James Laube
Encyclopedia
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, which won the 1996 James Beard Award for best wine book of the year.
wine was tainted by TCA
, 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. 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.
. 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.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
critic
Critic
A critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...
, writing for Wine Spectator
Wine Spectator
Wine Spectator is a lifestyle magazine that focuses on wine and wine culture. It publishes 15 issues per year with content that includes news, articles, profiles, and general entertainment pieces...
since 1980, a full-time staff writer since 1983, with expertise on California wine
California wine
California wine has a long and continuing history, and in the late twentieth century became recognized as producing some of the world's finest wine. While wine is made in all fifty U.S. states, up to 90% of American wine is produced in the state...
. 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, which won the 1996 James Beard Award for best wine book of the year.
TCA taint controversy
A Wine Spectator report by Laube that Chateau MontelenaChateau Montelena
Chateau Montelena is a Napa Valley winery most famous for winning the white wine section of the historic "Judgement of Paris" wine competition. Chateau Montelena's Chardonnay was in competition with nine other wines from France and California under blind tasting...
wine was tainted by TCA
Cork taint
Cork taint is a broad term referring to a wine fault characterized by a set of undesirable smells or tastes found in a bottle of wine, especially spoilage that can only be detected after bottling, aging and opening...
, 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. In a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, Steve Heimoff
Steve Heimoff
Steve Heimoff is an American wine writer, a California wine expert, the West Coast Editor for Wine Enthusiast Magazine since 1994, and previously from 1989 to 1994 a contributor to Wine Spectator....
, 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.
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.Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Robert M. Parker, Jr. is a leading U.S. wine critic with an international influence. His wine ratings on a 100-point scale and his newsletter The Wine Advocate, with his particular stylistic preferences and notetaking vocabulary, have become very influential in American wine buying and are...
. Laube's preference for high alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
, 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.
External links
- James Laube profile Wine Spectator