Who are the most influential wine critics for you?

[alan_weinberg]

Jeremy Holmes and Jerry Hey.

[C_Mc_Cart]

Looks like to be influential, it helps to participate here.

[Sarah_Kirschbaum]

How about Richard Juhlin for champagne? Is he even still actively reviewing? Historically I have found his notes and books very influential.

I chose William Kelley and John Gilman since Mosel Fine Wines is missing.

[John_Morris]

I chose William Kelley and John Gilman since Mosel Fine Wines is missing.

My choices, too, plus John Livingstone-Learmouth for the Rhone.

[RyanC]

Given that this is a fairly Burg-heavy board, it’s interesting (and striking) to me how few votes Meadows is getting.

[Robert_Dentice]

I would also add that Stuart Pigott is actually very influential. I think his ratings are a joke and not for me personally but he is moving markets in respect to German wine. I see many, many retailers using his scores.

[Ian_Sutton]

Looks like to be influential, it helps to participate here.

Or perhaps to be influential with forumites, it helps to be one yourself. Makes sense.

[Robert.A.Jr]

I chose William Kelley and John Gilman since Mosel Fine Wines is missing.

My choices, too, plus John Livingstone-Learmouth for the Rhone.

My three choices as well.

The CT option was an interesting one. Begs the question whether Jeff Leve should have been listed. I really do not know whether he considers himself a commentator, a critic, a blogger, or whatever. I actually read his stuff more than most of the people listed, and find his write-ups fairly interesting and of value, even if we have very different tastes on some wines. On core classic Bordeaux, he actually is pretty down the middle; it’s the modern stuff where we differ. Well, we seem to have vintage preferences as well - me, 2014; him, 2015 and 2018, for example - but his notes are clear enough to know which vintages are classic and which are more ripe.

I have not subscribed to any critic publications for over 20 years, other than a short-term dabble into Chris Kissack, who has very good Loire coverage, and then a brief return to TWA once William got involved, and then I drifted off again. I intend to renew now that he is at the helm, partly because I value his involvement on our board and want to support cool people. Which goes back to where I am heading: The most influential wine critic to me is this board. What Todd and this community have created is extraordinary. The free flowing wine discussions with a massive membership, many of whom have deep expertise, is incredible. I have learned more from this board than anywhere else. Thinking of the collection of folks on this board that have incredible palates and write/post notes with regularity. I do not want to name names, as invariably I will leave out someone, but folks like Otto and Keith Levenberg, who write so extensively and have such a deep count of notes on CT, that they really fall in that gray area between critic and “super-amateur”. I bet I could list 25 names from this board that have influenced me, introduced me to some exceptional wines, and have taught me something. So for that, my top choice would be WB.com.

[Ian_Sutton]

Indeed Robert, it was a very conscious decision to avoid WB board members as even an option (accepting that some do post here), but acknowledging that for the likes of Keith, Otto and Jeff and others, we would recognise their name if we saw a note from them on CT. I wanted at least a nod to the outside world and we’d be biased towards voting for ourselves.

[Brady_Daniels]

I put none, fooling myself into thinking nobody holds sway over my purchases.

Jasper Morris, Jane Anson, and Bill Nanson should be on the list.

[Cris_Whetstone]

My list of people I follow on CT would be a nice option instead of just one person.

[Ian_Sutton]

My list of people I follow on CT would be a nice option instead of just one person.

Feel free to name check them here in the comments

[Shan_A]

William Kelley is extremely influential for my wallet. He put it on a liquid diet and it gets thinner by the week.

[Alex_N]

I was disappointed “No capsule” guy wasn’t included in this poll. “Protect those corks!”
For me it’s this board and CT.

[Cris_Whetstone]

My list of people I follow on CT would be a nice option instead of just one person.

Feel free to name check them here in the comments

I think you don’t really understand what I mean. The totality of the people on that list counts as an important reviewer to me. It’s not necessarily about any particular one of the 65 individual users. In fact, its the fact that as a whole they represent a voice that I’ve come to use and rely on.

[Kirk.Grant]

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.

None is also an option.

Flawed pole, Brad Baker was excluded from the list.

[Anton_D]

This place.

If Bueker calls pout a Riesling, I will look for it.

Same goes for several others here.

I love our tasting notes.

Plus, it’s not limited to new releases!

[Ian_Sutton]

FWIW I realise I missed forum favourite Mark Squires off the poll as well.

[Ian_Sutton]

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.

Late perhaps, but when he gets his pre-release notes published for the 1971 vintage the market will take notice!

[Jeff_Leve]

I chose William Kelley and John Gilman since Mosel Fine Wines is missing.

My choices, too, plus John Livingstone-Learmouth for the Rhone.

My three choices as well.

The CT option was an interesting one. Begs the question whether Jeff Leve should have been listed. I really do not know whether he considers himself a commentator, a critic, a blogger, or whatever. I actually read his stuff more than most of the people listed, and find his write-ups fairly interesting and of value, even if we have very different tastes on some wines. On core classic Bordeaux, he actually is pretty down the middle; it’s the modern stuff where we differ. Well, we seem to have vintage preferences as well - me, 2014; him, 2015 and 2018, for example - but his notes are clear enough to know which vintages are classic and which are more ripe.

I do not think about it, as it doesn’t matter to me. Though we are quite competitive. My notes are all over the net. And my site has more readers than most sites combined when it comes to Bordeaux. We are more up to date on the information most consumers are interested and frankly, I taste more wine than almost any critic out there for Bordeaux.