ROBERT PARKER Jr., founder of the Wine Advocate magazine and indisputably the world's most influential wine critic, has published "Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide No. 7," the first of his series to be produced by a team of writers.
Since 1978, largely unaccompanied, Parker has published the Wine Advocate, a journal of tasting notes and, most notably, scores, based on a 100-point scale -- the scale that revolutionized the wine world. From these efforts, six "Buyer's Guides" were compiled, the first five being solo efforts (Pierre-Antoine Rovani was coauthor of the sixth edition).
In 2006, however, Parker bequeathed many of his Advocate tasting and writing duties to a team of critics, so this edition is the work of six authors. In pages and palates, the world's most influential critic is outnumbered.
In past editions, the "Buyer's Guide" amounted to a compendium of critical notes that defines what might be called the "Parker palate." Wineries that received the highest marks generally produced vintages that were voluptuous, powerful, rich -- and ripe as jam.
"Great wines," Parker writes in his introduction, "offer satisfaction on a hedonistic level and also challenge and satiate the intellect." But it's no secret that most of the high-scoring wines are weighted toward hedonism. A wine with "gobs of fruit," to use one of his favorite expressions, will have little to offer the intellect -- it aims for more immediate pleasures. In reading some of the profiles here, it's clear that Parker can recognize restraint in a wine, but rarely rewards it. He's just not the contemplative sort. He prefers to be bowled over.
Most wine experts believe American enthusiasts have been slowly moving away from vintages that exhibit the kind of brazen power and ripeness that Parker prefers.
Nevertheless, the Parker palate remains the barometer by which most wine lovers evaluate their own tastes; you can more or less define your aesthetic by whether you think a "Parker wine" is a great wine, or a caricature of great wine.
Multiple viewpoints
In this edition, readers encounter six authors in one volume, with different levels of experience, different points of view and very different degrees of writing ability.
