Robert Parker Faces His Toughest Critics: Wine Writers

(Forbes) - Famed wine critic Robert Parker recently alighted in Napa Valley to give the keynote address at the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers. Rather than a kick-off message it was more like a State of the Union address. Much like the President, he arrived to a room populated with adversaries and supporters. His poll numbers flagging, Parker came to make the case for camaraderie among wine writers and, oddly, Chinese videos (more on that later). Parker has ruffled more than a few feathers in the wine world of late, recently writing a curmudgeonly manifesto that disparages certain wine styles. Despite the drama, his singular influence on wine continues to generate more debate than a budget bill on Capitol Hill.

In many ways Parker and his success embodies the essence of America; we never see impossible, we only see possible. He began his formidable career as a lawyer, writing a wine newsletter, The Wine Advocate, on the side. Today, a favorable Parker rating has the extraordinary ability to change a wine’s fortunes. Robert Parker even has his own (arguably controversial) wine word: Parkerization. You’ve definitely made the big time when you’re in the lexicon. Despite what one might think of Parker’s wine preferences or his business decisions, one cannot deny his essential role in wine. He was, in many ways, America’s, if not the world’s, first wine blogger.

Considering his formidable power and influence, his arrival at the wine symposium was less than grand. He had to hobble to the podium on two canes—his temporary accessories after a grueling back surgery in 2013. Watching him cross the stage, sporting a beard and slightly longish, unkempt hair, I detected a sense of decline. Surely he too sensed our collective surprise as he noted while taking his seat, “everything in my back is fused with metal, so I’ll be around for a while.” Yet, not long after this pronouncement he offered a wistful, if not slightly bitter, musing on success, “The challenges of the journey and the climb along the way are what make this job special, because when you get to the top there’s nothing there.”