The Craft of Culture

In the trenches of the food and beverage industry.

NOTE: This is my attempt to pitch to the Huffington Post via a slightly stretched thin connection. If they won’t run it, then damn it, my blog will!

The name Robert Parker, Jr. is synonymous with the judgment of wine.

Parker, who thrust himself into the limelight via a raving review of the negatively disputed 1982 vintage in Bordeaux, has been pumping out updated volumes of his wine and winery guidebooks over the years. Although criticisms of the lawyer-turned-reviewer have surfaced in recent time concerning his dedication to neutrality, Parker has established himself as one of the leading wine critics in the United States, amongst his peers and those whom he adjudicates.

Dubbed “The Million Dollar Nose” and the “Emperor of Wine,” Parker has notoriously arranged the wine ranking scale of the 100-point system for both his Wine Advocate newsletter and his guidebooks. Exceedingly influential to the consumer, Parker rates wines from 50 to 100 points, based on a number of factors including appearance, aroma, flavor and overall quality.

The power harnessed in the sheer possibility of attaining high status courtesy of Parker, or any of today’s publications who have mirrored his classification (see Wine Spectator, Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar), is where controversy can come into play. Not just for the consumer to view and use as a shopping list but for the winery to produce according to its assessor’s palates.