Posted in 
January 26th, 2012 Please Don't Give My Jeannie No More Wine
Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide, 7th Edition: The Complete, Easy-to-Use Reference on Recent Vintages, Prices, and Ratings for More than 8,000 Wines from All the Major Wine Regions
Featuring a fresh layout, revised maps, and more detail than ever before, the eagerly anticipated seventh edition of Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide offers collectors and amateurs alike the ultimate resource to the world's best wines. In every way, this edition bears out Parker's stated goal: "To make you a more formidable, more confident wine buyer by providing you with sufficient insider's information to permit the wisest possible choice when you make a wine-buying decision."Understanding that buy
A lot more Much more Wine Goods
Related posts:
- What is the best wine to give for a wedding gift?
- a project about biotechnology like wine making beer making but dont include the how to make wine and beer?
- Can anyone give me an Apple and Plum wine recipe.?
- Can anyone give me a good muscadine wine recipe?
- Any wine enthusiasts that can give me some details and thoughts on wine essence kits?
Tags: 
All Numbers No Notes,
Parker’s Wine Buyer’s Guide, Robert M. Parker, Jr., Simon and Schuster, New York, 2008, 1513 pages, softback, $35. Four pounds of numbers. For $35 you get pages and pages filled with no specific wine descriptions, just lists and lists of the numerical score on the one hundred point scale. I don’t get it. For years whenever the 100 point scale has been debated Parker has always responded that a reader should never just rely on the number he gives to a wine. The reader must also consider the written evaluation of the wine. Indeed he makes this same point in the introduction to this work. “However, it is also vital to consider the description of the wine’s style, personality and potential.” If it is “vital” why have all of these descriptions been stripped out this book? All that the author provides is the score and a window of drinkability. Other than some general comments about the winery as a whole, there are no specific comments about any of the wines. So a wine gets a score of 94 but will it go well with duck confit? No guidance is given at all. The reader deserves far more.
Given that Parker is the most influential wine critic in the world, I would have thought that before making derogatory remarks about a wine producer, he would have done extensive detailed research about the wines. Not so. Parker takes a swipe at the wines of Kosta-Browne stating that, “I find them somewhat superficial and overripe.” (Pages 1194) Here is a winery that made its reputation on small lots of Sonoma County Pinot Noir. But Parker only lists scores on two pinots, both from the Central Coast, not Sonoma County. I thought that perhaps other Kosta Browne wines sourced from Sonoma grapes might have been tasted but dropped from this work because of space limitations. But when one goes to the Parker’s web site, the only tasting notes are on these same two Central Coast pinots. Wouldn’t you think a powerful critic is under an ethical obligation to taste all, or most, of the wines from a producer (especially their best wines) before publicly disparaging them?
To be fair, I really liked the section of the book that presents an annotated bibliography of wine books. Thankfully the books get more than just a naked numerical rating.
Parker afficionados will probably adore this work from their guru. I find it frustrating and missing key components. Not Recommended.
Was this review helpful to you?
|Mostly just a summary of existing published info,
Mostly this book is just a synopsis of the latest point ratings and a summary on the wine producers. As noted by others, there aren’t actually reviews for each wine, so you’re left to buy a wine based simply on the “Parker Points” awarded. The introductory portion is merely a repeat of past books.
To me the best parts were the region summaries of the Loire, Germany, and Burgundy (which I believe were all produced by David Schildknecht). I’ve heard fans of Italian wines also laude Galloni’s summary of Italy.
It’s also worth noting that although Parker has indicated that most (60%) wines are purchased and “tasted blind when possible”, recent conversations on his online forum indicate that he apparently may not follow these policies any longer, leading me to question what really is his stance on blind tasting and critical independence.
Was this review helpful to you?
|disappointment…,
Just numbers and numbers and numbers.
I found the 6th edition to be a far better work. It is a fun and interesting read. He had stories to tell then, henri bonneau, the first growths, jayer…
The 7th edition turns out to narrow wines to a compendium of numerical values that I thought would be the exact antithesis of what he preached. Did he get lazy or just lost the passion? I am disappointed and saddened by this turn.
Was this review helpful to you?
|