Tag Archives: Vintners Hall of Fame

Robert Parker finally elected to Vintners Hall

Which is as welcome as it was overdue. Parker redefined wine writing not only in the United States but in the world, and his 100-point scoring system made him the most powerful person in the wine business well into the 21st century.

Somehow, though, the wine writers and and Hall members who vote didn't elect Parker to the Vintners Hall the first two times he was on the ballot. That changed this year, when the 81 people who voted (out of some 220 who were eligible) put him in. As I wrote in July, when I sent in my ballot — with Parker's name on it:

There is no reason why Parker shouldn ?t be in. We ?re told we should vote
for someone who made "the greatest contributions to the California wine
industry in any area of achievement." I ?ve got news for them. That ?s
Parker, no matter how jealous they are of his success or how envious
they are of his prestige and popularity. If I ?m writing this, and I
think the 100-point system is dumb, then the rest of the other 216
writers (and current hall members) who have a ballot have no reason not
to vote for Parker.

Also elected were winemaker Merry Edwards, wine writer Frank Schoonmaker, and labor leader Cesar Chavez, all of whom I voted for. The late Chavez, who has been on the ballot at least three times, was a surprising — but well-deserved — selection.

Parker's election does raise a couple of questions. First, what will happen when he and hall member Randall Grahm — no fan of Parker, the 100-point scoring system or the Winestream Media that Parker epitomizes — see each other at the induction ceremonty? Second, what will I have to complain about when I vote next year?

Let Robert Parker into the Vintners Hall of Fame

Enough is enough. Stop being petty. It ?s time, after two previous failures, to do the right thing and elect Robert Parker to the Vintners Hall of Fame.

My colleagues in the wine writing business have decided that Parker, the critic who popularized the 100-point scoring system and has been the most important person in the wine world for the past two decades, isn ?t worthy. The voters snubbed Parker in 2009 and 2010, and he wasn ?t even on the ballot last year to give the controversy a chance to cool off.

There is no reason why Parker shouldn ?t be in. We ?re told we should vote for someone who made "the greatest contributions to the California wine industry in any area of achievement." I ?ve got news for them. That ?s Parker, no matter how jealous they are of his success or how envious they are of his prestige and popularity. If I ?m writing this, and I think the 100-point system is dumb, then the rest of the other 216 writers (and current hall members) who have a ballot have no reason not to vote for Parker. More, after the jump:

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Winebits 199: Hall of Fame, cheap wine, wine labels

? Six chosen for Hall: Peter Mondavi of Charles Krug heads the list of six men elected to the Vintners Hall of Fame. The other five are Albert Winkler of University of California-Davis; Joe Heitz of Heitz Cellars; former Beringer winemaker Myron Nightingale; Mendocino County's John Parducci; and long-time winemaker Richard Sanford. Eugene Hilgard, one of the fathers of modern soil science, was selected by the nominating committee. This year's balloting seemed to go much more smoothly than previous years, thanks to the absence of wine writer Robert Parker, who was not nominated this time (and still deserves to be in the Hall). The Wine Curmudgeon voted for five people: Mondavi, writer Bob Thompson, Sanford, labor leader Caesar Chavez, and Chateau Souverain founder Lee Stewart.

? Wine Enthusiast best buys: The Winestream Media comes in for a lot of criticism on the blog, but I try to be fair. Hence these kind words for the Wine Enthusiast's 2011 list of 100 best buys for $15 or less. Most look to be solid choices, and if there were some wines that I would quibble with (Kenwood zinfandel for $14 seems a bit much) and what look to be some availability issues, they did have to find 100. Still, the top 10 were especially impressive, including the blog's favorite wine, Tormaresca Neprica at No. 8; Bogle sauvignon blanc at No. 3; and Pacific Rim riesling at No. 1 (a tad high, but I think they're focusing on the sweet wine market, which seems to be so popular these days).

? French labeling laws: The French wine police have charged a colorful Loire winemaker with violating the country's very strict labeling laws, and the winemaker seems to be daring the authorities to put him in jail. Decanter has the story, and though it's difficult to follow — these are French labeling laws, after all — the gist is that the winemaker, Olivier Cousin, has repeatedly violated several laws to protest what he says are flaws with the regulations for his region. He has been charged with mislabeling and bringing the appellation into disrepute, which carries a ?37,500 (US$51,400) fine or up to two years in prison. And they think they have it bad in California.

Robert Parker and the Vintners Hall of Fame

This year, there won't be any controversy when Robert Parker isn't inducted into the Vintners Hall of Fame. That's because Parker, the critic who invented the 100-point scoring system and is the most most important person in the wine business, wasn't nominated for the 2012 hall.

You'll recall that there was a stink last year when Parker, who was nominated for the 2011 and 2010 classes, wasn't chosen. I wrote then, and I still believe, that "keeping Parker out of the Vintners Hall is like keeping Babe Ruth out of the baseball Hall of Fame because you don't like home runs." The Wine Curmudgeon, who gets to vote, voted for Parker. But not enough of the other 73 voters did, and he wasn't one of the five inductees. Somehow, the others didn't think Parker was someone whose "collective vision, determination, and hard work have been responsible for the growth and worldwide prestige of the California wine industry."

More, after the jump:

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Robert Parker and the Vintners Hall of Fame

The news this week that Robert Parker was not elected to the Vintners Hall of Fame was not surprising. Too many of us who write about wine hold a grudge the way Scrooge McDuck holds onto his cash — and we’re just as silly about it. Or, as wine guru Doug Frost, who voted for Parker, said: “I’m sure jealously had something to do with it. It has been fun and easy to bash Parker for years.”

Parker invented the 100-point scoring system, which gives every wine a score from 1 to 100, with the higher the score the better. As such, he is the most important person in the wine business, and may well be the most important person in the history of the wine business. The 100-point system, for better or worse, has changed changed the way the wine world works. It has been copied by almost every influential wine critic and publication in one form or another, and retailers use it to sell cases and cases and cases of wine (often without regard to quality). Perhaps most importantly, winemakers not only covet a Parker score, but make their wines in a style that Parker likes so they can get a Parker score, a process that’s called “Parker-izing” them.

In this, keeping Parker out of the Vintners Hall is like keeping Babe Ruth out of the baseball Hall of Fame because you don’t like home runs. But Parker’s not in. Why this happened and what it says about the wine business after the jump:

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Winebits 154: Hall of Fame, Asian wine prices, wine terms

? 2011 Vintners Hall of Fame: And it doesn’t include Robert Parker or Fred Franzia, both of whom were nominated. This is silly. Both men, whatever you think of them, have had Hall of Fame careers, and I’ll write more on that later this week. The 2011 inductees will include Ravenswood founder Joel Peterson (subject of a Wine Curmudgeon podcast); UC Davis’ Vernon Singleton; and Bob Trinchero, owner of Sutter Home Winery and Trinchero Napa Valley. Chalone Vineyards winemaker Richard Graff and August Sebastiani will be inducted as Pioneers.

? Exorbitant wine prices: What do you do if you live in China and have too much money? You buy French wine. Decanter reports that Asian bidders paid stratospheric prices in a recent Hong Kong auction. Two cases of 2009 Chateau Lafite, which won’t be bottled until next year, fetched US$68,632. That’s almost six times the estimate. And a case of 2000 Lafite, estimated at US$20,000-30,000, sold for US$71,751. Said one analyst: “There is a lot of money out here, and a lot of demand for good cellars. But even taking that into consideration, those prices were crazy.”

? Feds looking at wine terms: Ever wondered what wine terms like Proprietors Blend, Old Vine, and Reserve mean when they show up on wine labels? The Treasury Department’s Alcohol Tax and Trade Bureau, which oversees label regulation, wonders too. It is asking for public comment on whether it needs to write regulations for those terms, as well as several others. You can download the request for comments from the TTB site. It’s Notice No. 109. It’s not too difficult to read, either.