Saturday, January 27, 2007

Robert Parker's Point System


This man here, next to my little brother Kevin is Robert Parker. For those who aren't familiar with his work, Mr. Parker is a wine critic whose point scale to rate wines has been widely accepted as one of the best in the market. His contribution to making wine mainstream in America is unprecedented.
While I applaud his work at what he has done for the American wine market I also condemn him for making buying wine a little too easy. I have personally experienced the influence he has on the American wine drinker, so much that some tasting dinner have become nothing more than a Robert Parker points competition. If someone makes a decision to buy a wine based solely on what number of points Robert Parker has attributed them in order to impress their entourage, then I think that person should stick to expensive cognacs or even beer. Mr. Parker's point scale should be used as final decision tool, you should already know what wine styles, grapes or region you are interested in and then use Mr. Parker’s point scale to decide which you would pick. In no way should you ever try to use his point scale to compare wines that are in any way different (except the producer...maybe). Comparing a New Zealand Pinot Gris to a California Cab makes no sense. No matter what number of points they have received, one cannot be better than the other, or the same for that matter, they are just too different.
Another aspect of his rating that I think is flawed is that it is not personal enough. No one has the same pallet, we all feel and taste things differently, so you might rate a wine an 88 that Mr. Parker would give a 90 or an 85.
The last issue I have with this scale is that it implies that there is a perfect wine out there, king of all, which will receive 100 points and deemed the best wine ever. Or will there? If no wine is perfect than how can you measure the rest of them? If you don't know what a 100 points wine is, then how do you know what a 90 points wine is? I personally think that there is a perfect wine, for every climate, every blend, and every region.

To me the perfect wine is the wine that I enjoy now, whenever, where ever. The one that will adapt best to the current situation, it might be a 2 Euro Rose that I bought at the local supermarket and I'm enjoying with my friends, or the $88 dollar bottle of champagne I had with my wife on New Year's Eve.
Wine should never be a competition, there shall never be "winner", only bottles that come alive and die, with the rhythm of you bottle opener and at the pace of your elbow, giving you all that they've got for your enjoyment, no matter what it is.

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