tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632929314036232391.post2988956535002530041..comments2022-11-05T09:13:54.132+00:00Comments on The Leon Stolarski Blog: The International Wine Challenge - what is the point of it(?) and other rants!Leon Stolarskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05277390017788435310noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632929314036232391.post-51476470228315947922009-10-10T16:39:43.341+01:002009-10-10T16:39:43.341+01:00Words from the Horses Mouth, David ,Domaine du Mer...Words from the Horses Mouth, David ,Domaine du Merchien, great discussion, just finished in the chai /winery , tired and still got to load my van for market tomorrow, but I've just got to say you are all correct to a point but not seeing the small winemakers side in detail, perhaps you should talk to us more often, Robert? on GH we have been in it many times and have even been to Paris for our Coup de Coeur, but times are changing and 15 years ago we had to submit our samples in late April last year it was 16th Jan ,far to early for those of us who make wine naturally ! Competitions have become far to expensive and we from less fashionable appellations have to write to you or rely on such great wine writers as Paul Strang who take the trouble to visit wine producers like me!! Perhaps some of the big boys should get back to grass roots?? I could go on and on but I haven’t the time , wine needs to be made.Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13300286117465025451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632929314036232391.post-42120621031431300082009-10-09T09:51:43.818+01:002009-10-09T09:51:43.818+01:00Leon
Thanks for your interest. They are about 30 ...Leon<br /><br />Thanks for your interest. They are about 30 mins south of Cahors. I will let them know about Vinisud as they are very interested in fairs/events. The next local one is too early for them as they have only just finished a v.good harvest and wont have pruned the vines by then.<br /><br />I do have some taster cases over here at present but I would prefer it if you were able to taste the 2006's which they havent yet bottled as its a bit more attuned to the english palate - but I may get a few in early Nov. Having said that the others are all very distinctive and have recd some very favourable feedback from one well known online editor who visited in the summer. It certainly isnt the international gloop that Brits buy. As RJ says in the post above the supermarkets only buy what the UK market wants, so small independents like you are a saviour to the smaller producers but it is reaching you that is the problem! So thanks for your interest<br /><br />Keith Prothero's report and pictures on wine pages about his recent jaunt was interesting too as Victor Paris's cave ressembles Merchien's.<br /> <br />On wine pages Jem is Jem NetleyJemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07217807225653142983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632929314036232391.post-72167879611758085102009-09-27T18:16:58.945+01:002009-09-27T18:16:58.945+01:00Leon, you're basically right. Ideally you shou...Leon, you're basically right. Ideally you shouldn't be paying to enter the competition(s); the costs should be covered by the producers who, after all will potentially benefit far more than you will. <br />As author of some 28 books, I'd love to agree with you about their importance. I rely on them myself and totally concur about the reliability of better producers, but a visit to bookshops across the globe or a look at Amazon sales reveals how far their sales have dropped. Most are pubished in runs of 2-3,000 at most, so their influence is perforce limited.<br />The supermarkets are supplying what Brits want to buy. Just as, I imagine, you are doing with your customers. I suspect one major chain may be about to acknowledge this by reducing its in-store range even further - and hugely expanding its online offer, effectively giving you even less competition in the former and a whole lot more in the latter...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00489507739203968378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632929314036232391.post-80744481448346590582009-09-27T17:42:10.989+01:002009-09-27T17:42:10.989+01:00Jem
Thanks for the tip on Domaine du Merchien. Wh...Jem<br /><br />Thanks for the tip on Domaine du Merchien. When I am next in the Dordogne region (or perhaps they might be at Vinisud in February?) I will check them out.<br /><br />By the way, the name Jem doesn't give much away - do I know you from wine-pages by a different name?<br /><br />Regards<br />Leon<br /><br />Oh, and Bob from Alberta - thanks for looking-in and please keep on doing so!Leon Stolarskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05277390017788435310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632929314036232391.post-28240827428759272382009-09-27T17:25:43.868+01:002009-09-27T17:25:43.868+01:00Robert - I'm not sure how you discovered my Bl...Robert - I'm not sure how you discovered my Blog, but it is nice to see that people from all corners of the wine world (and trade) are reading it. <br /><br />Although I don't necessarily agree with everything you say in defence of the IWC, your points about the public getting what it deserves and about the dominance of the supermarkets are very pertinent. Having said that, I still see the recent IWC results as very depressing and a sad reflection on the demise of the supermarkets as a source of interesting wines. The high street chains also seem to be (slowly but surely) heading down the same route towards homogenisation. <br /><br />The problem for the independents, of course (especially the smaller ones like my own company, Leon Stolarski Fine Wines) is the cost of entering wines into competitions. To enter just 10 of my wines (from a list of up to 150) at a cost of around £100 a go would far exceed whatever "marketing budget" I might in theory allow for a whole year. And the brutal fact of the matter is that the IWC appears no longer to be of interest to the sort of customer I am looking for - i.e. people who are seriously interested in wine.<br /><br />On the subject of competitions versus books, I must say I stongly disagree with you. Admittedly, the advent of the Internet has had a serious effect on sales of good wine books. And this has had a serious knock-on effect of greatly reducing the number of quality books actually being published. But - for the serious wine lover - specialist books (for example JLL on Rhone, Rosemary George on Languedoc and Roussillon, Jefford on France) remain the real points of reference. And although you have a point about the elapsed time between completion and publication of wine books, the same can also be said (perhaps even more so) about the time lapse between the deadline for submitting wines for the IWC and the results actually being published - 6 months is a long time!<br /><br />Ultimately, though, there is one *key* difference, and something that you surely cannot disagree with. Good growers make the best of each vintage - so grower is far, far more important than vintage. If I want to check out how a grower is fairing through the years, I can always check my older copies of the Guide Hachette. But if I want to know who the best growers are, year-in, year-out, then I'll refer to Jefford, George, JLL etc. Or, as is more often the case with me, I'll find them myself!Leon Stolarskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05277390017788435310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632929314036232391.post-38742873333499474522009-09-27T16:53:28.188+01:002009-09-27T16:53:28.188+01:00I often question the logic behind French regional ...I often question the logic behind French regional promotional spending, but on this occasion would have to say that I think they're right to focus on the US. the market for small-producer regional French wines (apart from the evidently desirable Burgundies, Bordeaux and Rhones) is simply more interesting on the Anglo Saxon western shores of the Atlantic than the EastAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00489507739203968378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632929314036232391.post-27590380118396349182009-09-26T10:11:17.697+01:002009-09-26T10:11:17.697+01:00Leon
I noted your comments re lack of recognition...Leon<br /><br />I noted your comments re lack of recognition for small french independent wine growers. <br /><br />If you are in the Toulouse/Cahors region at some point, David and Sarah Meakin at Domaine du Merchien would welcome a visit. I beleive Paul Strang's forthcoming book gives them a v.good 'write up'; they are regularly in the Guide Hachette and they 'won' best bargain south west wine in Wine Report 2009 and that has since won a gold medal at Castelleran? I think. They are exactly the sort of Domaine that needs local/regional marketing support but for some reason that support decided that USA was a better bet!<br /><br />Jem<br /><br />I'd have PM'd you on wine pages but your mailbox is full!Jemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07217807225653142983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632929314036232391.post-5114131596388248502009-09-24T17:01:20.111+01:002009-09-24T17:01:20.111+01:00As founder of the IWC and, until their sale 5 year...As founder of the IWC and, until their sale 5 years ago, its co-Chairman and publishing editor of the now defunct Wine Intl Magazine, I guess I should make a comment... Leon is right about the excitement of the Aussie wines of 20 years ago. But he's also right about the unwillingness / inability of the French to promote their wines. And twas ever thus. We had great difficulties getting the French to play in the early 1990s - before they faced such serious competition from the New World.<br />I still believe that good competitions have competitions a valuable role to play (I'm about to chair the third India Wine Challenge) as an alternative to individual critics. Books are a poor substitute (I write as former editor of the Good Wine Guide) because they tend to be out of date and the specific vintages out of stock by the time they hit the bookshops.<br />And the fact that the IWC reflects the supermarkets - though depressing - is hardly surprising. Supermarkets are where most Brits buy their wines. Much the same can be said for France, but French supermarkets are able to sell premium wines that cheapskate British wine drinkers would not dream of buying. It was once said that the American public gets the president they deserve. I'd respond that the UK public get the magazines, books - and competitions they deserve. It's no accident that Wine Intl magazine no longer exists, that Decanter is increasingly US-focused or that wine books find it hard to get UK publishers these days. It's called the law of supply and demand...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00489507739203968378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632929314036232391.post-35525081211469021282009-09-18T06:40:36.222+01:002009-09-18T06:40:36.222+01:00I too hope that the Languedoc book finds a publish...I too hope that the Languedoc book finds a publisher. Great things happening there, we all need more insight!<br /><br />Bob from Alberta.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632929314036232391.post-21241681423309182402009-09-08T00:12:54.287+01:002009-09-08T00:12:54.287+01:00Indeed, Graham. Although some of my growers enter ...Indeed, Graham. Although some of my growers enter wines into the Paris competition (with a good few golds and silvers as a result) I am no fan of these type of competitions.<br /><br />I like the Guide Hachette - indeed, I owe a lot of my "finds" to that publication. I know it's not perfect, but its coverage is much more comprehensive and (seemingly) equitable than these silly, self-serving competitions. <br /><br />Best of all, of course, are the specialist/regional books, by writers such as JLL, Strang, George, Jefford, etc. Let us hope that Peter Gorley can eventually find some joy in getting his latest book published. Goodness knows, the Languedoc and Roussillon wine industry (especially the quality end) could do with a bit of a boost.Leon Stolarskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05277390017788435310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632929314036232391.post-67596265616124406212009-09-07T23:03:28.495+01:002009-09-07T23:03:28.495+01:00Interesting reading. The IWC already had advanced ...Interesting reading. The IWC already had advanced symptoms of the same problem 15+ years ago when I last looked at the results (Wine Magazine in those days).<br />If it's any comfort I'm not sure the internal French "competitions" (Paris, Macon and the like) are any more satisfactory - everyone seems to win something.Grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11282937250538290233noreply@blogger.com