Questions and Answers with Robert Parker

[Steve_Saxon]

@Gordon Fitz

I often take issue with RP’s TN’s and scores, but they are more accurate and more unbiased than 98% of such posted on CT.

How can you say that? Parkers notes are generally 5+ years old and he drinks the wines under perfect conditions, CT notes reflect how the wines are drinking now by people like you and me.

[Scott_Butler]

@Gordon Fitz

I often take issue with RP’s TN’s and scores, but they are more accurate and more unbiased than 98% of such posted on CT.

Riiiiiiight, because people who simply like wine…but are not ITB…are clearly more biased than a guy who has built an empire based on reviews. Yeh…seems logical.

[Cris_Whetstone]

@David Henry

@Scott Butler

@Todd F r e n c h

Is there truly a legitimate reason why one would feel the need to say such a thing anyway?

Plenty of reasons:

(1) He is getting older
(2) His taste buds are fading
(3) His influence is not quite what it used to be.
(3) The internet means there are many more opinions to be read.
(4) He feels threatened.

And (5) gotta give him credit, he’s not goin’ down without a fight.

That is if you mean fighting like spurned high school lover.

[Gordon_Fitz]

Steve:

It’s simple.Parker is somewhat consistent to his taste. Whereas, we have people on CT that rate wines as undrinkable, and give them 87 points. People have posted here on numerous occasions on their different rating schemes. Some view 90 points as merely an average wine! I’m not here to do a redux on the shortcomings on CT postings, in regard to points awarded. No use rehashing that beast. As I said, I often disagree with Parker, and his preferred style of wine, but his ratings are just more consistent than what you find on CT. But that’s to be expected when you are comparing one person’s ratings to that of a multitude.

[Steve_Saxon]

@Gordon Fitz

Steve:

It’s simple.Parker is somewhat consistent to his taste. Whereas, we have people on CT that rate wines as undrinkable, and give them 87 points. People have posted here on numerous occasions on their different rating schemes. Some view 90 points as merely an average wine! I’m not here to do a redux on the shortcomings on CT postings, in regard to points awarded. No use rehashing that beast. As I said, I often disagree with Parker, and his preferred style of wine, but his ratings are just more consistent than what you find on CT. But that’s to be expected when you are comparing one person’s ratings to that of a multitude.

I use Parker as a guide but you can certainly feel how a wine is drinking now with CT. Example: 2001 Pichon Baron…Parker last tasted it in June 2004, if you own one are you going to use that note for whether you should drink it now or wait? That’s why I use CT, and I can also look at the names of tasters I trust to know how the wine really is.

[J_Diven]

@Gordon Fitz

But that’s to be expected when you are comparing one person’s ratings to that of a multitude.

Here you openly admit you made a comparison of an apple to a grapefruit.
So i’m wondering then - what was the point you were trying to make?

Why didn’t you compare him to other, professional critics instead of an alternative form/forum where there is lots of other valuable information to be derived?

[Roy_Hersh]

Very little if anything is newsworthy or all that interesting but there was ONE revelation, unless it has been mentioned elsewhere before … but otherwise, ONLY in the first post of this thread.

Antonio Galloni as the heir apparent to RP? Now that is news and I am pretty surprised that it was not a major discussion point here by others. After all, David S., and Neal M. must not have felt warm and fuzzy reading that. Nothing for or against Antonio as I don’t know enough about his writing stylistically or otherwise, but he must have loved reading that Parker had that type of confidence in him to make that statement so publicly.

[Gordon_Fitz]

Steve;

We do agree that is the potentially biggest advantage of CT, notwithstanding my mentioned faults.

Unfortuneatly, imo, too many of the TNs on CT are on the wines in very young states, like 07 CA cab; 08 OR pinots; 05 BdMs, etc. where the TNs have no revelance at all for the wines. I have a host of mature wines in my cellar where no revelant postings are made. If I never saw another post that said " I took one for the team, this wine shouldn’t be opened for another 5-10 years, but for everyone into infactide, here are the TNs", life would be a better. Actually, I typically stop reading at the first ,.

[Tom_Symonette]

@Roy Hersh

Very little if anything is newsworthy or all that interesting but there was ONE revelation, unless it has been mentioned elsewhere before … but otherwise, ONLY in the first post of this thread.

Antonio Galloni as the heir apparent to RP? Now that is news and I am pretty surprised that it was not a major discussion point here by others. After all, David S., and Neal M. must not have felt warm and fuzzy reading that. Nothing for or against Antonio as I don’t know enough about his writing stylistically or otherwise, but he must have loved reading that Parker had that type of confidence in him to make that statement so publicly.

I was struck by it too, but dismissed it as being of no more value than as a backhand to Mr. Galloni’s WA colleagues. As for heir apparent, the next emperor won’t be anywhere near as influential, and at the rate Mr. Parker is going with his comments, the empire won’t survive his passing.

[Steve_Saxon]

@Gordon Fitz

Steve;

We do agree that is the potentially biggest advantage of CT, notwithstanding my mentioned faults.

Unfortuneatly, imo, too many of the TNs on CT are on the wines in very young states, like 07 CA cab; 08 OR pinots; 05 BdMs, etc. where the TNs have no revelance at all for the wines. I have a host of mature wines in my cellar where no revelant postings are made. If I never saw another post that said " I took one for the team, this wine shouldn’t be opened for another 5-10 years, but for everyone into infactide, here are the TNs", life would be a better. Actually, I typically stop reading at the first ,.

Got it…you and I are alike in that we have older cellars. When it comes to Cal Cabs I have very few younger than a 95, bdx, I only back fill great bottles, etc. I can see why you have no use for CT.

[ToddFrench]

@Tom Symonette

@Roy Hersh

Very little if anything is newsworthy or all that interesting but there was ONE revelation, unless it has been mentioned elsewhere before … but otherwise, ONLY in the first post of this thread.

Antonio Galloni as the heir apparent to RP? Now that is news and I am pretty surprised that it was not a major discussion point here by others. After all, David S., and Neal M. must not have felt warm and fuzzy reading that. Nothing for or against Antonio as I don’t know enough about his writing stylistically or otherwise, but he must have loved reading that Parker had that type of confidence in him to make that statement so publicly.

I was struck by it too, but dismissed it as being of no more value than as a backhand to Mr. Galloni’s WA colleagues. As for heir apparent, the next emperor won’t be anywhere near as influential, and at the rate Mr. Parker is going with his comments, the empire won’t survive his passing.

One might wonder if that is the plan all along.

[Fred_Daniels]

For all the banter that has been shared regarding Robert Parker, I still respect his opinions. He has tasted more wines than most of us will ever know, he has a clear point of view (his own), and in the end, why should he take criticism? Why should any of us? We all share our OPINIONS on wine and its quality, so there can be no discussion of right or wrong, good or bad. Only maybe true to ones own tastes or not.

Mr. Parker was a lawyer. He decided to drink wine for a living and made it happen. Hence, he has accomplished more on his agenda than most of us have on ours. I give him credit for that. He gave us the 100 point scale, which believe you me was a revelation in marketing because all of a sudden everyone knew how to relate to that particular scale. Many of us use this scale today, and it has bettered the communications about wines immeasurably IMHO.

Yes, perhaps Mr. Parker and his tastes have influenced wine making, but such is true of any critic. Restaurant critics shape what kinds of dining experiences we are offered, music critics shape what Amazon offers for sale to the public (ok, maybe what they STOCK), movie critics may make the crucial decision of whether or not we go out tonight and spend $40 on movies for 2.

Many of us old timers forgot what crap came out of France in bad vintages in the old days. Perhaps his emphasis on ripeness has helped minor wineries make more palatable wines. And crappy wineries make boatloads of acceptable wines. But arguments as to whether this is good or bad is again a matter of opinion, which is not open to criticism, just counter arguments.

Whatever your opinion, or whatever your experience with him, you are entitled to your opinion, but not to judge. I for one am happy he came along, and can forgive his faults for what he has brought to the wine world. He has enabled me to talk about wines in a way that others can easily understand, and since I like ripe wines, I can relate to his ratings. But for the record, I think he has historically misunderstood Sauternes and Barsacs, and missed an opportunity there. However, he does have a new rater that I think will work that area with more success.

Next, let’s all move on to Jancis Robinson…

[ToddFrench]

Fred - what you reason none of us should do (judge, decide what is ‘right or wrong’) is precisely what RMP does, in public, time after time. Why, then, is it not okay for others?

[Tom_Symonette]

@Fred Daniels

Whatever your opinion, or whatever your experience with him, you are entitled to your opinion, but not to judge.

This is the second place in your comments where your point falls apart. The first is your presumption that those who do not share your own judgements, do not respect Mr. Parker’s accomplishments past, current, and future.

Because a man is accomplished, does not mean he has no faults.

And, if one chooses to critique, by doing so he has also chosen to be critiqued.

[M_Dildine]

Clearly, for those of us who have followed wine for awhile, RMP is a lightening rod.

RMP doesn’t bother me and I appreciate his enormous contributions to the wine drinking public. He was a game-changing iconoclast who shattered myths and destroyed pretentions that had lingered for centuries.

Is he crotchety and arrogant as hell? Yea, I guess. But pretentious? IMO not at all. The opposite.

Maybe I just have a high tolerance for arrogance and a low tolerance for pretention.

[Berry_Crawford]

@Fred Daniels

For all the banter that has been shared regarding Robert Parker, I still respect his opinions. He has tasted more wines than most of us will ever know, he has a clear point of view (his own), and in the end, why should he take criticism? Why should any of us? We all share our OPINIONS on wine and its quality, so there can be no discussion of right or wrong, good or bad. Only maybe true to ones own tastes or not.

Well thats just the thing. He doesnt see his own opinions on wine as opinions but rather objective thruth. And then he is insulting of those who dont share his opinons.

[Ken_V]

@Bob Wood

@Gordon Fitz

I often take issue with RP’s TN’s and scores, but they are more accurate and more unbiased than 98% of such posted on CT.

Congratulations, Gordon. You may have bitten off just a bit more than you can chew with this one.

I thought about replying to this last night, but the statement was so absurd, I began to think it was meant comically. I mean, what does “accurate” even mean here? In science, it means close to the truth. But what is truth here. Then to add the “98%” figure, well that just smacked of the Onion’s sense of irony, so I left it alone. Now I see he was serious.

[Berry_Crawford]

@Randy Sloan

Mr. Parker stated that he believes that the development of California’s single vineyard wines will be its legacy in the wine world. In fact, he came back to this point throughout the afternoon. While not discounting appellation blends, one could tell that he seems to be most interested in single vineyard wines.

Im confused by this. Was he saying that California pioneered the single vinyard idea or are you saying that he thinks that the best California wines are single vineyards? If the former then thats is clearly false. Germany and Burgundy beat California in this respect by maybe a thousand years or so.

Slightly off topic but I think the popularity of single vineyard wines in California is attributeable to Matt Kramer. He came from living in and writing about Burgundy and he took this mindset of “somewhereness” and applied it to his writing about California. Estates in California were heavily modeled after the Bordeaux Chateau system on many levels. “Reserve” and “Estate Grown” were the most important words on a lable when I got into wine in the early 90s but when Matt Kramer put his “Making Sense” book out I started seeing alot more emphasis on vineyard name. In essence it marked a shift from the Bordalais idea of the producer being paramount to the Bugundian one of the land being most important (or at least equally important).

[Paul_H_Galli]

@Roy Hersh

Very little if anything is newsworthy or all that interesting but there was ONE revelation, unless it has been mentioned elsewhere before … but otherwise, ONLY in the first post of this thread.

Antonio Galloni as the heir apparent to RP? Now that is news and I am pretty surprised that it was not a major discussion point here by others. After all, David S., and Neal M. must not have felt warm and fuzzy reading that. Nothing for or against Antonio as I don’t know enough about his writing stylistically or otherwise, but he must have loved reading that Parker had that type of confidence in him to make that statement so publicly.

This will happen sooner than you think… ;>)

TTT

[Enzo_Ruffalo]