JrRobert M Parker Although the French appellation system has its roots in the 1923 system created in Chateauneuf-du-Pape by Baron Le Roy, proprietor of the renowned Chateau Fortia, Chateauneuf-du-Pape never developed a reputation for quality or achieved the prestige enjoyed by such regions as Burgundy and Bordeaux. – Robert M Parker, Jr
JrRobert M Parker As I’ve grown older, I’ve developed an appreciation for wines that are immediately gratifying but that can also provide great satisfaction over several years. – Robert M Parker, Jr
JrRobert M Parker Nineteen-eighty-two is a vintage of legendary proportions for all levels of the Bordeaux hierarchy. In short, it is a vintage which has produced the most perfect wines in the post-World War II era. – Robert M Parker, Jr
JrRobert M Parker No scoring system is perfect, but a system that provides for flexibility in scores, if applied by the same taster without prejudice, can quantify different levels of wine quality and provide the reader with one professional’s judgment. – Robert M Parker, Jr
JrRobert M Parker What’s important in a cellar is having wines that have a broad range of drinkability, which California Cabernet does. Wines with a broad range of drinkability give you a lot of flexibility; they are the sort of wines that make me feel secure. I think of my wine cellar as security – if the apocalypse comes, I can just go down to the cellar. – Robert M Parker, Jr
JrRobert M Parker Tawny ports have already spent 20 or 30 years in wood – it’s not likely they’re going to improve. On the other hand, they’re not going to get any worse. – Robert M Parker, Jr
JrRobert M Parker As far as vintage Champagne goes, I loved 1990; it’s a great, great vintage. I bought a lot of 1990 Blanc de Blancs Champagne – my favorite kind – and I plan on drinking it all by 2005. – Robert M Parker, Jr
JrRobert M Parker I think the Japanese love young, tannic red wines much more than most Americans do. Perhaps it is because Asians have a great fondness for tea, and tea is a very tannic beverage. Therefore a young, tannic red wine is something familiar to an Asian palate. – Robert M Parker, Jr
JrRobert M Parker My first trip to Japan, in 1998, began with an enormous crowd of Japanese paparazzi and television crews, all waiting for me to clear customs in Tokyo (a first-time experience for this wine critic). Over the next five days, the attention never waned. – Robert M Parker, Jr
JrRobert M Parker It may seem hard to believe – unless you sit down and taste them – but some of the world’s greatest sweet wines are made in the Rutherglen region of Victoria, Australia. – Robert M Parker, Jr
JrRobert M Parker Generally speaking, when Australian winemakers try to make delicate, European-styled wines of finesse and lightness, the wines often come across as pale imitations of the originals. One exception is Australian Riesling, delicious, dry wines meant to be consumed in their first two years of life. – Robert M Parker, Jr
JrRobert M Parker There is nothing in the world like the extraordinary Shiraz and Grenache wines from South Australia. While the most sought-after are undeniably expensive (they’re made in tiny quantities from ancient vines), they are huge, rich and concentrated, and represent some of planet Earth’s most compelling wines. – Robert M Parker, Jr
