Robert Parker is decisive and speaks his opinion. He championed the consumer and drew inspiration from Ralph Nader in the 1970s to become a consumer wine advocate. Regardless of whether you agree with him on what wines he likes and what he thinks about certain wine methodologies, he speaks his mind and writes what he thinks in his books clearly, succintly and with much passion. Passion that certainly augmented my motivation! And +1 to many of the above comments, notably fostering the creation of a great online wine community via Mark Squires, which did indeed result in many wine connections and friendships.
Robert Parker was the first person to alert me about the 1982 vintage and Bordeaux in general. If not for his words, I would have never taken the plunge to buy the '82 vintage on futures at a time when my wine knowledge and pocketbook were both severely limited. I thank him every time I open a bottle for friends and family. In addition, he greatly increased my appreciation and knowledge of the entire Rhone area especially Chateauneuf du Pape.
As to the many other excellent points raised in this thread…I can only add +1.
Cheers!
Marshall ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
As an Italian wine lover, I have to give him credit for hiring Antonio Galloni as well.
Marshall, nice avatar.
He had a tremendous positive influence on most all of my early forays in to fine wine, especially buying QPRs. I doubt I’d be a wine geek without his trailblazing. Ebob bolstered and greatly expanded my interest, knowledge and connections. He worked hard and passionately at becoming the leader in his field and I have considerable respect for his efforts and members of his team.
RT
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His head is extremely large, and I’m not being snide, I’m serious. Look at a picture sometime. His melon’s almost as big as Giada DiLaurentiis’, at least in relative terms.
He’s the most famous person in the world of wine.
One of the nicest and humble people I have met despite being the most influential wine critic of all time. He is the main reason why my passion in wine grew.
I think another Robert might take that prize. (Mondavi)
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He hosted a web site that included a BB that allowed me to meet a lot of interesting and nice people and have a lot of great dinners with them, developing friendships that will last for a long time.
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I discovered a lot of California wines that I really enjoy because of Bob. I know you burgheads hate the stuff, but I enjoy Aubert, Saxum, Pax, and a bunch of others that I would never have discovered if Bob had not found them first.
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I have been drinking serious wine for 40 years. The quality has improved dramatically over that time. I believe that a portion of the improvement has been due to the proliferation of crtics and media distribution of critical commentary, which has forced vignerons to stop relying solely upon an 1855 classification system and similar antiquated reputations and instead to increase quality. RMP gets some credit for that.
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Do you actually think that some of the less well-known houses in Bordeaux, or in other places around the world, would have neem able to compete with the megamonsters in the industry if it weren’t for the critics that found them and publicized them. The increase in competition increased quality, which is a good thing.
Good thread. I could have made many of the comments above. Personally, I have always enjoyed being around Bob, as I find him open, accessible, very interesting, and a lot of fun. He is generous to a fault with both charities and individuals, having experienced that generosity first hand.
+1
Parker and the Squires board got me to read about wine.
His notes challenged me to try wines from varietals and regions that wern’t on my radar screen.
I look at his vintage chartall the time when faced with regions/years with which I am not familiar, and I keep one in my wallet or bag as a reference when going to a restaurant where I’ll be ordering off the list.
His scores can be a helpful marketing tool, especially for the newbie.
When we first found e-Bob it was 2005 and we were stressing on the weather and the picking decisions. I found a weather thread and a harvest thread with all kinds of winemakers and grapegrowers weighing the same decisions. It was hugely helpful for us as we are isolated here in the Humboldt hills.
eBob and the Squires board got me to write about wine…something I wouldn’t have imagined only a handful of years ago.
TWA reviews have saved me from spending countless thousands of dollars on crappy wine, and the history and insight Parker provides on all those producers year after year caused me to care about more than just the wine itself.
And kudos to Berry for starting this thread and all those who have commented… 
I feel bad for the people that were introduced to Robert Parker through the Mark Squires board -
Pre-Squires (And pre-internet) Parker’s Wine Advocate was THE bible of wine - I would look forward to that newsletter with incredible passion every other month - and read that sucker over and over and over til the next one came - His championing of the Languedoc was always my favorite highlight of his newsletters as is his early fascination with Oregon and Washington (years before other critics caught on) -
I first found out about The Wine Advocate from a broker who was using his 1981 Bordeaux futures ratings to sell me wine - we signed up and the rest was history -
Not that we couldn’t disagree with certain ratings - especially Burgundy (his annual Burgundy reports used to piss the hell out of me even in the 1980s) -
There is no doubt that the entire wine world changed because of him -