Wine Blog. Dr Vino's wine blog. Jamie goode's wine blog. Should wine critics allow personal stylistic preferences affect their judgments on wine? I recently had a discussion on twitter with a respected US wine critic from a major publication, who kept emphasizing that personal stylistic preferences had no place in his ratings. He was quite insistent. It’s a question I haven’t really considered before. I like the idea that a critic can be objective and assess wines for every palate. If you are a big magazine, and give a single critic the remit to rate the wines from one country or region, then you need to spin this angle, and instruct the critic to be even handed to all producers. The critic is, after all, writing for all the readers of a magazine. Thus you have created the myth of an individual critic as a global arbiter of style. Admirable as this sentiment is, I don’t think this can work in practice.
Why? Balance is important in wine, and it’s a style call. Look at the tastings carried out by The World of Fine Wine. Alice Feiring - In Vino Veritas. Wine Tasting, Vineyards, in France.