Almost, but not completely unlike wine

[David M. Bueker]

Anti-Flavor Wine Elite. It's a term coined by Parker to mock those of us who disdain his favorite high alcohol gobmonsters. He thought it was an insult, but we picked it up as a badge of honor.

[Robin Garr]

What does AFWE mean?

Anti-Flavor Wine Elite. Parker made it famous a few years ago, when in a particularly cranky mood, he so labeled Alice Fearing and anyone who prefers their wines in the old-school European style.

What does AFWE mean?

Anti-Flavor Wine Elite. Parker made it famous a few years ago, when in a particularly cranky mood, he so labeled Alice Fearing and anyone who prefers their wines in the old-school European style.

I remember well that vacuous remark from Parker. A happy idea indeed to turn it into a badge of honour

[Jenise]

It's almost as if we need two systems: the AFWE scale and the Gobmonster scale. I went to a charity wine event last weekend where Gallo was pouring that blue labelled Prosecco, Apothic Red, and another wine I'd not seen before called Carnivore (Tim: these are inexpensive mass-produced deliberately OTT gobmonsters of the first order) . The latter appears to be cab-intensive where Apothic is merlot. Anyway, their table wasn't busy and they tried to flag me down as I passed. To be polite, I stopped and apologetically explained that I'm definitely not their target customer. No argument; they got it. But I wish I could show you a picture of the blonde who was pouring the wine; it might have been merely coincidental, but she was a real Mae West of a gal. Rather perfect, I thought, for the wines.

It's almost as if we need two systems: the AFWE scale and the Gobmonster scale.

I've been thinking the same, Jenise. The problem is that most critics, including Parker, are into cross-over. At one moment he says Ch. Haut-Brion is his favourite wine and at the next he is nominating Tres Picos as his value wine of the year. Unless one knows all the meanders of a critic's taste, scores are for me worse than useless and the majority of TNs are insufficiently explicit to give the clue to whether the wine being reviewed leans towards AFWE or Gobmonster.

As I have to buy all practically all my non-French wine untasted by internet order, this is a real problem for me because most of the sites only quote scores.

I too find the style of the presenter at a stand often reflects its wines' style.

[David M. Bueker]

Tim - I know that I have access to many of the notes that go with the scores (for several critics - but not Parker anymore). If you are ever curious about a specific wine I am happy to fill you in.

One "solution" is to pick via the back label (i.e. the importer). GENERALLY, I am going to like Dressner, Selections Massale, Kermit Lynch, Madrose.... Sometimes they were a bit extreme, and it has been a while since I saw their wine, but I sometimes liked Jenny & Francoise. And Martine's Wines was good at one point, but I understand she has retired/sold her business.

There is an American distributor who definitely emphasizes AFWE wines-Revel Wines. Another good name to filter tasting.

One "solution" is to pick via the back label (i.e. the importer). GENERALLY, I am going to like Dressner, Selections Massale, Kermit Lynch, Madrose.... Sometimes they were a bit extreme, and it has been a while since I saw their wine, but I sometimes liked Jenny & Francoise. And Martine's Wines was good at one point, but I understand she has retired/sold her business.
There is an American distributor who definitely emphasizes AFWE wines-Revel Wines. Another good name to filter tasting.

Yup, Brian... the importer name is a very important factor in my choice of whether to try a wine or not. Your tableau is a good one that gets my vetting....as if that mattered at all. I find some very interesting wines from the J&F portfolio. I also find the KL & MadRose wines to be a bit on te pricey side...but some very interesting wines. And I like many of the CharlesNealSlctn wines. And the Italian wines from OliverMcCrum/BlackbirdWines are no-brainers.
Martine sold her distribution business several yrs ago. But she still make appearances for them at tastings and I've not seen any let-down in their tableau. Again...often on the pricey side.
Tom

[David M. Bueker]

Given that Tim is in Europe he will not see those importer labels.

[Jenise]

As I have to buy all practically all my non-French wine untasted by internet order, this is a real problem for me because most of the sites only quote scores.

If only they would all include alcohol levels!

At this tasting I mentioned going to, I made a point of asking right off the bat for the abv numbers. It surprised 98% of the pourers who were usually the winemaker/proprietor themselves (or their wife/partner) and they nearly always had to look--they're so unused to being asked, they don't know it offhand. And of course, they were all 14.5 to 15.5.

Given that Tim is in Europe he will not see those importer labels.

I know, David. I almost included the phrase "for Americans" but for some unknown reason I deleted it.

As I have to buy all practically all my non-French wine untasted by internet order, this is a real problem for me because most of the sites only quote scores.

If only they would all include alcohol levels!

At this tasting I mentioned going to, I made a point of asking right off the bat for the abv numbers. It surprised 98% of the pourers who were usually the winemaker/proprietor themselves (or their wife/partner) and they nearly always had to look--they're so unused to being asked, they don't know it offhand. And of course, they were all 14.5 to 15.5.

I think it is usually a "guess" anyway. Does ABT even test the wines each vintage? I don't think so.

It's almost as if we need two systems: the AFWE scale and the Gobmonster scale. I went to a charity wine event last weekend where Gallo was pouring that blue labelled Prosecco, Apothic Red, and another wine I'd not seen before called Carnivore (Tim: these are inexpensive mass-produced deliberately OTT gobmonsters of the first order) . The latter appears to be cab-intensive where Apothic is merlot. Anyway, their table wasn't busy and they tried to flag me down as I passed. To be polite, I stopped and apologetically explained that I'm definitely not their target customer. No argument; they got it. But I wish I could show you a picture of the blonde who was pouring the wine; it might have been merely coincidental, but she was a real Mae West of a gal. Rather perfect, I thought, for the wines.

Your anecdote reminds me of the time I spent the summer working as a cellar rat and dog's body at a Finger Lakes winery. During that time, it was convenient for me to take some wine to Buffalo to work the table at a trade show for WNY liquor stores. The table across the aisle from us was flogging some sort of flavored vodka concoction and was staffed by two outgoing young women in vinyl hotpants. Needless to say the manly middle aged male ITB types did not pay much attention to our table. I did have a nice time talking to my neighbor, a middle aged woman repping a LI winery....

[David M. Bueker]

[
I think it is usually a "guess" anyway. Does ABT even test the wines each vintage? I don't think so.

In theory they should not have to. There is a requirement to be compliant with the laws.

On a related note, I learned something new at the Terry Theise tasting on Saturday. In Austria, the allowance on labeled alcohol % is +/- 0.2%!!