B.O.T.M.
Since apparently more than a couple of people are interested in my opinions about the world of wine, I figured I might start writing about the variouos books that I am reading. I don't think Oprah really needs to worry too much, but here goes the first installment of my 'Book of the Month'.
There has already been much ink spilled about this book and as such I will avoid citing many of the 'juicy' bits (no pun intended). Let me say that, all in all, it was a decent read. Not being able to devote full time to reading it, I got through the book in about 4 mornings. Somewhat surprisingly, there really wasn't a whole lot in the book that I didn't know already. I use the word somewhat because I'm curious for whom this book was written. I would think that the average buyer of this book already has a pretty good idea of who Mr. Parker is, and that which he does, so to read the only official biography of this man would give an insight on the whole man, myth, and legend bit. As it turns out, not so much.
Anybody who knows me, has read this blog for any amount of time, or visited my shop will already have a pretty good idea as to my feeling for The Great One. I am not a big fan. After reading this book, I'm not sure my opinion has changed all that much. He started out to change the way the game was played and he did so. Unfortunately, it is this monkey's opinion that he can't leave well enough alone. But it's more than that. And in his defense, much of how his thoughts and opinions are thrown about is out of his control. But then again...
I'm sure I am in the minority on this one, so bring on the emails, but what the hell is this? How arrogant can one person be? I don't know the first damn thing about being a woman, and I don't know shit about shoes, so obviously I am more than qualified to stop in at Lenox Mall, try on high heels for a few hours then decree that little more than a fifth of the offerings are acceptable, right?!?
What an ass.
So check it out. Like most things these days, this book will not likely change any body's opinion about Mr. Parker, only fortify it. Something that occured to me was the tone of the book. I felt like I was reading about someone who is no longer of this world, i.e. passed on. Obviously, this is because the entire book is recounting events in his life. But the endless "Parker said...Parker did...Parker looked..." thing created a sense that you were reading an eulogy to a man gone, as in away.
Which got me thinking...
The Emperor of Wine
The Rise of Robert M. Parker And The Reign Of American Taste
Elin McCoy
There has already been much ink spilled about this book and as such I will avoid citing many of the 'juicy' bits (no pun intended). Let me say that, all in all, it was a decent read. Not being able to devote full time to reading it, I got through the book in about 4 mornings. Somewhat surprisingly, there really wasn't a whole lot in the book that I didn't know already. I use the word somewhat because I'm curious for whom this book was written. I would think that the average buyer of this book already has a pretty good idea of who Mr. Parker is, and that which he does, so to read the only official biography of this man would give an insight on the whole man, myth, and legend bit. As it turns out, not so much.
Anybody who knows me, has read this blog for any amount of time, or visited my shop will already have a pretty good idea as to my feeling for The Great One. I am not a big fan. After reading this book, I'm not sure my opinion has changed all that much. He started out to change the way the game was played and he did so. Unfortunately, it is this monkey's opinion that he can't leave well enough alone. But it's more than that. And in his defense, much of how his thoughts and opinions are thrown about is out of his control. But then again...
"Parker had no previous experience with sake and knew little about it, but that didn't stop him from extending his methods and ratings system to a comprehensive tasting of 225 of the best, in Tokyo, though he later described it as one of the most difficult he'd undertaken. The alcohol level in sake is 18 percent, higher than the average 13 or 14 percent for table wines, and about a third of the way through, sweat was pouring off his brow, Parker thought, What have I got myself into? He felt as though he would drop dead right there. From then on, if a sample didn't smell appealing, he passed. When he wrote up the tasting in his newsletter, fifty-two sakes merited scores between 87 and 92..."WTF!?!?!
I'm sure I am in the minority on this one, so bring on the emails, but what the hell is this? How arrogant can one person be? I don't know the first damn thing about being a woman, and I don't know shit about shoes, so obviously I am more than qualified to stop in at Lenox Mall, try on high heels for a few hours then decree that little more than a fifth of the offerings are acceptable, right?!?
What an ass.
So check it out. Like most things these days, this book will not likely change any body's opinion about Mr. Parker, only fortify it. Something that occured to me was the tone of the book. I felt like I was reading about someone who is no longer of this world, i.e. passed on. Obviously, this is because the entire book is recounting events in his life. But the endless "Parker said...Parker did...Parker looked..." thing created a sense that you were reading an eulogy to a man gone, as in away.
Which got me thinking...
3 Comments:
I haven't read the book yet. However, the Sake "tasting" seems appalling. I think Parker's entire tasting approach is flawed. In other articles I've read that the man tastes dozens upon dozens of wine at one time. How can anyone appraise wine #1 the same as wine #15 or wine #23? It's not possible. My upper limit for tasting seems to be five wines. After that, everything seems dulled.
I can't wait to read this (publisher just sent me a copy).
I've heard quite a few stories like the sake one...so it doesn't surprise me.
One LI winemaker set up a tasting of 100 wines for Parker...and he apparently plowed through them. This winemaker did defend his methods, saying he drank and "sniffed" water after every few wines...but come on.
Another winemaker told me that the last time he served as a judge for 200 cabernets...his mouth was "so raw" after 65 that everything tasted awful.
I am not into wine, but I in my line of work we have to occassionally review the work of some other academic. A review can be very quick, which is usually a negative review, but can also take quite some time.
It would seem easy to dismiss a bad wine and less easy to really distinguish (on the margin) between good and great wines. I could only imagine what your throat/tongue would feel like after sipping/tasting 100 wines.
So, there are only a couple of possibilities. First, Parker is superhuman and has trained himself to such a degree that he is able to perform these amazing feats while tasting hundreds of wine at a time. Second, Parker is not superhuman and while he is "tasting" each wine he isn't really tasting the wine. Finally, he is tasting the wines, blurting out a few words about each one into a stenographer's pad or into a digital recorder and afterwords is recreating his experience of the wine.
In the end, is there a statistically significant difference between a wine given a 92 and one given an 89? Is there anywhere to obtain a database of his ratings? If so, pass it on to Christian, who will pass it on to me - and I will take a look at it.
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