New Book Criticizing Robert Parker Jr. - GASP!
By Tyler Balliet • Jun 19th, 2008 • Category: Futures of Wine
Email to a Friend
A new book is out titled, “The Battle for Wine and Love or How I Saved the World from Parkerization” (Harcourt, - $15 on Amazon), by Alice Feiring. It’s a direct attack on wine God Robert Parker Jr. While we at The Second Glass believe Robert Parker is a true wine professional who knows more about wine than most people on this planet. However, we have to disagree with the way the media portrays him and his opinion as 100% fact and truth. Without dancing all over the subject (we’ll save that for a later post) we love to hear all view points on the matter.
Without actually reading this book, Feiring argues that now that people are making wine that Parker will rate high and suit his tastes, it’s ruining the wine world. It sounds like she may go a bit over the top, but hey, this isn’t a text book, it’s suppose to be “fun” reading.
In all reality it’s not one person’s “fault” it’s just how things work.
If you’re into this concept, we HIGHLY suggest you check out the controversial movie, “Mondovino”
This is also how Henry Patterson, at the Otherside Cafe, feels. After chatting with him, it was apparent that he strongly admonishes Parker’s wine-scoring system for stripping many swathes of wines of terroir and identity, due to the influx of “Parker consultants” that screwed with everything for the sake of higher scores. But yes, I agree that it’s not Parker’s fault per se for the aftermath. It’s more about intense competition in the market and carving out that fine line between being completely true to your grapes at the risk of being overlooked and trying just a tad to make a name for yourself.
In the recent months I have been sensing a lot of backlash at Parker from wine professionals I have been talking to. I think some of it has to do with the blind faith the wine drinking public at large have placed in him. I have also heard the rumblings about wine makers giving up their own style just to appease him.
I think its important to remember that his opinion, like everyone else’s is his own. I don’t expect everyone to agree with me 100% of time, but lets listen to what everyone has to say and make our own choices. Whatever his background and celebrity you can’t deny this guy has tasted A LOT of wine.
I have a LOT of respect for Robert Parker. He brought wine drinking to the masses when no one else could. He devised a scale that anyone, regardless of wine knowledge, could clearly understand. He also took on the big wigs of Bordeaux without fear. He tore the most respected winemakers in the world, “new ones.”
Unfortunately, people are very quick to take a critics word too seriously. Like with scientific studies (”a new study says….”) people take the media’s words too literally quickly forgetting their own opinions. This lead to the people who only drink 90+ wines.
Parker is by no means to be blamed for this. He speaks what he knows to be the truth and no one can do more than that.
However, I do believe the 100 point scale has run it’s course. People are more educated about wine and they can handle more information than a simple number these days. I say, lets move on. Enough of the stars, enough with numbers. Let’s explain wine for what it is and not simply rate it on a scale.