Personal point:
Seems anyone can type up something, post it to a blog, and wait for the pot to be stirred. And talk about forum posts being paraphrased! This conversation has been ongoing for what, a decade?
If Mr. Parker’s ratings have “jumped the shark” for Bordeaux, what plan do the Bordelais have in place? An opinion piece should have a premise, an argument, and a solution. This article doesn’t offer any solutions, just a recycled argument.
How about someone comes up with the solution and gets ahead of the curve without watching Mr. Parker?
Getting away from the 100-point system is like pulling off a band-aid. It is going to hurt, guaranteed, but it needs to be done.
Professional point:
Funny, I can’t keep any 07 CDP in stock after our email offers.
Sold out of:
Janasse (all cuvees)
Marcoux
Grand Veneur (all cuvees)
Vieux Donjon
Vieux Telegraphe
Barroche (all cuvees)
St Prefert (all cuvees)
Boislauzon (all cuvees)
Mont Olivet (all cuvees)
Beaucastel
P Usseglio (all cuvees)
Hillaire (all cuvees)
Mordoree
St Cosme (all cuvees)
I’m sure there are others… lol
My problem with this “article,” which it most certainly is not, is centered around two paragraphs of quotes supplied by Panos (no offense to Panos). Heimoff has been telling people to shut up about Parker for months, literally. As Rick points out, you can see a link that I provided from just one month ago, where he goes off on those still criticizing Parker.
Now, because, Panos gets his “interviews” on Decanter’s website, Heimoff publishes this blog entry.
Just amazing how easily swayed he is, based on absolutely nothing. In my opinion.
This is a silly argument. Parker has staked his reputation on 2007 CDP (which is considered by all critics an outstanding vintage, although Parker took it 10 steps further) and 2008 Bordeaux.
Do you have any 2008 Bordeaux available?
How about Miller’s recent reviews. Anyone selling out of Washington State wines?
Clearly, the influence is waning.
We are selling 2007 CDP like crazy, as well, but we sold it like crazy one year ago too, before Parker went off of his meds.
Is there a chance that a lot of these postulations about intent with scoring are off base; that Parker continues to rate it how he sees it? That 08 wasn’t him staking his spot, but rather simply rating the wines how he has always rated them? Whether or not his accuracy is up to his established snuff could only be compared by drinking comperable wines, and whether or not producers are adjusting their viticultural and enological technicques to cater to his palate style is up to debate.
I don’t recall posing an argument. Nor do I see much in the rest of your response that applies to my post.
I made the point the the article doesn’t pose any original ideas, rather recycled ideas from other authors. Then I asked the open question that if the author’s assertion were true, what view is there for the future of Bordeaux sales (and CDP if you wish to include it) from the perspective of the author. This is all d*** with no balls to be totally blunt.
Then I responded to Guillaume. I found one part of his post to be untrue as we (much like you apparently) have had no problem whatsoever selling 07 CDPs since they became available almost a year ago. I honestly don’t give a s*** who rated what with however many points, but you can’t stop clients from chasing those points. So, why not sell people the wines they want at reasonable prices?
I thought the blog post was poorly written and poorly thought out.
That said, there’s some truth to what he postulates.
Parker has run out of points and his influence is waning. When your writings pretty much give all wines 90 points plus, its hard to get excited. Can’t maintain a manic perspective forever.
Can you imagine a discussion such as “Parker is losing influence” five years ago? Three years ago? I can’t. Today it doesn’t seem so far fetched.
This is the fundamental point, no matter how poorly Heimoff articulates it.
Bordeaux '08 might be a good case in point. Rather than trying to kick start the market as some have speculated, one could argue that Parker is stuck in an ever-upward spiral relative to recent vintages and simply calling it as he sees it (better than '01,'02,'04,'06,'07, more consistent than '03, trailing only '00 and '05).
What do you do when huge variances from one vintage to another no longer are there?
As a buyer, I declare victory!
Wineries are better able to handle lesser vintages and maximize great ones today than in any other era known to man.
Bob’s judgment and influence is no longer as necessary as it once was.
In short, he has become a victim of his own goal.
Is it not his own fault, or achievement of a lifelong dream?
Most everyone seems to have caught on. We, as consumers have widely benefited, yet Bob’s influence has decreased.
I would rather not post this as his failing, but rather as a sign of achievement that as a consumer advocate he has achieved his goals.
I wasn’t a wino back during 2000 Bdx eP, but reflecting on what has happened in the last few years, it makes me wonder about the past: was there hysterical talk about point inflation, when all of the 100s were rolled out (Margaux, Lafite, Latour, Ausone, Petrus etc etc etc…) in 2000 BDX? If not, isn’t a discussion of Parker “running out of points” somewhat one-sided when people loudly complained about the dearth of 100s for the 05 BDXs? How can this be both sided?
I think people craft their perceptions of what wines should garner what points based upon the tremendous hype that is dolled out in these campaigns: the blog trips with pictures, the WA barrel scores, the reports from wine makers, the ugc trips, the price escalation ad nauseum…often times their expectations run away with reality. Does this sound familiar to those living in the US with luxury goods and housing? Sure does to me. I know that happened in 05 when everyone expected 100s from all the FGs+ several Super Seconds/RB All Stars and were shocked when it didn’t happen…
Part of that is driven from investment speculation. Quite frankly, there’s a ton of money on the line, so this isn’t just “wine,” a familiar quip by Mssr Parker…Part of that is driven by inferences people try to glean off of notes and comments, and part of that is driven by, quite frankly, self-serving bias. I find plenty of ammunition to question Mssr Parker’s efficacy as a bedrock of wine assessment (as if any individual could be) and whether or not he is indirectly an albatross to true improvement in the expression of terroir and heightening of quality, but to construe that his judgment is driven by ulterior motives is beyond what I’d think is reasonable.
Glanced at the article and it’s nothing special. Parker’s situation is due to a combination of factors. It’s a different world, the economy sucks and people are still losing their jobs. There is sort of a theme of “the boy that cried wolf” out there with people tired of hearing the same crap, vintage of the century, blah blah. There is plenty of wine out there and many have pulled back their buying or changed their habits. Parker DOES NOT have the power to change the fundamentals or power the Bordeaux world to think they can pull another 2005. 2006, 2007 and 2008 have taught everyone a lesson and for many it was a hard one learned (see Diageo, Southern and others through the chain). So, he’s not necessarily losing relevance because of his own doing but because everything is different out there. One thing is to get a truly monumental vintage every 6-10 years from the most important wine region like the old days but now we’re all bombarded with the latest and greatest from somewhere around the world every year and truthfully the consensus for the most part is…okay, who gives a shit? Next!
So, even if the 2009 is going to be better than 2005 (if that’s even possible) and considering that 2008 was a total flop and there are still mounds of 2005s and 2006s (many deeply discounted), who is going to propel 2009? Where is this thirst and interest going to come from? I just don’t see it.
I don’t read Heimhoff’s blog and don’t pay much attention is wine ratings…but I’ve always enjoyed his articals in WE and he’s written two books on Calif wines that are thought were excellent reads and from which I learned a lot.
Tom
+1. Trying to extrapolate Parker’s influence, when the world economy is in shambles is pointless (pun intended). There are arguments on both sides. He has been the strongest proponent of the 07 CdP’s. Anyone try to buy the highly rated wines in the past few days? Either they’re gone or prices have shot up. 08 Bordeaux prices jumped dramatically after Parker’s reviews. On the other hand, he gave good scores to 06 CdP, and many of them are readily, and cheaply (relatively) available.
2000 was the first vintage that received instant coverage because by then the internet was fully functioning and in use broadly. I remember trying to get early reports from people over there for the barrel tastings in 2001, we even sent two people over there to taste. Crazy excitement about scores, having “early copies” of TWA faxed to us by London brokers in June, the market was in a frenzy. Prices went up 50% or more overnight on wines with the high scores, not that prices started very low! (Relative to that time, of course.) Markets were moved.
Now we’ve had a decade (or more, if you paid attention earlier) of rampant points-whoring in the market and it’s all you see on the internet if you are looking for it. I think people are tired.