As many readers will know, I'm a reluctant yet huge Robert Parker Fanboy. Really good wine = really good parker rating. Not so good wine = not so good rating. The man knows his wine and apparently our palates have roughly similar preferences, naming aussie shirazes.
Over the years, I've developed a rough algorithm for when a wine is a good buy. The Parker Price Curve (PPC) is: buy if it's between 91-98 and the price (in C$ of course) starts with the last digit of the rating. The obvious math in case (12 bottle cases btw) you're still asleep is: Buy a 91 rated wine for under $20, all the way to a 98 rated wine for under $90. Some of the previous purchase are:
- Kurtz Family Boundary Row GSM 2002, 93 rated, bought in BC at $27.
- Torbreck Woodcutters 2004, 93 rated, bought in Ontario at $27.
- Mitolo GAM 2005, 95 rated, bought in BC at $49.
- Black Chook, 92 rated, bought in BC at $19
- Yalumba Octavius 2001, 98 rated, bought in Aus at $79.
I've been exercising this for a couple of years and it's great for the low end. I don't know whether it works for the high end because they are all in the cellar, awaiting liberation.
Under special situations, the PPC can move even lower. D's parents are driving back from Calgary, and they have muchos cheaper prices than BC. Now the PPC is driven down by about $10-$20. The great deals from Richmond Hill wines:
- Mitolo GAM 2004, 97 rated, $49
- Amon Ra 2004, 98 rated, $65
- Glaetzer Wallace 2004, 94 rated, $25
- Burge Tawny Port, 97 rated, $58
And in another great steal out of Nick's Bottle Shop in Australia, Paul, Haydn and I are going to ship some wines from Aus to Seattle because of some recent great deals like the Mollydooker Boxer (95 rated) at $23 AU + $10 shipping.
Within BC, the PPC rule is: good deal if last digit of parker rating is first digit of price. Without BC, the PPC rule seems to be: great deal if the last digit of the parker rating is 2 more than the first digit of the price.
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