Which wine critics do you most respect / trust (or are most influenced by) - choose up to 3
Neal Martin
Oz Clarke
Lisa Perrotti-Brown
James Suckling
James Halliday
William Kelley
Jeb Dunnuck
James Laube
Jancis Robinson
Matt Kramer
Antonio Galloni
Jamie Goode
Gary Vaynerchuck
José Peñin
Robert Parker
Andrew Caillard
John Gilman
Kerin O’Keefe
Peter Liem
Campbell Mattinson
Jeannie Cho Lee
Michel Bettane
John Livinstone-Learmouth
Monica Larner
Michael Cooper
Ian d’Agata
Alan Meadows
Jeremy Oliver
Alice Feiring
Bob Campbell
Clive Coates
Eric Asimov
Michael Broadbent
Stephen Tanzer
Hugh Johnson
A specific Cellartracker user not mentioned here (e.g. Jeff Leve, Otto Forsberg - Forceberry, etc.)
None
Other - feel free to name them in the comments
0voters
A selection of wine critics, but which are most influential to you / do you respect or trust the most?
Choose up to 3.
I’ve specifically left out the option of individual Wine Berserkers as that’s rather insular. However if you know, recognise or indeed follow them from CT, then feel free to select that option.
I was going to leave off Robert Parker and Michael Broadbent, but have left them in for those that still heavily consume their past work (their words and the wines they wrote about). There is an ‘other’ option for the many others that weren’t included on this list of options, but feel free to call them out in the comments. Although this forum has a majority US posters, I have included a number of international options.
I’d love to vote for Goode, but since this is about wine critics, I choose not to - I consider him very influential only within the realm of wine science. He is a solid wine critic, yet it’s often too hard to decipher from his comments - and nigh impossible from his scores - which wines are actually good and which are not. He tries so hard to find something positive from all the wines that all the wines he tastes seem to be in the range of “really, really good” to “bloody sublime”.
Jasper Morris, Bill Nanson and Steen Öhman (Winehog), all for Burgundy, Chris Kissack (Winedoctor) for Bordeaux and the Loire, none of whom are on the above list. From the list, John Gilman and Neal Martin.
I voted for my top 3 among those listed, but MFW, Luis Gutierrez, and Eric Guido would have received votes or strong consideration had they been listed.
****Yes, I would say Chris Kissack too, mainly for the Loire.
From the list, I chose Neal Martin and William Kelley - the latter in anticipation of his forthcoming Bordeaux coverage.
But for Bordeaux and the Loire, I would also add our own Robert A Jr., thanks to whom I have discovered countless wines from both regions, including some which weirdly enough are easier to find in Florida than a few hours drive away here!
If influential is solely focused on making a purchase I would add our very own Martin Zwick along side Mosel Fine Wines!
David Schildknecht is clearly the most knowledgeable German critic but I can’t recall when the last time I bought a wine after his reviews because they are so late.
He used to be much more timely when he was with Tanzer, but yeah things got out of sync (to put it mildly) later on. That said, David Schildknecht was probably THE MOST INFLUENTIAL critic in my development as a fan/consumer/advocate of German wine.
The interesting question is ‘what is influential?’
In one version, it is what takes you from 0–>100 in terms of buying a wine. In those terms, MFW or Deschorchados or other critics/publications focusing on areas where I have less knowledge or less strong preferences have a big influence. On the MFW side, it is keeping up with a classic but rapidly evolving area. For Descorchados, it is understanding what are effectively are new areas now.
On the other hand, critics like David or John Gilman have influenced me immensely in understanding wines or areas I’ve tasted or was already pre-disposed to tasting. I might not agree with John in many ways, but he influenced me on how to think about wine. Ditto having had the luck to taste with David in my early years of learning.
Right now, James Sligh of Children’s Atlas of Wine has a great influence on me not in terms of literal tasting, but understanding the history, context and culture of a wine or a wine region. That is immensely more valuable than most critics on the wine itself. Ditto alternate perspectives like Wine & HipHop or your (Robert) mixture of wine and music.
I selected three professional critics whose palates align with mine, but there are a number of people here and on CT that I trust similarly. That would have been my #4 selection.