James Laube

James Laube is an American wine critic, writing for "Wine Spectator" since 1980, a full-time staff writer since 1983, with expertise on California wine. Laube has published the books "California's Great Cabernets", "California's Great Chardonnays", and "California Wine" containing nearly 700 winery profiles with chapters on California wine history, grapes and wine styles,cite web|last= Prial |first= Frank, "The New York Times" |title= Wine Talk |url= http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9405E7D61639F930A25751C1A963958260 |date= December 13, 1995 ] which won the 1996 James Beard Award for best wine book of the year. [90pluswines.com [http://www.90pluswines.com/wine-experts/james-laube.aspx James Laube] ]

TCA taint controversy

A "Wine Spectator" report by Laube that Chateau Montelena wine was tainted by TCA,cite web|last= Laube |first= James, "Wine Spectator" |title= Chateau Montelena and TCA |url= http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Features/0,1197,2398,00.html| date= November 2, 2004 ] was followed by a great deal of controversy, and the contention that Laube is able to detect TCA at much lower levels than most people.cite web|last= Emert |first= Carol, "San Francisco Chronicle" |title= Montelena joins the list of tainted wineries |url= http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/09/09/WIG7I8L5751.DTL |date= September 9, 2004 ] cite web|last= Yarrow |first= Alder, vinography.com |title= Let a Computer Chip Do The Sniffing For You |url= http://www.vinography.com/archives/2006/02/let_a_computer_chip_do_the_sni.html |date= February 10, 2006 ] In a letter to the "San Francisco Chronicle", Steve Heimoff, an editor of a competing wine magazine "Wine Enthusiast", wrote that Laube's position as a critic in a prominent magazine should be more cautious about branding wines as being tainted when most wine drinkers do not have the same level of sensitivity to detect anything wrong with those wines. [cite web|last= Heimoff |first= Steve, "San Francisco Chronicle": Letters to Wine |url= http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/09/23/WIGK48SKIC1.DTL |title= Critic Laube cautioned on the power of his palate | date= September 23, 2004]

Influence on California wine

As the lead reviewer of wines from California for "Wine Spectator", Laube's influence over the California wine industry has been compared to that of the "Wine Advocate's" Robert M. Parker, Jr.. Laube's preference for high alcohol, full bodied wines that have been aged in oak has been charged by some critics as a possible reason for the high numbers of that style of wine being produced in California. [cite web| last= Gray |first= W.Blake, "San Francisco Chronicle" |url= http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/15/WIGOOQ5IGD1.DTL&hw=are+ratings&sn=003&sc=330 |title=Are ratings pointless? The highs - and lows - of the 100-point scale |date= June 15, 2007 ] [cite web|last= Darlington |first= David, "The New York Times" |url= http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/07/magazine/07ENOLOGI.html?pagewanted=all |title= The Chemistry of a 90+ Wine |date= August 7th 2005 ]

ee also

*List of wine personalities

References

External links

* [http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Free/Authors/Author_Page/0,1173,1,00.html James Laube profile] "Wine Spectator"