The Wine Advocate

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The Wine Advocate
Wine advocate front.jpg
CategoriesWine newsletter
FrequencyBi-monthly
PublisherRobert Parker Wine Advocate
First issueAugust 1978
CountryUnited States
Based in Maryland [1]
Language English
Website www.robertparker.com
ISSN 0887-8463

The Wine Advocate, fully known as Robert Parker's Wine Advocate and informally abbreviated TWA or WA or more recently as RP, is a bimonthly wine publication based in the United States featuring the consumer advice of wine critic Robert M. Parker, Jr. [2]

Contents

Initially titled The Baltimore-Washington Wine Advocate the first issue was published in 1978. [3] [4] Accepting no advertising, the newsletter publishes in excess of 12,000 reviews per year, utilizing Parker's rating system that employs a 50–100 point quality scale (Parker Points® or simply RP). [5] These wine ratings have a significant effect on the sales of the reviewed wine. [6] [7]

Background and history

Robert Parker first developed an interest in wine on a trip to France while in college studying law. In the 1970s, Parker was influenced by the activist consumerism philosophy of Ralph Nader and saw in the wine industry a lack of independent wine criticism that was not sponsored by the distributors or wineries being reviewed. He released his first edition of The Baltimore-Washington Wine Advocate in 1978, originally as a complimentary bi-monthly feature. [8] It soon changed to a subscription periodical and by 1984 was successful enough that Parker could quit practicing law full-time and focus on wine reviews. [9]

Parker and The Wine Advocate first garnered international, mainstream attention for his early prediction of the superiority and quality of the 1982 vintage of Bordeaux wine. Parker's enthusiastic endorsement created a spike of interest from American wine buyers in purchasing wine futures of this vintage, prior to its release to the public. This had the effect of raising the price dramatically for 1982 Bordeaux wines. Subscriptions to The Wine Advocate continued to grow and by 1998 had more than 45,000 subscribers from 35 countries. [9] In 2000, an online version of the magazine was introduced, eRobertParker.com, which expanded the publication beyond Wine Advocate content to include an interactive Bulletin Board managed by Mark Squires and many articles and features not available in the printed version. By 2012, subscribership had grown to about 50,000, with 80% of readers from in the United States. [1]

Transformation in 2012–2013

As of December 2012, many changes were announced concerning the management and format of The Wine Advocate following the sale of a majority stake in the publication to investors from Singapore. [10] A transition from print to fully on-line distribution was announced, to take effect before the end of 2013. [1] The role of editor-in-chief went from Parker to Lisa Perrotti-Brown, a Singapore-based correspondent for the publication. [1] A second editorial office was opened in Singapore. [1]

Following lead critic Antonio Galloni's departure from The Wine Advocate in February 2013, [10] three new critics were recruited adding to what Robert Parker called his "Dream Team". Jeb Dunnuck joined the publication on April 3, 2013, followed by Monica Larner and Luis Gutiérrez on April 23, 2013. [11] [12] [13]

On 22 November 2019 it was announced that Michelin Guide became the sole owner of The Wine Advocate. [14]

Team of Reviewers

Starting in 2001, Parker started to delegate many of the world's wine regions to a team of critics.

Joe Czerwinski reviews the wines of Provence, the Rhône Valley (North and South), Languedoc-Roussillon, Australia and New Zealand.

Luis Gutiérrez (wine critic) covers the wines of Spain, Chile, the Jura and Argentina.

Monica Larner is responsible for reviewing the wines of Italy.

William Kelley reviews the wines of Burgundy, Chablis, Beaujolais, Champagne, Madeira and English Sparkling Wine.

Lisa Perrotti-Brown, MW reviews the wines of Bordeaux, Napa Valley and Sonoma County.

Stephan Reinhardt reviews the wines of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Alsace and Loire Valley

Erin Brooks reviews the wines of Oregon, Sonoma County and California Central Coast.

Anthony Mueller reviews the wines of Washington State and South Africa.

Liwen Hao covers Asia.

Mark Squires oversees the Mark Squires' Bulletin Board at RobertParker.com and reviews the wines of Portugal, Israel, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria. [15] [16] [17] [18]

Previous Wine Advocate critics include Pierre Rovani, Jeb Dunnuck, Daniel Thomases, Jay Miller and Antonio Galloni. [19] [20]

Influence on the wine industry

While not the first American wine publication, nor the first to use a numerical wine ratings scale, The Wine Advocate was the first to widely adopt the 50-100 point scale and use it as parallel to the American educational grading system. This system was familiar to Robert Parker's original target audience—the average American consumer—and provided a guideline for quantifying a wine's quality in a standardize format. Retailers have used The Wine Advocate's "Parker scores" to aggressively market wines with high scores. The scores have also become focal points for collectors and wine investors who purchase highly rated wines in the hopes that the Parker scores will increase the value of the wine. [9]

Throughout various wine regions, most notably Bordeaux, The Wine Advocate early vintage evaluation-sampled while the wine is still in oak barrels—can have a dramatic effect on the eventual prices of all the region's wine upon their release. [21] Individual scores of wine can also affect whether or not distributors or retailers will order the wine to sell with some retailers refusing to order wine rated below 85 points. [22]

Wine Advocate Fund

The Wine Advocate also operates The Wine Advocate Fund For Philanthropy, [23] a nonprofit organization that raises money primarily for cancer research. In 2008 the Fund hosted a $10,000 per plate charity dinner where the publication's 100-rated wines were served. [24] In 2006 a similar dinner raised $1.3 million. [25]

Criticisms

The influence of The Wine Advocate on the demand and commercial interest of wine has met with some criticism, with wineries being accused of making wines tailored to Parker's tastes. In the late 1980s, wine expert Jancis Robinson noted that Parker and The Wine Advocate were "... in danger of controlling the international fine wine market". [22] The subject of scoring of The Wine Advocate scoring has also been criticized by wine writers, such as Hugh Johnson, who stated that wine tasting and evaluation are intrinsically subjective, with the wine having the potential to dramatically change and evolve over time. The Wine Advocate publishes on the cover of every issues its philosophy that "...wine is no different from any consumer product. There are specific standards of quality that full time wine professionals recognize". [9]

The effects of The Wine Advocate scores can be pronounced in the retail sphere, with wine rated above 90 points usually selling well while those even in the 85–89 range, which is rated "good to very good", are often ignored by consumers. [21]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Parker (wine critic)</span> American wine critic

Robert McDowell Parker Jr. is a retired American wine critic. His wine ratings on a 100-point scale and his newsletter The Wine Advocate are influential in American wine buying and are therefore a major factor in setting the prices for newly released Bordeaux wines. This made him the most widely known and influential wine critic in the world.

Penfolds Grange is an Australian wine, made predominantly from the Shiraz (Syrah) grape and usually a small percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon. It is widely considered one of Australia's "first growth" and its most collectable wine. The term "Hermitage", the name of a French wine appellation, was commonly used in Australia as another synonym for Shiraz or Syrah. Penfolds is owned by Treasury Wine Estates.

Château Cheval Blanc, is a wine producer in Saint-Émilion in the Bordeaux wine region of France. Its wine received the highest rank of Premier Grand Cru Classé (A) status in the Classification of Saint-Émilion wine, and is one of five wine-producing châteaux of right bank Bordeaux awarded First Growth status.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garagistes</span>

The garagistes refers to a group of winemakers in the Bordeaux region, producing "vins de garage", "garage wine". A group emerged in the mid-1990s in reaction to the traditional style of red Bordeaux wine, which is highly tannic and requires long ageing in the bottle to become drinkable. The garagistes developed a style more consistent with perceived international wine tastes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Broadbent</span> British wine critic (1927–2020)

John Michael Broadbent, MW, was a British wine critic, writer and auctioneer in a capacity as a Master of Wine. He was an authority on wine tasting and old wines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugh Johnson (wine writer)</span> British author and expert on wine (born 1939)

Hugh Eric Allan Johnson is an English journalist, author, editor, and expert on wine. He is considered the world's best-selling wine writer. A wine he tasted in 1964, a 1540 Steinwein from the German vineyard Würzburger Stein, is considered one of the oldest to have ever been tasted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abreu Vineyards</span> Winery in Napa Valley, California

Abreu Vineyards is a winery in Napa Valley, California founded by the viticulturist David Abreu.

The Grand Jury Européen (GJE) is an Association sans but lucratif with the aim of providing an alternative classification of wine, founded in 1996 by François Mauss.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Suckling</span> American wine critic

James Cameron Suckling is an American wine and cigar critic and former Senior Editor and European Bureau Chief of Wine Spectator as well as European Editor of Cigar Aficionado. Suckling is internationally regarded as one of the world's most influential wine critics, and one of the most experienced critics of vintage cigars.

Stephen Tanzer is an American wine critic and editor at Vinous. From 1985 until he joined Vinous in 2014, Tanzer was the publisher of the critically acclaimed bimonthly International Wine Cellar, an independent journal read by wine professionals and other wine lovers in all 50 U.S. states and 34 countries, and the first American wine periodical to be translated into French and Japanese. Tanzer has particular expertise on the wines of Bordeaux, as well as other prominent wine regions, including Burgundy, California, Washington State, and South Africa.

Quilceda Creek Winery

Quilceda Creek Winery is a boutique winery in Snohomish, Washington specializing in premium Cabernet Sauvignon wine. The winery is named for a nearby creek in Snohomish County. Although the winery facility is located west of the Cascade Range, the winery sources all of its grapes from its four estate vineyards in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA and Red Mountain AVA. Quilceda Creek Winery has earned some of the highest reviews and awards of any winery in the United States and was the first American wine from outside of California to earn a perfect 100-point score from wine critic Robert Parker's publication The Wine Advocate. Since its founding in 1978, Quilceda Creek has received an additional seven 100-point scores from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, one 100-point score from Decanter (Magazine) and two 100-point scores from acclaimed wine blog OwenBargreen.com. In addition to critics' praise, one of the highest honors for Quilceda Creek happened when President Barack Obama chose to serve their 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley at a White House dinner to President Hu Jintao of China in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wine rating</span>

A wine rating is a score assigned by one or more wine critics to a wine tasted as a summary of that critic's evaluation of that wine. A wine rating is therefore a subjective quality score, typically of a numerical nature, given to a specific bottle of wine. In most cases, wine ratings are set by a single wine critic, but in some cases a rating is derived by input from several critics tasting the same wine at the same time. A number of different scales for wine ratings are in use. Also, the practices used to arrive at the rating can vary. Over the last couple of decades, the 50–100 scale introduced by Robert M. Parker, Jr. has become commonly used. This or numerically similar scales are used by publications such as Wine Enthusiast, Wine Spectator, and Wine Advocate. Other publications or critics, such as Jancis Robinson and Michael Broadbent, may use a 0–20 scale, or a 0–5 scale either with or without half-star steps.

Antonio Galloni is an American wine critic. He is the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Vinous for which he is also the lead critic covering the wines of Bordeaux, California, Italy, and Champagne.

A wine critic is a person who evaluates wine and describes it either with a numerical rating, a tasting note, or a combination of both. Their critiques, found in books, newspapers, magazines, newsletters, online, or in sales materials for wine, are often used by consumers in the process of deciding whether or not to buy a wine.

Bryant Family Vineyard is a California wine estate in the Napa Valley, founded by businessman Donald L. Bryant Jr. and his ex-wife, Barbara Bryant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blankiet Estate</span> Winery in California, United States

Blankiet Estate is a California wine estate owned by Claude and Katherine Blankiet. Located in the foothills of the Mayacamas Mountains in the Napa Valley, the estate produces a portfolio of wines from their Paradise Hills Vineyard.

Monica Larner is a wine critic and writer based in Rome. She is the Italian Reviewer for The Wine Advocate and eRobertParker.com, the bimonthly wine publication and website founded by wine critic, Robert Parker. She was selected in 2013 by Parker to replace the departing Antonio Galloni.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vinitaly</span> International wine competition held annually in Italy

Vinitaly is an international wine competition and exposition that is held annually in April in Verona city, region of Veneto, in northeast Italy. The event is exclusively for wine professionals featuring an average of 3000 wines from several dozen countries. First held in 1967, VinItaly has been called the "most important convention of domestic and international wines" and the "largest wine show in the world".

Lisa Perrotti-Brown is a wine critic, author and Master of Wine based in Napa, California. She reviews the wines of Bordeaux, Napa Valley and Sonoma County for The Wine Advocate and RobertParker.com, the independent wine publication and website founded by wine critic, Robert Parker. She is also the editor-in-chief for The Wine Advocate and RobertParker.com. As one of the world's authorities on wine, Perrotti-Brown has been interviewed on wine related topics by mainstream media such as the BBC and CNBC

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Teague, Lettie (December 10, 2012). "A Wine Advocate Hands Over Reins". The Wall Street Journal. pp. B1, B3.
  2. ↑ Elson, John (December 14, 1987). "The Man with a Paragon Palate". Time. Archived from the original on April 16, 2009.
  3. ↑ Fraser, Laura (July 31, 2005). "Days of wine and noses". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on June 15, 2009.
  4. ↑ Parker, Robert M. Jr. (June 26, 2006). "Parker, At Your Service". Business Week. Archived from the original on June 19, 2006.
  5. ↑ erobertparker.com The Wine Advocate Ratings System
  6. ↑ Gray, W. Blake (June 15, 2007). "Are ratings pointless?". San Francisco Chronicle.
  7. ↑ Wine-searcher.com Robert Parker Scores and Wine Prices
  8. ↑ C. Platman "Emperor of Wine [ dead link ]"Birmingham Post, May 31, 2006
  9. 1 2 3 4 J. Robinson (ed) The Oxford Companion to Wine Third Edition p. 507 Oxford University Press 2006 ISBN   0-19-860990-6
  10. 1 2 Woodard, Richard (14 February 2013). "Galloni leaves Wine Advocate". Decanter Magazine. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  11. ↑ "The Wine Advocate & eRobertParker.com Announce Expanded Wine Coverage With More Tasting Notes & In-Depth Reporting". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  12. ↑ "The Wine Advocate & eRobertParker.com Unveil Two More Reviewers Joining Its World-Renowned Editorial Team". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 26 April 2013. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  13. ↑ Ferraro, Luciano. "Dalle Alpi all'Etna, i 15 vini dell'estate (e il nuovo gusto americano)". Il Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  14. ↑ "Michelin Guide buys The Wine Advocate". Decanter. 26 November 2019. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  15. ↑ Goldberg, Howard G. (September 1, 2006). "Parker announces new staff". Decanter.com.
  16. ↑ Comiskey, Patrick, Los Angeles Times (October 15, 2008). "Robert Parker shares his soapbox World of wine scores".{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. ↑ Yarrow, Alder, vinography.com (February 5, 2011). The End of an Era: Robert Parker Stops Reviewing California Wine
  18. ↑ "The Wine Advocate & eRobertParker.com Announce Expanded Wine Coverage With More Tasting Notes & In-Depth Reporting". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  19. ↑ Jon, Bonné. "The Wine Advocate sues Antonio Galloni". Inside Scoop SF. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  20. ↑ Shaw, Lucy (16 April 2013). "The Wine Advocate Drops Galloni Lawsuit". The Drinks Business. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  21. 1 2 Murphy, Linda, San Francisco Chronicle (October 21, 2004) Robert Parker pops the corks on a dozen 100-point wines
  22. 1 2 Prial, Frank J., The New York Times (December 6, 1989) Wine Talk; When He Sips, Vintners Tremble
  23. ↑ wineadvocatefund.org Wine Advocate Fund for Philanthropy
  24. ↑ wineadvocatefund.org The World's Sexiest Wines Dinner
  25. ↑ Business Wire (June 6, 2006). Robert Parker's Wine Advocate Fund Combats Cancer and Illiteracy with Daniel Boulud
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