Any comments on the march 9 article discussing the evolution from one voice (Parker) to a degeneration of influences that include Lebron James and the Kardashians
I totally prefer the King James Version of wine criticism, augmented (if you will) by the exquisite tastes of the Kardahsians to tell me what to buy vs. the backwater “tastes” of some attorney.
? I’m not following that. Wasn’t Parker the King James Version?
I was actually going to delete my post but given you captured it in your quote, I’ll just say my post was way too much tongue in cheek (e.g., I wasn’t using King James Version to refer to an original, but rather playing on LeBron’s branding himself as King James), obliquely poking fun at too many aspects of wine criticism, social media influencers, and the ongoing argument/discussion over wine scores vs. reviews, etc. I do think taking wine advice from a professional athlete or a person who is famous for being famous is silly. Obviously LeBron and the Ks have their own opinions about wine (and LeBron apparently drinks some pretty good stuff) but I don’t think their skill and/or fame in non-wine-related pursuits somehow validates their opinions re: wine.
I’m not a WS subscriber, but I don’t miss the one-size-fits-all era at all. It worked fine in the 80s, but we will be drinking the consequences of that particular hegemony for many years to come. The more the merrier, however cacophonous it can seem at times.
Well said.
Ah, missed the reference.
I would just add that it’s also unwise to take wine advice from someone is famous for being silly (which is how I read the bolded line the first time).
Well that would explain why he’s about 20 or 30 lbs overweight this year and suffering from so many injuries.
Wine & Fitness are two mutually exclusive universes with pretty much zero overlap between the two of them.
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Though I can’t read the article, I get the gist of it. And I think we need to think of this from multiple factors:
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From the non-wine geek side, this may nor may not be a good thing. Too many voices make it difficult to figure out ‘who to believe’ and most wine consumers won’t put the time in to research, etc . . . they just want ‘an answer’ . . .
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From the geeky wine consumer’s standpoint, so much has changed in the past decade. No matter how many folks want to admit it or not, everyone waited for RMP’s reviews to be released, moreso than any other reviewer . . . and his reviews ‘made’ wines and wineries. Period. Nowadays, of course, things are different - and one can align one’s palate with a specific reviewer due to choice - or with ‘peer reviewers’ via CT and the like.
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From a wine producer’s standpoint, it’s a mixed blessing. When RMP was in his and it’s prime, those scores ‘moved markets’ and there are many wineries these days that ‘exist’ because of scores received ‘back in the day’. Now, it’s more challenging to ‘move markets’ with a review - regardless of who gives it to you. Depending upon your target audience, WA scores still do matter, but not as much ‘for the masses’ as a WS or perhaps a mention in WSJ or Food and Wine in all honesty.
Interested in hearing ‘open minded’ opinions from others - and not just typical ‘knee jerk’ reactions . . .
Cheers.
Ha—not intended, but I agree with you!
Pretty much this.
On this particular forum, people have favorite reviewers but nobody is panting for anyone’s scores at the high or low end. It’s probably a better idea to focus on branding the product. Remember, people go into a store or restaurant and order a Pinot Noir or a Chardonnay often as not. As if one is pretty much indistinguishable from another. And with a hundred critics vying to be heard, it’s pretty much just noise to the average consumer.
A really good article.
The headline gets the attention but the article is actually very informative. The author
names many good sources for wine reviews. She included CellarTracker which is for wine nerds but we knew that.
From what I can tell, Parker would approve of Lebron’s taste in wine.
-Al
Yes! This!!!
IBID!!!
I think the difference between the wine drinker and wine geek is important. All Wine Merchants active on the internet add scores. Usually the highest. The highest comes from Suckling most of the time. These scores probably influence wine drinkers. But not wine geeks. My experience is that many wine geeks are very confident and focusing on a certain wine style. Often their love is Burgundy and the wine style related to that area. This has certain advantages. Burgundy is maximal complicated with its countless subregions. Somebody familiar with all these microscopic vineyards is somebody in the know, an expert, a professor of wine. Which sets this person apart from the masses. And from the former leader of the masses. Robert Parker. It is a fine coincidence that Parker wasn’t successful in Burgundy as he was elsewhere. Many normal wine drinkers were familiar with Parker, the wine expert. Due to the internet with tons of information the situation is very heterogene. But scores or medals still have importance. At least in Germany almost no internet wine shop is without scores medals or whatever. Even if the critic or organization is almost unknown. That’s the Amazon trick. Its profane that goods with positive reviews from buyers sell good. Without any kind of recommendation its way more difficult.
The finest wine shop in Orlando refuses to post a single note, score or critic’s reference. The proprietor built his own following, has regular tastings, educational seminars and wine always flowing. The place is and has been a huge hit for 20+ years. He is almost always at the store, and is a super nice and extremely knowledgable wine guy. Reputedly he will only stock a wine that he has tasted.
Tim’s Wine Market
Sounds like a very rare bird. Contrast that with Total Wine, where employees taste nothing but have to pretend they are experts and the store highlights employees “favorites” which of course are selected based on what the store wants to move
+1 and our course the staff favorites are all ‘winery direct’
I enjoyed going to the Tim’s in Lake Mary when I visited my dad over the holidays. Although they this Tim’s is technically a franchise, the gent who ran the shop was knowledgeable, enthusiastic and generous providing sips of a delicious champagne. Great selection of wines too! I ended up with two cases for five drinkers over five days!