An Analysis of Bordeaux Wine Ratings, 1970-2005: Implications for the Existing Classification of the Médoc and Graves

The French châteaux producing Bordeaux wines were classified in 1855, creating a taxonomy that continues in force to the present day. An analysis of the ratings of vintages from 1970 to 2005 from three popular rating sources—Robert Parker, Stephen Tanzer, and Wine Spectator—provides a lens into the status of that 1855 Classification, as well as allows a comparison of those three raters. The analysis found considerable internal consistency in the three rating sources and a high degree of correlation between those experts’ ratings. However, the raters differ systematically in the scores they assign. This study is based on 339 combinations of château and vintage for the “classified growths” for which we were able to find ratings from all three sources. We identify the top-rated years and top-rated châteaux, and compare this information to the 1855 Classification. Given our findings we propose an update to the 1855 Classification that incorporates the ratings we examine. To begin with, several châteaux showed remarkable staying power over the intervening 150 years. However, some châteaux had advanced to in the rankings, while others have faded, at least based on this sample of vintages. Notable changes include Château Leoville-Las-Cases (Saint-Julien) moving from second to first growth, replacing Château Mouton-Rothschild (Pauillac), and two châteaux moving from the fifth growth to the second growth: Château Lynch-Bages (Pauillac) and Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac). Market prices of the 2005 vintage tend to support our findings. For example, as of early May 2008, the price of the Château Leoville-Las-Cases (Saint-Julien) was about three times that of the other nominally second-growth wines. While we believe it is unlikely that the classification will be changed, we believe that our proposed classification update (and our rank-ordering of the châteaux) can help guide wine purchase decisions of consumers and the restaurant industry

Effects of body size phenotype on sleep quality in middle-aged Korean men

Background: Research on body size phenotype according to metabolic syndrome and obesity is being actively conducted. Quality of sleep can vary depending on the body size phenotype. This study aimed to investigate the effects of body size phenotype on sleep quality in middle-aged Korean men. Methods: This study used secondary data analysis from a community-based cohort of the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES). Using BMI and metabolic health status, among 3675 men aged between 40 and 65 years, body size phenotypes were classified as follows: metabolically healthy normal weight (MHNW) (50.8%), metabolically healthy obesity (MHO) (32.5%), metabolically abnormal obesity (MAO) (12.7%), and metabolically abnormal but normal weight (MANW) (4.0%). Results: MANW men had the most prolonged sleep duration (more than 7 hours), and MHO men had the shortest sleep duration. The degree of difficulty falling back to sleep after waking in MHO men was 0.76 times that of MHNW men (p = 0.02). Conclusions: Sleep duration and difficulties falling back to sleep were independently associated with body size phenotype in middle-aged men after adjusting for confounding factors. Health professionals and officials in labor departments may use the results of this study to improve the quality of sleep and ultimately help with productivity in the workplace

An Analysis of Bordeaux Wine Ratings, 1970-2005: Implications for the Existing Classification of the Médoc and Graves

The French châteaux producing Bordeaux wines were classified in 1855, creating a taxonomy that continues in force to the present day. An analysis of the ratings of vintages from 1970 to 2005 from three popular rating sources—Robert Parker, Stephen Tanzer, and Wine Spectator—provides a lens into the status of that 1855 Classification, as well as allows a comparison of those three raters. The analysis found considerable internal consistency in the three rating sources and a high degree of correlation between those experts’ ratings. However, the raters differ systematically in the scores they assign. This study is based on 339 combinations of château and vintage for the “classified growths” for which we were able to find ratings from all three sources. We identify the top-rated years and top-rated châteaux, and compare this information to the 1855 Classification. Given our findings we propose an update to the 1855 Classification that incorporates the ratings we examine. To begin with, several châteaux showed remarkable staying power over the intervening 150 years. However, some châteaux had advanced to in the rankings, while others have faded, at least based on this sample of vintages. Notable changes include Château Leoville-Las-Cases (Saint-Julien) moving from second to first growth, replacing Château Mouton-Rothschild (Pauillac), and two châteaux moving from the fifth growth to the second growth: Château Lynch-Bages (Pauillac) and Château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac). Market prices of the 2005 vintage tend to support our findings. For example, as of early May 2008, the price of the Château Leoville-Las-Cases (Saint-Julien) was about three times that of the other nominally second-growth wines. While we believe it is unlikely that the classification will be changed, we believe that our proposed classification update (and our rank-ordering of the châteaux) can help guide wine purchase decisions of consumers and the restaurant industry.Thompson_202008_20An_20analysis_20of_20bordeaux.pdf: 1122 downloads, before Aug. 1, 2020