Hi i’m Konstantin Baum master of wine and today
i’m going through one of the most comprehensive Wine databases to find wines you like and
i’m not talking about vivino today instead I’m talking about one of the first wine rating
websites cellar tracker i’m going to taste a Whole range of wines that received high scores on
cellar tracker and that retails for less than 40 Us dollars so that i can find out whether those
scores are actually useful so let’s do this. Cellar tracker was created in march 2003 by eric
levine whose name kind of predestines him for a Career in the wine business he was working for
microsoft at that time and he wanted to program A tool that helped him keep track of his wine
collection he soon realized that others would like To use this tool too and it became a big success
today it is according to numbers from celler Tracker used by hundreds of thousands of users and
it contains more than 9 million tasting notes i Found out that there is an official ranking of the
people who wrote the most tasting notes and number One at the moment is rajon wine who wrote close
to 48 000 tasting notes since he first signed Up in 2004 which is pretty amazing users can write
tasting notes indicate whether they like a wine or Whether it was flawed and then rate it according
to the 100 point scale out of all of the scores Seller tracker then creates an average score that
you can use in order to find new interesting wines I do not use setup tracker much but i find it
quite useful as users tend to be real wine geeks That taste all different kinds of wines i
also prefer scores in the 100 point system As i score that way myself and i find it easier
to compare scores that way today i want to find Out whether seller tracker scores are useful for
you to find new interesting wines i therefore ask Leon to select some highly scored affordable
wines from seller tracker that should be Available in most markets so that you can taste
long if you want so without much further ado Let’s pop some corks quick shout out to all
of my subscribers i want to thank you for all Of your support if you haven’t subscribed
yet then please do so it really helps out The channel and it gets me to taste
more wines for you and for me as well Obviously we’re starting off with
the pieper heidsieck brut non vintage Which has a celler tracker score of 89 points and
retails for 40 us dollars but it sometimes comes A lot cheaper than that it is from one of the
oldest champagne houses founded in 1785 and legend Has it that marie antoinette was a big fan of this
champagne but who knows whether she had good taste So let’s open this you know what i haven’t saved
a bottle of champagne in a while so it’s time I think i might have broken one of my lights the
cost of living dangerously the champagne smells Of lemon zest bruised apple and there are also
those brioche almond notes in the background i Think it’s more fruit driven rather than dominated
by the brioche flavor so if you don’t like brioche Then this is more your kind of wine but this
suggests to me that it might not have been Aged on the lease for such a long time on the
palette it’s actually quite rich and concentrated
It doesn’t show a lot of acidity which is for me
a little bit of a bummer i do like quite fresh Vibrant and a little sharp champagnes but if
you like something a little bit more round And a little bit more yeah silky then this
might be for you in my opinion this is a very Good sparkling wine but it’s not a great
champagne for me this is an 87 point wine I think it’s good but at that price point you’ll
find lots of better champagnes the next one is the 2019 kumeu river estate chardonnay which has
a setup tracker score of 90.3 and it retails For 30 us dollars i’m a big fan of new zealand
chardonnay ever since i worked down there in 2007 And kyumyo river is probably the most well-known
winery for this variety in new zealand while Most famous wineries in new zealand are in the
south island or in the south of the north island Cumin river is actually up north next to auckland
the winemaker here is a master of wine but i won’t Be influenced by this and the wines are really
really undervalued in my opinion they can be great And prices are not that high the wine was
fermented in barrels with indigenous yeasts And it’s quite complex and really exciting it
smells a little bit of lemon zest there’s also Popcorn notes coming through a little bit of
caramel there’s a little bit more fruit than I would get in burgundy for example so it’s a bit
more explosive when it comes to fruit but it’s not Kitschy it’s not over the top it’s quite balanced
on the palette the one is rich and concentrated But it also has grip and fresh acidity this is
just the estate wine but it’s already really Really balanced i do like this wine quite a
bit here i also agree with the seller tracker Score i would score it a little bit higher
91 points i think this is just beautiful Really really good wine and you should
not be sleeping on new zealand chardonnays They can be really really good the next one is
the 2019 la crema chardonnay from the sonoma Coast in california it has a cellar tracker score
of 88.9 and it retails for 20 us dollars it was Founded in 1979 under the name la crema vignera
which means the best of the vine and this wine Is from the sonoma coast ava which covers quite a
lot of ground in the area north from san francisco And all of those bits and pieces are somehow
influenced by the ocean by the pacific and It’s therefore one ava but it’s quite diverse and
produces lots of different styles so let’s open it Chardonnay is one of the most important grape
varieties in california and if you follow me on Instagram you know that i recently did a tasting
of different chardonnays from different areas In california and it’s quite exciting to see how
many different styles there are how many different Terroirs there are really even though this is from
the slightly cooler sonoma coast ava it is quite A lot more intense and opulent than the previous
wine it smells of peaches but also of ripe apple There’s quite a lot of oak influence here as well
but it’s fairly well balanced because the fruit Flavor is so intense on the palate this is really
rich and intense it’s quite round quite smooth the Alcohol is actually fairly low with 13.5 percent
but it feels much more yeah much more opulent and
The acidity is a bit lower from my perception at
least so this is more of a rich and concentrated Chardonnay style so this is a very good white wine
i would rate it 88 points it’s not as complex and As balanced as the previous wine so i wouldn’t go
above 90 points here if you want to find out more About the scores that i used go below this video
uh wrote down all of the information that you need To know on the 100 point system the next one is
the 2020 kim crawford marlborough sauvignon blanc From new zealand which has a seller tracker score
of 87 points and it retails for 16 us dollars kim Crawford was established in 1996 by kim crawford
who is a man by the way many people in the u.s Seem to think that he’s a woman but he’s a real
man he built the brand quite quickly into one of The best selling sauvignon blanc in the world and
it was then sold for 50 million us dollars kaching The wine is less expressive than most new zealand
sauvignon blanc it smells a little bit of green Apple grassy there’s also a little bit of passion
fruit there on the palate it’s quite fresh but It feels a little bit diluted so it doesn’t
really have a lot of body and concentration and Yeah that’s not necessarily great i would rate
this wine 85 points so it’s a good to a very Good sauvignon blanc from new zealand but i think
at this price point you might actually find some More interesting wines and i just think it lacks
a little bit of concentration i want a little bit More punch from my new zealand sauvignon blanc and
this doesn’t pack the full punch the next one is The 2020 miraval rose which has a seller tracker
score of 88.4 and it retails for 22 us dollars Everyone knows this wine because it was owned by
angelina jolie and brad pitt now it’s just owned By brad pitt and angelina jolie sold her steak
in the company to another company and apparently There’s now a legal battle over this sale but i
don’t really want to get into all of the gossip I want to stick to the wine let’s taste this
this wine became a big success not just because Of the owners of the winery but also because they
got the panga family involved in this project Which is a famous wine family from the south
of france it owns chatubo castel and does many Different projects in the wine world and they
really know how to make wine and that helped Angelina and brett because i don’t think they
knew anything about wine the wine has this pale Salmon color which is quite typical for roses from
the provence it smells of strawberries a little Bit of raspberries it’s quite fruit driven there’s
also a little bit of herbaceousness coming through On the palette it’s actually quite rich
and concentrated the acidity is a bit Lower than i would like it to be and yeah it’s
quite a impressive a little bit more full-bodied Jose one in my opinion this is a very good jose
but is it worth 22 us dollars that’s the bigger Question for me i would rate this 86 points and
at that score you can find some really good poses At retail for 10 us dollars or 15 us dollars at
least so you definitely pay a premium for the name Of the owners or formal owners yeah but it’s
good it’s a good wine there’s nothing bad about It it’s just not as good as the price might
suggest the next one is the 2012 la rioja alta
Vina ardanza reserva it has a seller tracker score
of 91 points and it retails for 36 us dollars The winery has a long history it was founded in
1890 by five families and their most famous brand Vina adanza was registered in 1942. the rioja alta
is also the name of one of the three subregions of Rioja which is known for high quality and high
altitude vineyards i’m quite a big fan of la Rioja alta the wines tend to be really really
good and really affordable think about the cost Of inventory i mean this one is from 2012 it’s
available now and it’s still fairly affordable I think no other country in the world can do it
like spain does and especially rioja has really Great aged wines at fairly affordable prices but
this is really good for me this is the prototype Of greater yoja it is garnet in color showing some
age there smells of cherries of cocoa of chocolate And also slightly elevated so there are some high
pitched notes coming through on the palate it’s Quite rich and velvety but the tenons are grippy
and structured and there’s great freshness at the End this is not just powerful it’s really really
well balanced beautiful wine in my opinion the Seller tracker score is quite a bit too low here
91 points might seem like a lot but i actually Think this is a 95.1 this is brilliant quality
really complex it’s aged obviously but it’s not Old at all and i think this is a really great wine
at a really good price mamma mia did i say that This is beautiful next up is the 2016 chateau
Cantemerle which has a seller tracker score Of 91 points and it retails for 40 us dollars
and i have a personal relationship with this Winery because i think it was the first bordeaux
i ever bought and believe it or not i bought it at Aldi for 20 euros i think at the time chateau
countamel was for a long time an under performer But today they’re producing really good wines at
fairly affordable prices interestingly this estate Was involved in one of the biggest scandals of
the 1855 classification it is today as sankiam Kuklase but back then it wasn’t included in the
original classification and it was later added In a different handwriting that was because the
brokers who made the classification didn’t have Information on the prices for this wine and it
was only added as the sunken crew classe when the Owner caroline de villeneuve durfour showed up and
literally showed them the receipts 2016 was a very Good vintage in bordeaux so i’m expecting a really
good one let’s see it’s a bit difficult for the Contour metal to follow the vinya dancer
because this is quite juicy quite fruit Driven it’s much fresher and more vibrant even
though it’s not that much younger than the 2012 Rioja it smells of blackberries and cherries
there’s a little bit of grilled bread character Coming through as well on the palette it’s
actually quite juicy the tannins are fairly mellow And it’s not the most concentrated wine so it
lacks maybe a little bit of body and concentration But it has good freshness and vibrancy i don’t see
this aging terribly well so i don’t think it will Age for decades and decades as some bordeaux’s do
i would rate this 90 points it is a pretty good Bordeaux but it’s quite difficult to get great
bordeaux great classified bordeaux in particular
At this price point the last one of
the tasting is the 2018 fontodi chianti Classico which has a cellar tracker score of
89 points and it retails for 40 us dollars. For today belongs to the magnetic family
since 1968 and it is with 70 hectares on The vines a pretty big estate but it’s completely
certified again this is a san jose and it was also Aged in breaks but you don’t really get a lot
of brick flavor coming through it smells of Ripe cherries there’s also a little bit of
licorice coming through a little bit of spicy Notes as well on the palette it’s really fresh and
vibrant i like that about sanjivasa it brings lots Of acidity but you also have some grippy tenons
there there’s a solid mid palette so this is Quite a good chianti classico quite classic get
it? classico classic get it i would rate this one 90 points i think it’s a bit underrated on seller
tracker but at this price point i would find some Really amazing kmt classic course as well so i
think the price quality ratio is not quite there So our seller tracker scores to be trusted i
think yes i mean i was pretty close in most Cases the scores are obviously averaged out so you
lose a little bit of the lows and a little bit of The highs which is not always ideal but i think
overall the scores are to be trusted and i think That’s maybe because quite a lot of people on the
platform are really into wine so they might have a Similar way of tasting as i do my favorites
clearly the cumier river chardonnay and the vina Dansa both amazing wines and both really good at
their price points so thank you for watching if You like this video then please like it down here
subscribe to my channel subscribe to my channel And my question of the day is what do you think
about seller tracker do you not use it do you Use it what is your handle please comment down
below i hope i see you guys again soon until then Man i got so much good wine open so i’m going to
stay thirsty and you stay thursday too okay bye.