Like a zombie rising from the grave to feast on human flesh, the wine-ratings debate is revived once again in this week's SF Chronicle. As ever, Robert Parker receives a bit of a scolding, and the issue of competitive ratings between publications and what amounts to grade inflation also raises its unseemly, undead head. Elsewhere in the same section, there's an entertaining vignette of Thomas Keller handing out "snow cones" to Napa Valley Vintners auctionees, and Blake Grey discovers whether the "Catania Mezzo Wine Enhancer" can live up to its promise of all-natural enhancement.
Over in the Miami Herald, Fred Tasker sings the praises of negociants. In the WSJ, Gaiter and Brecher test the bold claims of boxed wine producers that the wines will keep for 6 weeks after opening. They conclude that the wines would indeed still be palatable -- if only they had been palatable in the first place.