![[rofl.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/a/a7452fcd8e675af869f8da01174474a545b03944.gif "rofl"){kind=small}
Touché, Faryan! You must live in Washington. ![[wink.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/04707e6a7bbb03e0153e349d8a9270d30e1e9525.gif "wink"){kind=small}
Neal’s on target again. To make following the story a little easier:
RT
Shirley I am very serious.
Parker has always been very quick to defend himself and his writers from any accusation of wrongdoing, or even the appearance of wrongdoing. This is to date the most serious accusation I have seen, and although I find I have had many problems with Jay the writer, and for that matter Jay, the taster, I can’t believe given the crap that went on before, Jay would allow himself to be part of this scam. Irrespective of the moral problems of doing this (and I don’t for a moment think he would be part of something that corrupt) he is far too much in the public eye to get away with it, and he knows it.
good points, Neal.
Based on what I’m reading, it appears that there was some “capitalizing on an opportunity” being crafted in Spain by the trip organizers. There are legitimate doubts about how much Jay Miller knew of these undercurrents. You would hope WA staff would be extra suspicious about “high” speaking fees paid by local/regional promotional groups and associations. Benefit of the doubt still to Jay Miller on this as far as I’m concerned, unless he continues head long in to what could be a serious mess.
RT
ding! ![[winner.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/07ec25c9fd71159fe15d7f1ba5fad64e91238d0e.gif "winner"){kind=small}
I don’t know how much of this JM was aware of either. But, interestingly, Posner’s email today described him as a “bomb waiting to go off”. Daniel is very plugged in, in my experience.
Pancho Campo?
Does this guy where a bandana face mask? He sounds like a bandit… ![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
Quick comparison:
Pancho Campo on the left:
I hear from a wine business insider:
"here is the deal, as far as I can tell
Pancho Campo runs the Wine Academy of Spain, sponsor of the WineFuture event (next week in Hong Kong)
Pancho takes money from the producers in Spain. Pockets some…uses the rest to pay for Parker coming to HK (and Rioja for WineFuture 2009)"
“Parker is taking in A LOT OF MONEY for his WineFuture tasting.”
That’s fine tho right? Guys should get paid for hosting tastings, giving lectures etc.
Charlie, you lawyers are all alike 
.
Zapata is not pleased!
Mike Steinberger’s take on this: Dinero Para Nada - Wine Diarist
… there are two things that perplex me about this latest imbroglio. First, why does Miller need Campo to organize his trip? Can’t he make his own appointments, or have some importers schedule visits for him? Pick up the phone, send some emails, book a flight, a car, and some hotel rooms, buy a map, pack some Maalox and Imodium—done. Relying on local promoters and trade associations invites exactly the kind of problems that have now surfaced, and Miller’s trip has been irredeemably tainted as a result.
That’s what I tried to say, but Steinberger is more articulate. I think the most benign answer is that Miller is lazy and would rather that others do his work for him. The less benign answers are legion.
Edited for clarity. Sorry, I couldn’t resist
From Dr. Vino’s blog. It seems they are now threatening legal action. Clearly they wish to protect themselves from any self-admitted questionable practices.
Here’s a statement just distributed via email from ASEVIN:
STATEMENT FROM ASEVIN
Dear Sirs,
The Association ASEVIN, in name of the totality of the 21 wineries it represents, issues the following statement to confirm and reiterate the following points in relation to the case of the visit of Jay Miller to Jumilla (Murcia), published in the blog http://jimsloire.blogspot.com/ and others:
-
On the 2nd of November 2011, ASEVIN sent a communication to web-blogs, which published (in JPG format) an email containing confidential information from ASEVIN directed to its recipients, in which the web-blogs were informed that the maintenance of this JPG image on their sites could result in legal action being undertaken.
-The blog http://www.berthomeau.com/ proceeded to remove said image from their site.
- The blog http://jimsloire.blogspot.com/ continued to publish entries on the 2nd and 4th of November.
ASEVIN STATES AND CONFIRMES THE FOLLOWING POINTS:
The seminar/conference and the visit by Jay Miller was never confirmed by us and the corresponding contract was to be signed after the 10th of November, since the entire The Wine Academy team was not in Spain at the time.
The Wine Academy of Spain has temporarily cancelled the visit of Jay Miller to the region of Murcia.
Neither ASEVIN nor The Wine Academy nor The Wine Advocate will be able to charge any economic quantity to the wineries for the visit of Jay Miller to wineries in the region of Murcia nor for the tasting of their wines.
ASEVIN assumes full responsibility for the charge which was to be made to the wineries – which the mail refers to – and confirms that the request for payment was made by ASEVIN, not The Wine Academy or Jay Miller. “We, ASEVIN, assume the responsibility for ‘requesting the wineries’ to pay economic quantities to cover the costs derived from the possible seminar and tasting (the visit to Jumilla was not included in the official programme of The Wine Advocate, which will take place at the end of November. Therefore, ASEVIN asked TWA to make it possible for Jay Miller to visit Jumilla (Murcia) to offer his opinion on this region’s wines). We sincerely apologise for any misunderstanding which may have ensued and for any damage which may have been caused to Jay Miller, The Wine Academy, Pancho Campo, Robert Parker and The Wine Advocate.
ASEVIN, in the case that Jay Miller’s visit to Jumilla actually pulls through, commits to directly paying The Wine Academy of Spain the amount agreed upon to cover all costs for the organisation of said seminar-conference, as well as the tasting of Monastrell and the fees of Jay Miller and Pancho Campo. This amount will also cover the costs of travel, fees and accommodation for three persons from The Wine Academy who will assist ASEVIN in setting up, providing the logistics for, and promoting, the event.
ASEVIN’S proposal to TWA to visit Murcia arises from the interest of wineries in the area, which form part of our association, in receiving Jay Miller’s opinion about Jumilla, and in gleaning better insight into the US and Asian markets.
Bearing the conditions stated above, in the case that The Wine Academy and Jay Miller would reconsider their visit to Jumilla, the programme of events would be as indicated below:
24th November: Arrival of Jay Miller and The Wine Academy team. Visit to a wine maker of Jay Miller’s choosing
25th November: Visit to two wine makers of Jay Miller’s choosing
25th November (afternoon): Visit to two wine makers of Jay Miller’s choosing
26th November: Visit to wine makers of Jay Miller’s choosing
26th November (times to be confirmed):
· 6pm to 7pm: Conference by Pancho Campo and Jay Miller about US and Chinese markets for the media and professionals in the wine sector from the region of Murcia
· 7:30pm to 9pm: Tasting and seminar about the Monastrell grape and the wines of Murcia. 12 Murcian wines will be tasted (those which have obtained the highest Parker points).
· Venue: Salones Pio XII
Adjunto archivo.
Un saludo.
Juan Antonio Ruiz Jiménez
Secretario ASEVIN
“The Wine Academy of Spain has temporarily cancelled the visit of Jay Miller to the region of Murcia.”
Um… sigh… clueless aren’t they?
In the old days, there was a term for this kind of business – payola. Started out in the radio business, record companies paying “fees” for airplay and positive reviews and comments by DJs.
When it was caught onto and made illegal, the arrangements were simply changed to make them “fees” and though people in the music industry deny it up and down, it still goes on today in a different form.
The main issue here is that there is an implied endorsement for the high fees disguised as objective wine criticism. If I were a Bodega paying these high fees in a country with serious economic woes due to being part of the EU that is threatened by Greece and I WASN’T guaranteed a positive review for all these fees… why would I bother?
I don’t think any winemaker should have to pay for the “privilege” of having a renowned wine critic taste their wine. I can see sending them a free bottle or inviting them over for a tasting but having to pay for it reeks of economic blackmail to me.
Also, if these emails were “confidential,” then I can assure you some pissed off Bodega upset with the entire scheme let it out onto the Interweb.
Tran - thanks for the info…very interesting.
Hank - any further comments re you had said ( in post no. 9) ?
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.