More Dr. Big Jay Miller and The Spanish Wine Industry Controversies

Interesting

WOW!! Someone needs to start talking.

More excellent reporting from Jim Budd.

Spain should pay money to keep Dr. Big Jay out. To say that he has a sweet tooth is an understatement. According to him (or at least by the points bestowed), PX is the greatest sherry, surpassing the finest Palo Cortados and Amontillados. This is just one illustration of his “taste” in wine.

It’s sad that Spanish cuisine is groundbreaking and innovative on so many levels, while winemakers look to Dr. Big Jay for his approval. It’s just ridiculous.

What’s all the fuss??? $15,000 seems like a pretty modest fee for someone of the enormous stature of DrJayMiller.

Has there been any talk of this over on the “other” board?? What was its name?? eBob?? That seems like
so…yesterday!!!

Good questions from Jim. Answers should be interesting…but I doubt we’ll see any.
Tom

Well, he’s got to get a few bucks right? I mean he’s going to miss Thanksgiving dinner and all.

I think the big question is whether Jay Miller knew of this or not. Now that he does, or will soon, I will be curious about the TWA response. Could be interesting. I am also curious about Pancho’s involvement although, for now, it appears to be all innuendo. Is this a rougue scheme by Asevin/Jiminez? That would not surprise me. It will be interesting to watch this play out.

In this age of instant social media, these schemes/arrangements can not stay transparent. That said, more info is needed before making a judgment.

As for the master class, I have no idea if the allegations are true about the amount. I also have no idea if that is a fair price or not for what basically is a speaking fee. The big issue is whether wineries are being coerced into paying for reviews and if so, who is responsible. JM2C.

Oy. Not again.

Well, first it has to be said that allegations based on “someone posted what looks like an email on Facebook” do not earn a lot of credence with me. I’ll wait to see what if anything this turns out to be.

But the real question for me is this: what if anything has Jay Miller done to enhance the reputation and credibility of TWA? Neal Martin, David S, Antonio G – all have brought credit, diversity, and real value to a troubled institution. Hiring them has been the smartest thing Bob Parker has done in ages.

What, in comparison, has hiring Miller done? Brought questions about integrity, scorn for his critical abilities, and derision in the community. I admire loyalty, and I know Miller and Parker go way back together, but at some point even Parker has to realize that he is doing significant damage to the institution he has built by keeping Miller on board. Whether this specific allegation is true or not, it is long past time to cut him loose.

Well put, Neal. Just from my own backyard, I remember Jay - who claims to have closely followed Oregon wine for 20 years or thereabouts - saying he’d never heard of John Thomas. I find that to be beyond laughable. Whatever else he’s doing, he’s not doing his homework.

You seem to be somewhat ambivalent, Neal. Last time I looked the courts convicted those charged before sentences were handed down ( something
about being innocent until proven guilty ).

Reading between the lines it appears to me that the promoter is picking off some hard $$$ from those wineries wishing to participate. The entire allegations appear
pretty weak in the light of what Miller is doing. Yes, he made a mistake in Australia some time ago, but that was dealt with and isn’t likely to be repeated in
any fashion. However, the disgruntled former participants in Parker’s Bulletin Board seem to want to believe anything negative about TWA.

“Interesting”, Tex? Only if one wants to participate in unfounded gossip, I suppose.

Hank

Well, Hank…

I guess everyone is entitled to their opinions. Unfounded? Looks like he has a track record of this stuff. And BTW, disgruntled former participants? Really?

It really does look like someone that is organizing Jay’s visit on the Spain side is trying to make some extra cash. This is far too obvious for Miller to be doing himself. We give him too much credit if that’s the belief.

Hank, maybe you read too quickly. I made two points. The first was that I was not ready to believe this specific allegation because the “evidence” presented seemed awfully thin gruel. The second was that, regardless of what the truth is in this instance, Jay’s presence at TWA has been nothing but a distraction and a net minus.

But is this for real? It’s easy to post all sorts of junk on the intertubes. Even the post itself says “Assuming that the email from the secretary of Asevin to various bodegas in the DOs of Bullas, Jumilla and Yecla is genuine”

Has this been addressed on the ERP board?

Shirley, you can’t be serious.

Not yet, but one has to assume that the way it will be handled will be to kick off all paying users this time, and again without any notice.

Perhaps a biased notion, but that would be the best thing that ever happened to them…

Firstly I should make it clear that I’m not accusing Jay Miller of taking money for tasting wines or visiting bodegas during the proposed trip of Miller and Pancho Campo MW to Murcia 24th November-26th November.

There are now three posts on Jim’s Loire: one to which this thread is linked and two posted yesterday (1st November). The second sets out in more detail the planned visit of Miller to Murcia and includes details of a bank account into which participanting bodegas were asked to pay sums of money for sending samples and having a visit. It is very likely that this is an Asevin account.

The third post is a letter of complaint/explanation from Juan Antonio Ruiz Jimenez, secretary of Asevin and the sending of the original email published last week on Facebook.

I think Jay Miller and Robert Parker have been unwise to have allowed Miller’s close relationship to develop. The arrangements for this trip to Murcia do not comply with Parker’s code of wine writing ethics. Pancho Campo MW’s business is to promote Spanish regions and Spanish wine companies. Nothing wrong in that but by his close association with Campo, Miller has undermined the independence that Robert Parker demands of his team.

Parker accused me of spreading false information about Miller, being obsessed with Miller, and being jealous of Miller the time these similar questions arose about his trip/master class to Navarra. And made other libelous statements about me on his bulletin board.

My view is pretty much the same as Neal’s.

Among the unanswered questions is why Jay still has a handler (the questionable Pancho Campo) when he visits Spain? As far as I know, no other Wine Advocate writer has a handler for any region covered. And what is the financial arrangement among Campo, the wineries and trade associations, Parker personally, and Miller personally? I assume that bags of cash are not exchanged and that bank transactions would be evident if there are payments made among the three (or more) of them.

Rather than calling people names who ask these questions, that all seem to surround Miller (and maybe Parker), Parker should make a definitive statement about these transactions and relationships and how they comply or are exceptions to the standards stated on his masthead. But he has not since Miller’s Australia boondoggles were brought to light and wouldn’t go away until addressed. I’m not holding my breath. Or renewing my 30-year old subscription.

Money being peddled around to garner access to neophyte decision makers? I thought this was a no-politics forum gentlemen.