JrRobert M Parker There is no question that Australia’s most dramatic assault on the world market has been with its value wines. These are generally not from specific appellations but blends made by huge enterprises like Penfolds, Rosemount or Casella Estate – the group behind Yellow Tail. – Robert M Parker, Jr
JrRobert M Parker After years of infertility tests, the best decision we ever made was to adopt, and in 1987, we were bestowed a three-month-old baby girl from an island off the south coast of Korea called Cheju Island. – Robert M Parker, Jr
JrRobert M Parker If California ever developed a vineyard rating system, Saxum’s James Berry Vineyard would be classified as one of the best. – Robert M Parker, Jr
JrRobert M Parker Trevisan is one of the few Paso Robles producers to recognize the potential of the region’s old-vine Zinfandel, which he blends with Syrah and Mourvedre and labels with fanciful names such as Problem Child, the Outsider and Cherry Red. – Robert M Parker, Jr
JrRobert M Parker Back in 1990, there were fewer than 20 wineries in and around Paso Robles, a farming community midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Most of the wines produced there were rustic, highly tannic and alcoholic, with little charm or finesse. – Robert M Parker, Jr
JrRobert M Parker What happens is that the people who are leaders in any field are copied. I mean, there’s a reason why every wine newsletter tends to look like mine. They see someone who’s been successful, so they sort of copy these same ideas. – Robert M Parker, Jr
JrRobert M Parker The premise of Nossiter in ‘Mondovino’ would have been a lot more accurate when I started writing about wine in 1978 than when the movie was made in 2003. When I started, I was enormously critical of California wines, and I thought the entire wine industry was on a real slippery slope. – Robert M Parker, Jr
JrRobert M Parker You can’t simplify my taste and say, ‘Parker likes big wines,’ because it’s just not true. – Robert M Parker, Jr
JrRobert M Parker When somebody wants to write an article attacking a scoring system or the influence of wine writers, who’s right in the cross hairs? It’s not Steve Tanzer, it’s not Marvin Shanken, it’s me. These other people, it’s not like they don’t have some influence, and I’m more than happy to share it. – Robert M Parker, Jr
JrRobert M Parker When I started in 1978, the greatest wine in Spain, Vega Sicilia, wasn’t even imported to the United States. The alleged greatest Australian wine, Penfolds Grange, wasn’t imported to the United States. There were no by-the-glass programs. Sommeliers were intimidating. – Robert M Parker, Jr
JrRobert M Parker When I began visiting Bordeaux in 1979, only a handful of writers were there to taste the wines in the spring (and nearly all were British). – Robert M Parker, Jr
