Flush with Success, the Sequel

[wineglut]

Okay, a rant.

I've always had a problem with Parker rating his wines by visiting a half dozen wineries each day and tasting unbottled wines from the barrel and giving them a rating. He asks to taste the wine, you pull a sample, he tastes it, writes his notes and the next thing you read a rating. Most of these wines are never again rated...this is the score.

The first problem I have with this is that Parker always gets the "best barrel". You may have two barrels of something outstanding and 20 barrels of plonk...do you show him the plonk?

The second problem is that it is not a blind tasting. Tell me he is not influenced by the winemaker he tastes with or the cellar he is standing in. That is, after all, why he is so consistent!

Third is that it corrupts the wine business.

Okay...a true story. A guy calls me last week interested in buying grapes. First thing out of his mouth is how he has hired a cult wine consultant.(BFD!) Next out of his mouth is Parker gave his first wine from the 2002 vintage a 92 (BFD!) So we talk and he finds out I have bulk Cab from 2002 sitting in new French oak for sale (for a embarrassingly high price). He's now interested in buying a dozen or more barrels of 2002 bulk Cab...price is not an object.

That is because HE ONLY MAKES ONE WINE!

Is there any confusion about what's going on here? Does anyone care? Certainly not Parker or he would buy the wines he tastes rather that taste winery supplied samples,or he would taste blind, or he would never rate a wine that could be "augmented" later.

I guess as long as the consumer gets a wine he is happy with and a score he can brag about no harm, no foul.