Robert McDowell Parker Jr. (born July 23, 1947) is a retired U.S. wine critic. His wine ratings on a 100-point scale and his newsletter ''

The Wine Advocate ''The Wine Advocate'', fully known as ''Robert Parker's Wine Advocate'' and informally abbreviated ''TWA'' or ''WA ''or more recently as ''RP'', is a bimonthly wine publication based in the United States featuring the consumer advice of wine criti ...

'' are influential in American wine buying and are therefore a major factor in setting the prices for newly released

Bordeaux wines Bordeaux wine ( oc, vin de Bordèu, french: vin de Bordeaux) is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the ...

. This made him the most widely known and influential wine critic in the world.Steinberger, Mike, ''Slate.com'' (June 17, 2002)
The Great and Powerful Shnoz
/ref>Bruce-Gardyne, Tom, ''The Herald'' (August 9, 2010)
The world’s leading wine critic
/ref>

Biography

Parker was born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. His father was a construction equipment salesman. He is an honors graduate of the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

, with a major in history and a minor in

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

. He continued his education at

University of Maryland School of Law The University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law (formerly University of Maryland School of Law) is the law school of the University of Maryland, Baltimore and is located in Baltimore City, Maryland, U.S. Its location places Maryland L ...

at the urban campus of the

University of Maryland, Baltimore The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) is a public university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1807, it comprises some of the oldest professional schools of dentistry, law, medicine, pharmacy, social work and nursing in the United States ...

, graduating in 1973 with a Juris Doctor degree. He discovered wine as a student visiting

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

, where Patricia, now his wife, was studying. For over ten years, he was assistant general counsel for the Farm Credit Banks of Baltimore; he resigned in March 1984 to focus on writing about wine. In 1975, Parker began writing a wine guidebook. Taking his cue from

consumer advocate Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...

Ralph Nader Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. The son of Lebanese immigrants to the U ...

, Parker wanted to write about wine without the

conflicts of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, finance, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, t ...

that might taint the opinions of other critics who also make a living ''selling'' wine. In 1978, he published a direct-mail newsletter called ''The Baltimore-Washington Wine Advocate'', which was later renamed ''The Wine Advocate.'' The first issue was sent free to consumers from mailing lists Parker purchased from several major wine retailers. Six hundred charter subscribers paid to receive the second issue published later that year. Parker received worldwide attention when he called the 1982 vintage in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

superb, contrary to the opinions of many other critics, such as San Francisco critic Robert Finigan, who felt it was too low-acid and ripe. While there is still debate about the timelessness of the vintage, prices of 1982 Bordeaux remain consistently higher than other vintages. More than twenty years later, ''The Wine Advocate'' has over 50,000 subscribers, primarily in the United States, but with significant readership in over 37 other countries. While other wine publications have more subscribers, ''The Wine Advocate'' is still considered to exert a significant influence on wine consumers' buying habits, particularly in America. ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wine critic Frank Prial asserted that "Robert M. Parker Jr. is the most influential wine critic in the world." A lengthy profile of Parker entitled "The Million Dollar Nose" ran in ''

The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' in December 2000. Among other claims, Parker told the author that he tastes 10,000 wines a year and "remembers every wine he has tasted over the past thirty-two years and, within a few points, every score he has given as well." Yet, in a public blind tasting of fifteen top wines from Bordeaux 2005—which he has called "the greatest vintage of my lifetime"—Parker could not correctly identify any of the wines, confusing left bank wines for right several times. (In general, "left bank" wines are grown in regions west of the Gironde Estuary, and "right bank" in the regions east.) In addition to writing and tasting for ''The Wine Advocate'', which is published six times a year in

Monkton, Maryland Monkton is an unincorporated community in northern Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It has a population of approximately 4,856 people. The community is in area, with approximately . As an unincorporated area, Monkton has no legally ...

, Parker has been a contributing editor for ''

Food and Wine Magazine ''Food & Wine'' is an American monthly magazine published by Dotdash Meredith. It was founded in 1978 by Ariane and Michael Batterberry. It features recipes, cooking tips, travel information, restaurant reviews, chefs, wine pairings and se ...

'' and ''

BusinessWeek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

''. He has also written periodically for the British magazine '' The Field'' and has been the wine critic for France's '' L'Express'' magazine, the first time a non-Frenchman has held this position. Among the books and films that have focused on the influence and effects of Parker on the global wine industry are the 2004 book ''The Accidental Connoisseur'', by

Lawrence Osborne Lawrence Osborne (born 1958) is a British novelist and journalist who is currently residing in Bangkok. Osborne was educated at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, and at Harvard University, and has since led a nomadic life, residing for years i ...

, the 2004 documentary film ''

Mondovino ''Mondovino'' ( it, World of Wine) is a 2004 documentary film on the impact of globalization on the world's different wine regions written and directed by American film maker Jonathan Nossiter. It was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2004 Cannes ...

'' by

Jonathan Nossiter Jonathan Nossiter (born 1961) is an American filmmaker. Early life and education Nossiter was born to a Jewish familyDecanting Robert Parker
/ref> a 2005

unauthorized biography An unauthorized biography is a biography written without the subject's permission or input. The term is usually restricted to biographies written within the subject's lifetime or shortly after their death; as such, it is not applied to biographi ...

The Emperor of Wine Elin McCoy is an American wine and spirits columnist for ''Bloomberg Markets'', international wine judge, and a contributor to publications such as '' Food & Wine'', ''The New York Times'', '' House & Garden'' and ''Zester Daily''. Education McCoy ...

'' by

Elin McCoy Elin McCoy is an American wine and spirits columnist for ''Bloomberg Markets'', international wine judge, and a contributor to publications such as '' Food & Wine'', ''The New York Times'', '' House & Garden'' and ''Zester Daily''. Education McCoy ...

, the 2008 book ''The Battle for Wine and Love: Or How I Saved the World from Parkerization'' by

Alice Feiring Alice Feiring is an American journalist and author, for several years a wine and travel columnist for '' Time'' magazine, and known as an advocate for " natural wine". In addition to contributions to publications such as '' The New York Times'' ...

,Asimov, Eric, ''The New York Times'' (May 21, 2008)
Good Wine Reading With Mellow Aftertaste
/ref> and the 2010 French language ''bande dessinée'' comic book, '' Robert Parker: Les Sept Pêchés capiteux''. Parker's nose and palate are insured for $1 million. Parker disclosed end of 2012, that he will sell a "substantial interest" in his newsletter and plans to step down as editor in chief. His new partners are a trio of Singapore-based hedge fund investors. Parker formally retired from The Wine Advocate at the age of 71 in 2019.

Impact of Parker on the world of wine

A new role for the wine critic

Until the 1970s,

wine critic Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented grapes. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different ...

ism was usually complementary to the production or trade of wine. The conflict of interest that might ensue from this close relationship was accepted by consumers, as they consulted wine reviews to gain an introduction to the world of wine, and not necessarily for advice on getting good value for their money. Hence, before Robert Parker, wine critics almost always had some link to the production or trade of wines. Two wine critics were particularly influential in inspiring and defining Robert Parker: *

Robert Lawrence Balzer Robert Lawrence Balzer (June 25, 1912 – December 2, 2011) has been called the first serious wine journalist in the United States. He was born in Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa. At the age of 24, he was put in charge of the wine department of ...

's charisma inspired Parker. Like his contemporaries, Balzer rarely wrote negative statements about wines. He even once published a book under his name that had actually been written by wine grower

Paul Masson Paul Masson (1859 – October 22, 1940) was an early pioneer of California viticulture known for his brand of Californian sparkling wine. Biography Masson emigrated from the Burgundy region of France in 1878 (at the age of 19) to Californ ...

. * Robert Finigan was Parker's forerunner in consumer-oriented wine reviewing. In the monthly ''Robert Finigan's Private Guide to Wine'', launched in 1972, Finigan offered consumer-oriented, independent wine criticism, just as Parker did after him. Finigan helped consumers make decisions by developing standard evaluation criteria; his qualitative comments were straightforward and understandable, and each wine was ranked on a quality scale (exceptional, above average, average, below average). Parker is a consumer advocate who admires

and has been critical of most wine critics, who traditionally have been part of the wine industry and have had vested interests. According to

Mike Steinberger Michael Steinberger is an American author and journalist, who served as the wine columnist of the internet magazine ''Slate (magazine), Slate'' from 2002 to 2011.Colman, Tyler, drvino.com (August 25, 2011)The budgetary ax cuts Slate’s wine colu ...

, Parker has inadvertently made becoming a wine critic in the future almost impossible, since— in part because of the success of his scoring system—it is now prohibitively expensive to taste the very wines one should criticize. If it behooves a critic to understand, say,

Château Lafite A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...

1982, 2000, 2003, and 2005 before assessing the latest vintage: the critic must drink wine worth tens of thousands of dollars before beginning the review. This was not true when Steinberger became a connoisseur in the 1970s.

Parker's 100-point rating system

One of the most influential and controversial features of Parker's wine criticism is his 100-point rating system, which he popularized in conjunction with his friend Victor Morgenroth. Parker designed the system to counter what he believed to be confusing or inflated ratings by other wine writers—many of whom he accused of a conflict of interest, as they often had a financial interest in the wines they rated. The scale, now widely imitated in other publications (such as ''

Wine Spectator ''Wine Spectator'' is an American lifestyle magazine that focuses on wine and wine culture, and gives out ratings to certain types of wine. It publishes 15 issues per year with content that includes news, articles, profiles, and general entertain ...

''), ranks wine on a scale from 50 to 100 points based upon the wine's color and appearance, aroma and bouquet, flavor and finish, and overall quality level or potential. Therefore, 51 rather than 100 different ratings are possible. Although some critics, such as Jancis Robinson, argue that numerical rating systems are questionable—given the subjectivity of wine tasting and the variance in scores that a wine's age and the circumstances of tasting can cause—similar 100-point scoring systems are widely used by American reviewers. Many British reviewers, such as Jancis Robinson and Clive Coates, still prefer a 20-point system. Retailers in North America often mark wines with Parker's point scores, using printed cards attached to the shelves. Parker cautions buyers that they should read the tasting notes to determine whether or not the wine is made in a style they will like; he states on his website: Parker argues that he scores wines on how much pleasure they give him. He, and others, have said that it is the obscurity, corruption, and other problems of the

appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

system that made his consumer-oriented approach necessary. For example, the

Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 The Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 resulted from the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris, when Emperor Napoleon III requested a classification system for France's best Bordeaux wines that were to be on display for visitors from ...

was based entirely upon the

château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Now ...

's reputation and trading price in 1855. However, since then many châteaux have sold much of their

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineya ...

s; others have bought additional vineyards far away. The original winemakers are long dead. Parker says that this state of affairs was responsible for creating an injustice for consumers, causing mediocre wine to be sold at too high a price, and good wine to be sold at too low a price. He says of the 1855 classifications, "At most, these classifications should be regarded by both the wine connoisseur and novice as informational items of historical significance only." Parker has admitted that emotions do matter, contrary to the seeming objectivity of the 100-point scale: "I really think probably the only difference between a 96-, 97-, 98-, 99-, and 100-point wine is really the emotion of the moment." Parker is considered an unusually fast taster, and during an initial assessment he may keep a wine in his mouth for only four or five seconds before determining whether it is potentially a wine of 80 points or above. Mediocre wines will then be dismissed while those with potential are tasted twice or three times in succession before the final score is determined.

Impact on the supply: the "Parkerization" of wine

Parker's impact on the style of fine wines has generated controversy. Parker is highly critical of "those who make 'industrial wines with little flavor and no authenticity'" and he believes that there are still undiscovered regions and wines that can successfully challenge the wine establishment. Critics such as Golo Weber claim that Parker likes less-acidic, riper wines with significant amounts of oak, alcohol, and extract. This supposed "Parker taste" may be less the result of Parker's own preferences than of a trend initiated by

Émile Peynaud Émile Peynaud (June 29, 1912 – July 18, 2004) was a French oenologist and researcher who has been credited with revolutionizing winemaking in the latter half of the 20th century, and has been called "the forefather of modern oenology". Biogr ...

, the French

oenologist Oenology (also enology; ) is the science and study of wine and winemaking. Oenology is distinct from viticulture, which is the science of the growing, cultivation, and harvesting of grapes. The English word oenology derives from the Greek word ' ...

and father of the so-called "international wines". In the 1970s, winemakers avoided the late harvests, when the grapes were mature, in order to avoid the risks of end-of-season rains. Peynaud proposed that winemakers should wait to harvest until the grape was fully mature, or even over-mature. He also insisted on control of

malolactic fermentation Malolactic conversion (also known as malolactic fermentation or MLF) is a process in winemaking in which tart-tasting malic acid, naturally present in grape must, is converted to softer-tasting lactic acid. Malolactic fermentation is most often ...

through the use of stainless steel vessels. The globalist domination of the oenological press by Parker's ideas has led to changes in

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for '' vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of '' Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ...

and winemaking practices, such as reducing yield by green harvesting, harvesting grapes as late as possible for maximum ripeness, not filtering the wine, and using new techniques—such as

microoxygenation Micro-oxygenation is a process used in winemaking to introduce oxygen into wine in a controlled manner. Developed in 1991 by Patrick DuCournau, working with the exceptionally tannic grape Tannat in Madiran, the process gained usage in modern win ...

—to soften tannins. These widespread changes in technique have been called "Parkerization", also sometimes known as "The International Style", and have led to fear of a homogenization of wine styles around the world as Parker's "tastes are irrevocably changing the way some French wines are made", according to the BBC's Caroline Wyatt. Indeed, certain low-producing "boutique" wineries, among others, have received high scores from Parker for wines made in this style. Parker disputes the notion of growing homogeneity and argues for the opposite: "When I started tasting wines, in the 1970s, we were on a slippery slope. There was a standardization of wines, where you couldn't tell a Chianti from a cabernet. That's pretty much stopped now." Jacques Hebrard, the manager of Château Cheval Blanc, was once outraged at Parker's evaluation and asked Parker to re-taste the wine. Upon his return, Hebrard's dog attacked Parker as the manager stood by idly and watched. Parker says that when he asked for a bandage to stop the bleeding from his leg, Hebrard instead gave him a copy of the offending newsletter. Hebrard denies that Parker was bleeding. Wine critic Prial says "The Bordeaux wine establishment feels threatened by these new-style wines... and is engaged in an increasingly bitter fight against Parker and his influence."

Impact on the market

Impact on prices

There is evidence that Parker's rating scale has a dual effect on prices and sales, with claims from the wine industry that a Parker top score is valued at potentially £5 million. * When Parker declined to review the 2002 Bordeaux vintage "in barrel," the vintners were forced to drop their prices. * According to one Bordeaux shipper cited by McCoy, "the difference between a score of 85 and 95 or one winewas 6 to 7 million

Euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

", and a "bottle rated 100 can multiply its price fourfold." * Château Quinault, which used to have hard time selling its wine at 100

franc The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centu ...

s a bottle, saw its 1998 vintage rise in price in half a day to 125 francs after Parker gave it a 92 rating. * According to a 2005 economic analysis, Parker's scores would inflate the prices of already highly rated wines but, for the less good ones, it would not decrease their sales nor even increase their prices. Whatever his influence, Parker alone cannot impact the market price for a wine if he is alone against the mainstream. The famous controversy around the

Château Pavie Château Pavie is a winery in Saint-Émilion in the Bordeaux region of France. It lies on the plateau to the southeast of St. Emilion village. In 2012 it was classified in the first rank of the Classification of Saint-Émilion wine, as a Premier G ...

2003 is an example of this: despite Parker's positive ratings, the wine in bottle sold 30% cheaper than ''

en primeur ''En primeur'' or "wine futures", is a method of purchasing wines early while the wine (a vintage) is still in the barrel. This offers the customer the opportunity to invest before the wine is bottled. Payment is made at an early stage, a year o ...

''. In a statistical analysis published in '' New Political Economy'', political scientist

Colin Hay Colin James Hay (born 29 June 1953) is a Scottish-Australian musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist and the sole continuous member of the band Men at Work, and later as a solo artist. Hay's music ha ...

suggests that Parker has a significant impact on the price of ''en primeur'' Bordeaux wines: Hay also argues that Hay notes that Parker's influence on consumer preferences is not so great as it is on prices.

Creation of new market segments

Parker strongly influenced the creation of ''

garagiste The garagistes refers to a group of winemakers in the Bordeaux region, producing ''"vins de garage"'', "garage wine". A group emerged in the mid-1990s in reaction to the traditional style of red Bordeaux wine, which is highly tannic and requires l ...

'' wines, created by a group of innovative winemakers in the Bordeaux region of France.

Limits to Parker's influences

Parker is an avid fan of Bordeaux, and some of his critics observe that his focus is largely limited to

French wine French wine is produced all throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world, along with Italian, Spanish, and Amer ...

. In recent years, he has taken on additional staff for ''The Wine Advocate'', which has enabled the publication to expand into other areas, such as

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and

Israeli wine Israeli wine is produced by hundreds of wineries, ranging in size from small boutique enterprises to large companies producing over ten million bottles per year. Wine has been produced in the Land of Israel since biblical times. Wine was exported ...

s. Still, his influence is most keenly felt by Bordeaux,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, and

Rhône wine The Rhône wine region in Southern France is situated in the Rhône valley and produces numerous wines under various ''Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) designations. The region's major appellation in production volume is Côtes du Rhôn ...

s. Parker's influence on Burgundy wines was lessened as the result of a libel lawsuit filed against him by Domaine Faiveley. In the third edition of his ''Wine Buyer's Guide'', Parker reported that "the Faiveley wines tasted abroad would be less rich than those one can taste on the spot ... In other words, Parker accused Faiveley of cheating. Faiveley sued Parker for libel; in February 1994, Parker was requested to appear in front of the Paris superior court (''tribunal de grande instance''). The case was

settled out of court In law, a settlement is a resolution between disputing parties about a legal case, reached either before or after court action begins. A collective settlement is a settlement of multiple similar legal cases. The term also has other meanings in t ...

. It was eventually discovered that the difference in taste that Parker identified was due to improper storage of the wine at the American importer's warehouse, causing the wine to be "cooked." Parker delegated coverage of the Burgundy and Alsace regions to Pierre-Antoine Rovani in April 1997.

Controversy

Parker has stated very clearly, both in ''The Wine Advocate'' and his books, that his advice stands on high ethical standards, and that independence and impartiality constitute his two most important values. By abiding by these standards, he says, he seeks to guarantee that his valuations will be pro-consumer, and not pro-industry. Several published sources offer accounts that may call Parker's independence and impartiality into question. In her book ''Emperor of Wine'', Elin McCoy describes a positive article Parker wrote in the second issue of ''The Baltimore/Washington Wine Advocate'' about MacArthur Liquors and its manager, Addy Bassin. That article fails to mention that Mr. Bassin sold Parker a list of MacArthur's customers for use in mailing out the first, free issue of the ''Advocate'', a potential conflict of interest. In issue 164 of ''The Wine Advocate'', Parker wrote a long article about Jeffrey Davies, a wine trader based in Bordeaux. As Hanna Agostini and Marie-Françoise Guichard point out in their book ''Robert Parker, Anatomy of a Myth'', what Parker failed to mention was that he tasted wines ''with'' Davies, not by himself—yet Parker has repeatedly stated that an impartial wine critic should taste wines alone. Davies advised Parker not to publish his comments on the 2004 Bordeaux in issue 164, as Parker had planned, because they would have suffered from their comparison with the much better 2003 and 2005. Parker followed Davies' advice, and published those comments in the following issue instead. The second issue of ''The Baltimore/Washington Wine Advocate'' stated "Robert Parker has no interest, direct or indirect, financial or any other, in importing, distributing or selling wines." In the late 1980's, Parker invested in an Oregon vineyard with his brother-in-law, Michael G. Etzel, called The Beaux Frères Vineyard ("The Brothers-in-Law"), which would soon after become a commercial winery under the same name. He promised never to review any wines produced there in ''The Wine Advocate''. Two of Parker's tasters had, or still have, an interest in the distribution or the sale of wines, according to published accounts. * Until January 1, 2007, David Schildknecht spent half of his time importing and distributing wines, and the other half critiquing wine for ''The Wine Advocate''. He subsequently became a full-time critic for ''The Wine Advocate''. *

Kevin Zraly Kevin Zraly is an American wine educator and the founder of the Windows on the World Wine School, who has been described as America's most famous and entertaining wine teacher. Career Between 1976 and 2001, Zraly held the position of wine director ...

is the vice-president of Smith and Wollensky Restaurants, a group of 17 restaurants with a substantial wine list. Robert Parker's goddaughter, Marie Raynaud, is the daughter of Alain Raynaud—the co-owner of ''Château la Croix-de-Gay'' in Pomerol and former owner of '' Château Quinault'' in Saint-Émilion. Mr. Raynaud was the President of the ''Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux'', an advocacy group for the Grand Crus of Bordeaux, between 1994 and 2000. Yale University professor, econometrician, and lawyer Ian Ayres wrote about Robert Parker's conflict with Orley Ashenfelter, the publisher of ''Liquid Assets: The International Guide to Fine Wines'', in his book ''

Super Crunchers ''Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-by-Numbers Is the New Way to be Smart'' is a book written by Ian Ayres, a law professor at Yale Law School, about how quantitative analysis of social behaviour and natural experiment can be creatively deployed to ...

''. Ashenfelter devised a formula for predicting wine quality based on weather data such as rainfall and temperature that Parker characterized as "ludicrous and absurd." Ashenfelter was able to show that Parker's initial ratings of vintages had been biased upward, requiring him to revise his rankings downward more often than not. Says Ayres, "Both the wine dealers and writers have a vested interest in maintaining their informational monopoly on the quality of wine." Ayres pointed out that Ashenfelter's predictions have proven to be remarkably accurate, and claimed the wine critics' "predictions now correspond much more closely to shenfelter'ssimple equation results."

Bibliography

* * * * * * *

Awards and recognition

* 1993 - Chevalier de l'

Ordre National du Mérite The Ordre national du Mérite (; en, National Order of Merit) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's estab ...

* 1993 - Wine and Vine Communication Award from Moet-Hennessey * 1995 - Declared Honorary Citizen of Chateauneuf du Pape * 1997 -

James Beard Foundation The James Beard Foundation is a New York City-based national non-profit culinary arts organization named in honor of James Beard, a prolific food writer, teacher, and cookbook author, who was also known as the "Dean of American Cookery." The prog ...

Wine and Spirits Professional of 1997 * 1999 - Chevalier de l'Ordre de la

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

* 2002 - Commendatore dell'

Ordine al merito della Repubblica Italiana The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

* 2005 - Officier de la

* 2008 - Elected to the Wine Media Guild Hall of Fame Robert Parker is one of only a few foreigners to have received France's two highest Presidential honors, and is the first wine critic to have received such recognitions in France and in Italy.

References

External links

eRobertParker.com official site
a February 2005 article in '' London Review of Books'', with biographical information. *"Big Shake-Up at Robert Parker's Wine Advocate," Lettie Teague, ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', 9 December 201

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Robert 1947 births Living people Wine critics Writers from Baltimore University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law alumni University of Maryland, College Park alumni Officiers of the Légion d'honneur American male writers James Beard Foundation Award winners