ROBERT M. PARKER, JR. and OUR WINE CRITIC STANDARDS

WINE TALK
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These kinds of threads, while enjoyable reading, are hard on my mouse.

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Yeah, please, no more pics like that. OMG. [beg.gif]

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sometimes it’s better to be silent than to say anything at all.

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Something about better to sit there with your mouth shut and appearing stupid than opening your mouth and removing all doubt.

JD

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Kevin (and others)… you might be interested in taking a peek at the following Wine Spectator conversation. Jim Molesworth has weighed-in on the subject of blind vs non-blind tasting: http://forums.winespectator.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/6826053161/m/397101426/p/3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Jim,
Thanks for the link. Molesworth touches on several of the key issues. While he thinks it is a feature to rate village wines above Grand Crus (because the village wine will typically be more fruity and forward and the Grand Cru more structured and in need of time), this was one of the reasons that WS Burg reviews used to be essentially random number generated. Producers do make mistakes but I find that the non-blind reviewers do a good job at identifying these. Meanwhile, blind reviewers are much more likely to mis-rate ageworthy wines like Burg Grand Crus, Petrus, Latour etc. These wines just don’t show all that they will eventually offer when young so it is not possible to assess them in a snapshot. The ideals of “Blind tasting” market reviews so powerfully, that some publications will actually change the meaning of the reviews to fit the method. The best example of this is the WS declaration that wine should not be aged. If people only bought wine without the intent to age it, the methodology would be more useful.

FWIW, when I want to really figure out what I think of a wine, I bring it home (usually by itself) and taste it throughout an evening. Blind lineups emphasize small flaws and differences which are not always relevant to a normal drinking experience. Tasting a wine multiple times with and without food allows me to really assess what I think of it. This is probably the most accurate review method because it is essentially the same way I enjoy wine. If I think that looking at the wine blind will be useful (due to some pre-conceived notion), I will start off looking at the wine that way.

While I am rambling on context…In a blind tasting a week ago, I purposefully added a wine that I knew would throw off the context of a CA Pinot/Burgundy lineup. the trick worked and 3 burglovers guessed almost all the wines wrong. If I changed that one wine, I am pretty sure those same tasters would have gotten most of the wines right. Blind tasting is a game that is usually a better test of the tasters than the wines.

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Kevin.

I agree with your last bit. And that’s exactly why the top 10 wine critics should be the very best tasters in the world, not some random group of self-anointed putzes that may have simply tasted a bunch of wines in their lifetime. This isn’t just a game of experience, but one of real talent. A really talented taster with significant experience should be able to get most blind tastings over with in a dignifying manner and being able to identify the basics about a large variety of wines. They may have to take breaks, cleanse the palate, or pursue some other disciplined approach to keeping on track…but they should be able to do it. Could Jay Miller taste his way out of a paper bag?

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Yeah, there aren’t any hotels in Paso Robles. [rolleyes.gif]

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Ladies and Gentlemen;

You have the “Wine Critics Bias” Thread that already has over 600 responses. It’s mostly a bash Parker, Miller thread. Now you’ve started another bash Parker/Miller thread. Actually gets a little boring.

Reminds me of the guy who loved to fart and stick his head under the covers to smell it. If you really hate these guys that much, stop reading them, or stop complaining because the farts stink! [dash1.gif]

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Amusing allusion. Personally, I find the threads somewhat entertaining. If I didn’t, I’d just ignore them and let the others have their fun, no skin off my nose. I wouldn’t, as it were, “stick my head under the covers” with the others as well, and then complain about the smell.

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Until very recently there was only one hotel in the Pinhao region of the Douro, and that hasn’t been around that long. Most Quintas didn’t have electricity until the late 70’s or early 80’s. Taylor’s Quinta de Vargellas didn’t get electricity until 1978 or 1979! So what mark had stated was true, in many of these emerging areas finding a place to stay is not easy, if at all. Even now, the Douro is such a spread out and rural place, it is very difficult to find a place to stay near where you may need to go. And taxi’s aren’t exactly easy to locate either. I’ve had a Portuguese driver that got lost as many of the roads aren’t even on maps up in the Douro region. It’s like taking a step back in time.

So he’s not talking Paso here, were talking countries that are a 1/2 step away from being third world when compared to what we are used to here. he is quite accurate in what he states.

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GET EM!! HE’S A PARKER LOVER!!! [rofl.gif] =P

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Not exactly Charlie. But I do feel that people need to know the facts before they haul off and start bashing people, thats all.

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I guess they switched places in this instant

Bob and Silent Jay

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i was just kidding =)

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Very clever Jordan

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If it were you or I, or any “regular” wine enthusiast, I would fully agree. However, a wine critic is in a different group with a different set of pressures and biases.

At the GJE, where all wines are tasted blind, I have seen some real whoppers–legendary tasters making “mistakes” when tasting blind. Eric Asimov recently wrote about a lunch or dinner he had where he mistook a syrah for a pinot noir. This happens to the best of tasters. Its not a reflection on the taster, but is normal. If a “great” wine is rated poorly in a blind tasting, it may not be that the taster is off; rather, it may be that either the wine itself is not as great as the label, or that this particular bottle is not correct. I guess what I’m saying that in wine tasting and evaluation, things are not always as orderly as they seem to appear in many critics’ reports.

But…if you’re a wine critic, you need to sell your publication. My hunch is the reason most do not taste blind (although Bob says he does but apparently doesn’t) is that–if a critic tasted blind and put a few of the First Growths down the list in terms of points (say 80-85 points, or even 78-85 points), people would go nuts. They would assume there’s something wrong with the critic. “So and so has lost his touch” they would say.

My concern in professional wine criticism–not talking about enthusiasts or geeks–is that seeing the label implies pressure to rate a certain wine a certain way, or else people will lose faith in the critic’s ability and stop subscribing.

If you doubt this, ask a professional critic such as Bob to show you his scores from the page on which they were originally written. It won’t happen. I’m not accusing anyone of anything–I’m just pointing out pressures that professional critics face who must sell their writings.

A little true blind tasting would make things a lot more interesting.

Post Script–I just read the Molesworth posting. Yes, I agree with him. Just look at the reviews, say, for Bordeaux of the major critics–things look quite “proper” (Molesworth’s term, and I think a good one). Awfully proper, it seems to me.

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You think?? [shrug.gif]