A view of the "new" Wine Advocate

[Roy Hersh]

FYI, the following appeared in an email today from Jon Rimmerman of garagistewine.com:

"The Wine Advocate - singular voice or scattered chorus?

"Now what? With one fell swoop, The Wine Advocate has drawn its line in the sand and wine regions around the world are either a 'have' or 'have not', there is little in-between. One can take that theory even further by stating the financial future of entire wine regions were effected today and if you are a future’s trader, you would be buying as many shares of Spain and Australia as you could get your hands on and dumping your shares of Italy as fast as someone would take them from you.

"It appears the ancillary winner from today’s Wine Advocate was Australia and the other regions that Jay Miller is set to review. They should be collectively licking their chops waiting for their free ride to economic bliss. Mr. Miller doled out the 95-100 pt scores like Snickers bars which makes his review of Spain almost farcical and an unfortunate way to begin his career. Expect to be inundated with offers from Spain over the next few months and little else from the issue - I’m sure you’ve already received a few. I can almost hear the Australian’s breathing the biggest sigh of relief since Parker announced his retirement from reviewing their wines...

"David Schildknecht once again proved his merit with an excellent and even-keeled review of the 2005 German wines that stresses his balanced approach and desire to review from a centered position (something sorely lacking from many wine critics). One can only hope this carries over to the other regions he will review, which I’m sure it will. David has cemented his status as one of the best wine critics out there.

"Mark Squires wrote an excellent and balanced article on Portugal with cautious scoring as well, which is to be commended.

"Robert Parker let everyone know why his voice is king - he quickly curtailed any pent up frenzy over the 2005 Rhone vintage (north or south) with one of his most sensical reviews in some time. As I noted a year ago, Parker has his game face on once again and the days of entitlement and nearly absurd scores are over as a return to normalcy continues. I, for one (and probably the only one in retail and the auction industry) must give him credit. Parker’s slow pull-back from his peak scoring in the early part of this century is in full swing and what started with last year’s Rhone issue, carried through to his 2005 Bordeaux review (where the scores were much lower than expected) and now to the Rhone again. Gone are the expectations that every wine will receive 95pts or more to be “important” and a 90+ scorer is a wine that needs to earn it. This may spell doom for a wine, retail and auction industry addicted to selling by numbers but I believe the reviews have far greater merit and impact - even if wine trophy hunters may have to pick up another hobby as there will be little to chase. Except for 10-12 wines, I can hear the footsteps of retailers scrambling to get out of contracts for 2005 Southern Rhones they grey marketed a few months ago as there will be little demand for many of them at such high prices, especially with so many other vintages still available on the open market with much higher scores. Will those addicted to the chase lose interest in a hobby that may force them to enjoy the hunt for a 91pt wine? Something tells me the auction market will have little room for $400 Redigaffi with a 93pt rating (even if the wine is every bit as good, or better, than the 100pt 2000 version). Time will tell...

"The big loser is, again, Italy. As a collective whole the entire wine producing nation was hoping the dismissal of Daniel Thomases would signal a return to glory and the high scores they had become accustomed to during the 1990s when Parker was reviewing the wines. Antonio Galloni quickly dismissed this notion with a hard and tough approach where an 85pt wine is very respectable and a 90pt score is truly exceptional (a practice I wholeheartedly believe in). While Galloni’s expertise is in Piedmont, do not think for a minute the Piedmontese have welcomed him with open arms as his classical leanings have not been as well received as you would think. He has single handedly put a pause to the roto-fermenter craze of the last 15 years as the vintners in Barolo and Barbaresco scramble to re-label themselves traditionalists in the hope they can catch Antonio’s eye. Unfortunately for the modernists, he has too good of a palate to be fooled and the barrique-obsessed of Piedmont are only so fortunate their reputation was staked a decade ago.

"This can only mean one of two things: The Italian fine wine industry is set to slump once again from a cadre of 87 and 89 pt scores for “excellent” wines that retailers will have very little place for and/or the Wine Advocate’s authority will be brushed aside in favor of James Suckling’s more permissive (and retail friendly) Italian scoring methods (which is amusing as this is the same industry that was collectively bashing Suckling only a few years ago - unfounded I may add). Let’s face it, how many times can you read reviews for the same collective of Conterno and Giacosa wines with little else to get excited about? The pressure is literally on-premise where restaurants will bear the burden of off-loading a slew of sub-90pt wines that will be virtually impossible to sell at retail. Watch for massive dumping and discounts on exceptional wines at retail that, if Jay Miller would have reviewed them, may have been new cult wines this morning. And what if Antonio Galloni was given the assignment of Spain? Can you imagine Antonio Galloni giving the El Nido Clio a 97pt score? I think not. Vice versa, traditional producers like Rioja Alta would have been the big winners this morning if Galloni was reviewing Spain and now they may be reserved for the discount bin. For one publication to have this much impact on the financial viability of a winery and region is truly frightening as now it depends upon who is reviewing your wine not just if the Wine Advocate is reviewing your wine.

"This begs the question - can a publication survive or continue its dominance with consumer confusion regarding its reviewing and scoring disparity? There is simply too big of a dichotomy between reviewing styles of each reviewer for a retailer to give a 'Wine Advocate' designation on a shelf talker (even though plenty will try and fool the consumer into a 'Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate' signature when it is Jay Miller that has penned the high review, not Parker - count how many times you see this in the next few months with shelf talkers from Spain). In truth, the Wine Advocate is now a fragmented collective of several essayists that have no relation to one and other - sort of a New England Journal of Medicine for wine. This is not necessarily a bad thing but I would guess this may be something for Parker to think about.

"The biggest winner of all today were the wine regions of the world that do not get reviewed - the wines must stand on their own and the consumer will decide, without prejudice and based on their own palate if the wine has merit.

"Isn’t that how it should be?

"Jon Rimmerman

"Note: I want to point out that I am not an adversary of Robert Parker - quite the contrary. I believe he has done more good as a single individual for this industry than could ever be repeated. His kingdom was not asked for - it was given to him by the consumer with their adulation and support over the years and he continues to impress with his stamina, honest intentions and love for this beverage we all spend so much time pondering. If more people were like Robert Parker in this industry it would be a much better world of wine."

[Al B.]

Roy,

A very interesting read. Thanks for posting this.

Alex

[Tom Archer]

An excellent argument for the use of my scoring system...

Tom

[Roy Hersh]

Just to provide a bit more insight: Jon R., the author of the piece above, is a nationally known, Seattle-based retailer (Garagiste Wines) that comes up with many unique wine offerings from around the globe. He is known for his prose and critics will say "over-hyping" of wines he "discovers" but he is never shy about expressing his opions publicly. Controversy is good.

[Andy Velebil]

I read that last night in his email...very though provocative. IMHO only, seems the Wine Advocate is becoming another Wine Spectator. Only time will tell.

I have read Mark Squirres article and I've quickly glanced over his reviews of Portugal's dry wines that was just published. A few glaring errors in the article stood out to me. As well as a couple things I don't agree with, such as this quote

"...The grape varietals typically used in the Douro dry reds are those that you will likely find in most Ports. These are the varietals with which the Douro winemakers are used to working..."

Yes, used to working with, but would you rather they plant Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot grapes and bring in soil from France or Napa to be like everyone else. It's called Terroir and those are the grapes that set the Douro apart from any other region in the world.

[Roy Hersh]

Andy, actually you and Mark are both agreeing. He is right and so are you. BTW, there is Cabernet grapes in the Douro and Dirk has planted Pinot Noir (expermentally, as well as Riesling).

But if you question his comments or scores, you should post them ... you know where, so he can see them. You remember I am sure, when I took Pierre to task about his 2003 Port TNs. Where is he now? Replaced by Jay Miller and now we see the guys are already chewing him a new one, after only 1 review of Spain! Yikes, it is no fun being a professional critic. I'm glad I am only an amateur journalist.