the average cost of a similar scoring Australian Shiraz, earning it a Great Value moniker.

At the low price point of $12, the 2005 Thorn-Clarke, Shiraz Barossa Valley Terra Barossa received an average score of 90 and is 46% of the average $26 cost of a similar scoring Australian Shiraz, a Great Value.

A total of 1,702 Australian Shiraz wines are profiled in this issue.

This month’s issue covers many White Burgundy, Champagne, West Coast Pinot Noir and Southern Rhône wines that were scored in the last 30 days by the wine critics.

At the high scoring end, the 2006 Hundred Acre, Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Kayli Morgan Vineyard received an average score of 97 points and at $260 it is 43% of the average cost of a similar scoring West Coast Cabernet Sauvignon.

At an amazing value index of 13%, the 2008 Domaine William Fevre, White Burgundy Chablis Valmur scored 95 points and cost $70 which is 13% of the average $555 cost of similar scoring White Burgundy earning it an “Outstanding Value” moniker.

At the low price of $13, the 2007 Domaine Andre Brunel, Rhône Red Blend Côtes du Rhône Villages Cuvée Sabrine received an average score of 91 points which is 29% of the average $45 cost of a similar scoring Southern Rhone earning it a “Great Value” moniker. Another low price point value wine is the 2006 Château Ste. Michelle, Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley Indian Wells that scored 88 points and cost $14 which is 31% of the average $45 cost of similar scoring West Coast Cabernet Sauvignon.

A total of 1,640 wines are profiled in this issue.

Our subscribers love WineBlueBook and we receive very few subscription returns.  So we decided to enhance our “subscription satisfaction guarantee” to entice everyone to try WineBlueBook.  Our new policy is this:  ”If you cancel your WineBlueBook subscription within 60 days you will receive a full refund. If you cancel after 60 days, you will only pay for the issues you received.”

It is simple.  We know you will be satisfied with your subscription, but if for some reason you aren’t (within 60 days), we will give you your money back.  That is a good amount of time for a test drive, don’t you think?

The November issue is chock full of wine values with 131 “Great Values” and five “Outstanding Values” noted. A wine is a great value if it is 50% less than similiar scoring wines if the wine is 75% less than similar scoring wines then it is an “Outstanding Value”.

The wines covered are as follows:
418 West Coast Pinot Noir are profiled. 21 Great Values.
260 White Burgundy wines are profiled. 33 Great Values, 3 Outstanding Values.
200 Champagne are profiled. 11 Great Values.
131 Southern Rhône are profiled. 14 Great Values.
124 West Coast Cabernet Sauvignon are profiled. 31 Great Values, 1 Outstanding Value.
119 West Coast Syrah are profiled. 5 Great Values, 1 Outstanding Value.
74 German Riesling are profiled. No Great Values.
69 Piedmont Reds are profiled. 1 Great Value.
48 West Coast Chardonnay are profiled. 2 Great Values.
47 Tuscan Sangiovese are profiled. 8 Great Values.
36 West Coast Merlot are profiled. 3 Great Values.
34 Argentine Malbec are profiled. No Great Values.
27 Red Burgundy are profiled. No Great Values.
23 Sauvignon Blanc are profiled. No Great Values.
17 Australian Shiraz are profiled. 3 are Great Values.
13 West Coast Zinfandel are profiled. 1 Great Value.

Details can be viewed here.

In the last week I have received promotional emails from Patz & Hall: their weekly Wink program offered their $60 2006 Zio Tony Ranch – Russian River Valley Chardonnay for $45 (Wine Advocate gave it 90 points). Now, according to WineBlueBook’s “Average Price Per Score” chart, the average price for a West Coast Chardonnay is $36, the $45 price tag is still overpriced… but if you like the wine, $45 is better than $60.

Sterling Vineyards is offering their Reserve Merlot for $299/case (reg. $900), Napa Chardonnay for $89/case (reg. $216), Three Palms Merlot for $249/case (reg. $720), Pinot Noir for $99/case (reg. $300)… No points referenced… but the percentage off these wines are worth a look.

The lesson is this… subscribing to winery email lists will allow you to buy their wines at greatly reduced prices as wineries clear out their inventory. Of course, subscribing to WineBlueBook will also make you aware of great values as they are scored by the professional critics… we always recommend that tactic.

Argentine Malbec has garnered much wine critic attention in the recent years to allow WineBlueBook to collect enough statistical data (scores and available wines in the US market) to add Argentine Malbec to our list of 19 wine varietals covered.

We developed the “Average Price per Score” from recent vintages (2004-2008) from wines scored by at least two of the major wine critics and available for sale in the US.

The point spread of the “Average Price per Score” is close, between the $13 average price for an 83 average score to $15 for an 87 point average scored Argentine Malbec. This means that an extra $2 will buy you a wine that scored four more points. And the point spread is also close with only a $2 difference between a 90 point Malbec (at $25) and a 91 point Malbec (at $27).

Overall Malbec is a great value red wine value. For $27, you can purchase a 91 rated Malbec or for roughly the same amount of money, you can buy the following red wines:
- 89 rated Australian Shiraz
- 86 rated Bordeaux
- 84 rated Red Burgundy
- 88 rated Southern Red Rhone
- 87 rated Tuscan Sangiovese
- 85 rated West Coast Cabernet Sauvignon
- 87 rated West Coast Merlot
- 85 rated West Coast Pinot Noir
- 87 rated West Coast Syrah
- 88 rated West Coast Zinfandel

At the high scoring end, the 2006 Renacer, Malbec Mendoza Punto Final Reserva received an average score of 92 points and at $15 is 38% of the average cost of a similar scoring Argentine Malbec, earning it a Great Value moniker. The 2002 Kaiken, Malbec Mendoza received an average score of 90 and at $12 is 48% of the average $25 cost of a similar scoring Argentine Malbec. At the value end, at $9, the 2008 O. Fournier, Malbec Mendoza Urban Uco Valle de Uco received an average score of 89 points and is 45% of the average $20 cost of a similar scoring Argentine Malbec.

A total of 522 Argentine Malbec wines are profiled in this issue.

Future Argentine Malbec scores will be included in WineBlueBook’s regular monthly issues.