This isnt a sarcastic post/thread. Its important to point out problems but its also good for the soul and group dynamics to be positive and magnanimous as well.
If you can’t help but make sarcastic comments or backhanded compliments, then please keep it to the other tread.
I’ll go first:
Overall, I think Robert Parker has improved the qaulity of wine available to consumers.
For me, personally, he has broadly expanded my knowledge of Rhone wines. Also, his reviews really helped me initially to buy good producers.
It was one of my first real loves in French wines too. I still drink them in the Fall and enjoy every minute of it.
He helped promote Mr. Flannery and bring him to the forefront of the high end beef connoisseur.
He has changed things for wine consumers tremendously over the last 30 years, more than any other human being in that time period. Whether you think his palate-influence and preferences are good or bad, we consumers know a whole lot more about how wine is made and sold because of his passions and newsletter.
I know his newsletters and information got me and most of my friends started on this interest/quest in the '80s.
Pretty much all of the other “tasters” we are familiar with, including their scoring “systems” are copycats of Parker’s then-cutting edge approach.
I think his greatest contribution is championing the finest values in wine under $25. I think he made some serious drinkers out of casual consumers b/c of that.
Robert M. Parker Jr. greatly expanded the knowledge base for consumers of premium wines. There are still some consumers, who post on various wine bulletin boards, that believe they have gone beyond RMP. They should perhaps
acknowledge where their interest was honed, or at least show some humility. He remains relevant. His style is unique and I believe he puts the effort forth to achieve his objective of being a consumer’s wine advocate. A great many producers owe their good fortune to RMP also.
When I was last in the Rhone Valley producers there gave credit to him for putting their region on the map insofar as broadening their markets and improving their wines for the export market. Bordeaux comes to mind also.
When I first became seriously interested in wines during the decade of the 1970’s there were few published professional wine critics. A few had authored books (Broadbent, Waugh, et al), but these were not pertinent to the then current vintages.
Consequently consumers like me had to forge their own paths. It would have made the search for quality wines that much easier had someone like RMP been active on the scene.
Hank ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Edited for spelling corrections.
He was instrumental in helping me to get into a variety of wines. And the participants in his former forum were essential to the creation of CellarTracker. I never would have thought of it in a million years without being exposed to an environment where people were oriented around sharing tasting notes with each other.
I learned a great deal reading the WA over the years. RMP has a deep understanding of wine and winemaking and always highlighted great winemaking details in his writing. In particular, in the '90s his advocacy of non-interventionist winemaking was extremely influential.
His restaurant suggestions for Burgundy were top notch.
I guess it’s “kinda” mark squires, but wouldn’t have gotten deep into wine without the parker forum.
Bob and Mark helped pull many of us together into one, albeit mobile, online community.
He helped shatter the myth of French wine hegemony.
Hegemony.
You term must be a Freudian slip about hedge-fund money. 
Must be nice. 
Robert Parker revolutionized the wine industry. He went beyond classifications and historic rankings of wines and rated wines by what was in the glass. And, with the 100 point system, he did it in a way everyone could understand. As a result, producers from lesser estates and from lesser regions who were making wines above their stations could become recognized and get paid for their efforts. This encouraged others to make the efforts. Underachieving producers were slammed (in many cases devervedly so) and they were forced to make better wines.
He sure called the 1982 Bordeaux correctly. Every time my group has a tasting, I appreciate just how good these wines are and have been throughout their lives.
And here’s my favorite quote from Parker:
Robert Parker on Bruno Giacosa “I can think of no Italian producer whose wines have given me as much pleasure as the Barbarescos and Barolos from Bruno Giacosa. He is one of a handful of producers whose wines I will purchase without tasting them first…” - Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate Issue 144.
He said something similar in his book on the World’s Greatest Producers.
I would never have gotten into wine to the extent I have if not for my WA subscription back in the '80s. The enthusiasm and joy he expresses for the wines he likes are infectious and were largely responsible for kindling my own enthusiasm.
I could put a +1 on every post here and I remember when I tasted a couple of wines he gave 100 points to and me saying this is excellent but 100 points?
When I tasted these same wine many years later they were indeed quit perfect and I was amazed that RP could so well tell the future of a bottled wine…
Also, every time i met and or dined with the man I was stuck with his genuineness and down to earth demeanor regardless his celebrity.
Robert Parker gave shipping temperatures the higher profile necessary to force improvement.
+1 on the previous comments.
His BB was the first place I met a lot of knowledgeable people and was able to learn so much through them.
Parker and Wine Spectator play a big role in expanding the community of premium wine drinkers which, in turn, expands the world of premium wine producers out there catering to that community.
For many of us out there, reading those publications, picking up on their enthusiasm, and following some of their suggestions played a key role in moving from casual wine-as-a-beverage consumers to become deeply passionate about wine. Once we become fully aware as wine enthusiasts, we ended up having much less need for those publications and discovered ways in which we disagree with their critics, but many of us never would have gotten to that stage (especially helping break through the intimidation and exclusiveness factor of it all) without a substantial assist from those publications.