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.
Vintage, in winemaking, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product—wine. A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certain wines, it can denote quality, as in Port wine, where Port houses make and declare vintage Port in their best years. From this tradition, a common, though not strictly correct, usage applies the term to any wine that is perceived to be particularly old or of a particularly high quality.
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.
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.
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.
Abreu Vineyards is a winery in Napa Valley, California founded by the viticulturist David Abreu.
Château Pavie is a winery in Saint-Émilion in the Bordeaux region of France. It lies on the plateau to the southeast of St. Emilion village. In 2012 it was classified in the first rank of the Classification of Saint-Émilion wine, as a Premier Grand Cru Classé (A), after having previously been a Premier Grand Cru Classé (B) since 1954.
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.
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 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.
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.
Aldo Conterno was an Italian winemaker of eponymous wine producer Poderi Aldo Conterno from the Piemonte region in the district of Langhe, chiefly producing Barolo wines. The winery is located in Monforte d'Alba, and Conterno was widely ranked among Piemonte's foremost producers.
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.
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. The tasting room is located in the Renaissance period Castello that was built by a team of regional and international artisans.
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.
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
