The Wine PocketList archive
Everything the PocketList published, 1994–2007: the last list (5,962 graded wines from 2,481 producers), John Vankat’s columns, the newsletter and the press.
The wines left the shelves long ago. Read it as history, or as a record of which producers kept making the grade.
The 2006 list
The final Wine PocketList: every wine graded A+ to B+ from the critics’ reviews, Nov 1999 to Mar 2006.
By country
All producers, A to Z: 627 have their own page.
How to read a listing
Ch. Ste. Michelle Canoe Ridge Estate Vineyard 1998
Cabernet Sauvignon · Columbia ValleyIE: individual evaluations: A, A, A, A minus, A minus, B plus, B plus, B$24
Cabernet Sauvignon · Columbia ValleyIE: individual evaluations: A, A, A, A minus, A minus, B plus, B plus, B$24
- The grade. One letter for every review the PocketList found, on a professor’s scale.
- IE, the individual evaluations. Each critic’s review, turned into a letter. This wine had 8.
- The price, in Aug 2001, when it was graded.
The writing
Straight Talk27 columns by John Vankat, 1996–2002.Vin Connections25 issues of the email newsletter, 2002–2005.The mini courseSeven short letters on buying better wine for less.ArticlesPocketList pieces from magazines and newspapers.PressWhat newspapers and magazines said about the original.How it workedVinFinder, the printed list and the member site.The story, 1994–2007How a professor’s shopping list became the Wine PocketList.John Vankat, PhDThe founder of the Wine PocketList.Questions readers askedThe PocketList’s FAQ, as it was.How the grades workedThe 1994–2007 method: the critics’ reviews, boiled down.
Guides from the PocketList: Australian wine · California wine · French wine · Italian wine · The 2004 Wine Buying Guide