Given your location, shouldn’t that be:
“il maestro è morte!”
I think Bordeaux has been in trouble for a while…It did not need RP to retire.
What will kick Bordeaux into life will be adapt to the market.
Let’s hope the working stiffs can soon obtain Bordeaux!
Wonder if Parker is doing finished 2012s so scores will not be drastically different from scores of barrel samples. I bet when it gets around to final scores for 2014s, it will be Martin doing so.
In Burgundy, when Parker/Rovani were doing Burgundy reviews, the “wrong” wines got higher scores and there were some really good bargains among the correct wines. As Burghound got started, this reversed and prices for the “better” producers went up. So, I would be surprised if this move means good Bordeaux for cheaper prices. If prices for Bordeaux come down, it will probably be more about the dollar.
Can we now get back to first growths at below 100 euro, please?
Wasn’t the last vintage to have that miracle 2008, en primeur?
I’ve been thinking about this, and almost struggling with it.
It’s going to be odd with Parker stepping aside. I love Neal, and think he brings a much needed dynamic to Bordeaux, and obviously, we can figure out his tastes b/c he never stopped, but this just seems odd, right?
I’m sure this is viewed long term, so that would make perfect sense from a continuity stand point. I’m sure he can make 1 more trip to Bordeaux…right???
I’ll be interested in seeing the retrospectives, although I suppose in some respects they are only academic, as it doesn’t affect my life or purchasing / drinking decisions if the 2005 Ausone is moved from 99 pts drink in in 2075 to 100 pts drink in 2100 kinds of assessments…since I don’t play in that rareified league.
I also get the sense that Neil Martin will spend a little time on the sweet wines of the region, which seem underrepresented in consumption patterns.
Why would it make sense for Neal to review in bottle what he reviewed in previews? Initial prices are set by Parker’s reviews, but the later demand and the secondary market is set by his reviews of the bottled wine. The pricing just couldn’t be any higher for the top names - buyers are pulling back all around the world. So he keeps up a good deal of influence.
Unless he is a lot worse off health-wise than he lets on. The pics of his recent appearances have him looking like a homeless guy - not someone who’s really on top of the world. Overeating and overdrinking takes a toll after many years and he may really be in such bad physical shape that he’s just not able to keep up any more.
In that case, the influence of the WA is pretty much gone. I like Neal but the other reviewers have zero traction or name recognition. I guess Antonio might see it as an opportunity but I think he’s a long long long way from having Parker’s influence. In the US seems like the beneficiary is going to be the WS, at least insofar as one publication becomes dominant. However, that in itself seems unlikely and maybe the good folks in Bordeaux end up just like the good folks in Umbria or Roussillon or Santa Ynez - just trying to hustle their wine as best they can and hoping that someone somewhere tastes it and likes it.
Wouldn’t be a bad thing at all. People could stop blaming Parker for stuff he had nothing to do with and he might become a little less shrill and live out his days more peacefully. Most importantly, the Brits will be happy because they were never pleased with the idea of an American having so much influence over their beloved claret. Of course they can still get a little snotty because Neal’s not a Master of Wine, so if they award him an honorary title, they’re good and the world is right.
I think, and hope, the dominance of a single reviewer or even publication is over for some time. Realistically, while Parker made many people money throughout the industry I think producers, importers and retailers are very weary. I don’t see someone else being able to take over that degree of influence. Without Parker there’s no real Wine Advocate brand and with the score inflation of recent times it’s harder for critics to stand out among all the shelf talkers. All good things for consumers and producers.
As I recall, he had back surgery, which might or might not have to do with carrying extra weight and presumably wouldn’t be connected to drinking.
For good or bad, and you can make a strong case for either, no one will ever have more influence on one wine like Parker did on Bordeaux.
…and the Rhone.
This is a short sighted comment, Parker drove better made, cleaner wines in Bordeaux, some went to far, but the region as a whole is better for the discerning nature Parker brought to the region and the resulting winemaking and viticulture that followed.
Plenty of wines I don’t enjoy drinking, too many on right bank that I used to love, but far more that show region, grape, and vineyard vs. cellar, winemaker, and cooperage.
I am sort of delighted. On the one hand, Neal is a exceptionally good taster, and Bordeaux coverage can be trusted.
On the other hand, well, do we need more competition for the likes of Trotanoy, Ducru and Canon?
The prices on the turbo style Bordeaux will never come down. Parker has seen to that. And now Martin will start trumpeting the more traditional, old style. And those prices will jump. It’s a double whammy. Glad I don’t drink much Bordeaux.
Confused, Neal already gave notes on ep and finished wines didn’t he, it seems subscribers will get one opinion not two (though I lean towards the man from Southend over Monkton anyway…)
Read your Joseph Conrad and T.S. Eliot…
Ah, the canard dragged out one more time in hommage! Yes, that Michel Rolland is the master of showing region, grape and vineyard, in a wine region that has next to no terroir to begin with. And this news just in…Rolland is on suicide watch, having threatened to intubate himself with his own micro-oxygenator after learning of Parker’s demise…