2011 1st Half Summary: Intro

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Well, the numbers are in. Now it only remains to interpret them.  (to go directly to the listings click on  REDS or WHITES+)

During the period from January 1st through to June 30th my BH, I and guests consumed 92 reds, 83 whites, 12 rosés, 15 bubblies and 3 others (ice wine, late harvest) for a total of 205 wines.

A point sometimes made is that a Rating honed down to '1' point is too precise. If that’s the case referral to ranges of points (repeated here from the side panel) could be useful:

•     96-100 Extraordinary
•     90 - 95 Outstanding
•     86 - 89 Interesting to Excellent
•     80 - 85 Drinkable to Enjoyable
•     70 - 79 Uninteresting to Simple
•     60 - 69 Unpleasant
•     50 - 59 Unacceptable

To determine if a wine is available the link to the LCBO inventory, #nnnnnn, can be used.  The vintage and price shown in the listings were at  time of purchase. Ratings are based on tastings for each wine in a blog entry for the month shown. Also the Values  are based on the rationale and graph described earlier in Pinning Down Value - Part 3 and summarized as:

    1 - Worth it!
    2 - Buy a few more!
    3 - Stock up!
...expressed as rating-value, r-v 

Looking only at reds and whites:

• Of the 92 reds 38(41%) were rated 90+, 40(44%) were rated 83 to 89 and 14(15%) were rated less than 83, 83 being marginally enjoyable. Thirty-six (39%) of the 92 were considered a good or better return for the price.

• Of the 83 whites 20(24%) were 90+,  44(53%) were rated 83 to 89 and 19(23%) were less than 83. Thirty-eight (46%) of the 83 whites were considered good value.  

•  The sources, both reds and whites, were: Canada (33), France (30), US (24), Australia (20), Italy (17) and NZ (15). Argentina and Chile accounted for 21 with the remaining 15 from South Africa, Portugal, Spain, Austria, Germany and Mexico.

• The average cost of reds rated 90+ from leading sources were:  Canada $32.54 (6), France $17.45 (4), US $19.38 (7), Australia $19.95 (6). The average cost of whites rated 83+ from leading sources were: Canada $22.30 (16), France $16.07 (8), US $18.15 (10) and Australia $16.36 (5).   

•  Seventy-seven percent of the reds were chosen from Vintages and 20 percent were from General listings. Sixty-five percent of the whites were from Vintages with 24 percent from General the remaining in both cases were purchases from Ontario wineries.  The ratio for the mid range, 83 to 89, for reds and whites in total was 75% Vintages and 22% General.

• Of the 38 red wines rated 90+ 87% were from Vintages. Of 20 Whites rated 90+ 75% were from Vintages. Since most of the 206 wines were from Vintages no conclusions are drawn concerning Vintages as a source of highly rated wines.  

• Of the 33 wines rated below 83, less than enjoyable, the split between Vintages and General was even.

From these numbers, and more recent tastings, there’s little incentive to purchase local wines. Imports have proven to be priced lower on average for equivalent ratings and have a variety of enjoyable sipping and pairing styles - but I'll continue to have local favourites.

My opinion, Ww