tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post2847588119891313532..comments2024-03-18T04:47:16.199-07:00Comments on The Gray Report: Robert Parker launches another cowardly attack on sommeliers whose tastes differW. Blake Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-55098700620688794292014-07-30T10:47:49.032-07:002014-07-30T10:47:49.032-07:00Forgive this rant, but I just got some jerk trying...Forgive this rant, but I just got some jerk trying to post a comment on here, a month after I wrote this post, saying "It's time to write something else." Uh, hello buddy, go read anything else I wrote in the last month. Or are you the type of reader who only clicks on stories with Robert Parker in the title, and then complains about them?<br /><br />Thanks for listening.W. Blake Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-25721836362398857582014-07-29T17:04:56.566-07:002014-07-29T17:04:56.566-07:00Blake,
I'll bet you were sure RP has done his ...Blake,<br />I'll bet you were sure RP has done his 2-mile underwater treadmill workout and was totally pooped before you posted this!!!<br />Love it though...<br /><br />Musty Funky PinotMFPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00878430273851432023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-53431678804772317002014-07-21T15:52:22.387-07:002014-07-21T15:52:22.387-07:00Maybe I'm an hipster sommelier. Some wine I...Maybe I'm an hipster sommelier. Some wine I've served tasted fine for my customers, other less. But undrinkable wines I've never offered; Yes, I like, and serve, wines not so muscular or eatable like ones Mr Parker likes. Sometimes, a little movie wins more prizes than a Major one. You're great, Mr Gray.Ice Kenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02839420858137378719noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-60853603297081023602014-07-07T18:09:38.071-07:002014-07-07T18:09:38.071-07:00I think when we boil it down, the young, up an com...I think when we boil it down, the young, up an coming faces of the world of wine are interested in paving their own way by being different. Good or bad it is a fact. Even when trying to stick to the classic pairing etc, they are trying to be obscure in the delivery. We might as well get used to it.Spencer Lanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05093299507168188120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-14597487339104744922014-07-07T18:00:14.791-07:002014-07-07T18:00:14.791-07:00Mark: I can tell you from my work at Wine Searcher...Mark: I can tell you from my work at Wine Searcher that when Wine Advocate gives a big rating to a wine, people search for it and buy it. I can't comment statistically on the decline (or not) of the publication's influence, but it still has influence on sales.<br /><br />It's worth noting that while one previous commenter said millenials don't care about Parker, it doesn't yetW. Blake Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-6814588188719255232014-07-07T17:23:31.958-07:002014-07-07T17:23:31.958-07:00Blake - to the point of WA and WS having waning in...Blake - to the point of WA and WS having waning influence, a question for you. I am sure this has been asked and perhaps you have already researched the answer, but do you have any insight as to subscription numbers for those publications? Or the other main wine reviewers?<br /><br />I am interested in whether the numbers map to the theories around declining influence of the major critics. Mark Andrew Sinnotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06158695862865274304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-91821898735841228362014-07-07T11:33:52.013-07:002014-07-07T11:33:52.013-07:00Blake, I think most of these stories are apocrypha...Blake, I think most of these stories are apocryphal, and the tales get more absurd with each retelling. <br /><br />Heimhoff recently wrote about a (conveniently unnamed) SF restaurant where the desperate customers are forced to BYO Napa Cab and Chard under the withering scorn of the somms because the list is dominated by obscure grapes and undrinkable "natural" wines. These brave, Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08650449136836434227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-86200577290380776172014-07-07T11:33:51.532-07:002014-07-07T11:33:51.532-07:00Blake, I think most of these stories are apocrypha...Blake, I think most of these stories are apocryphal, and the tales get more absurd with each retelling. <br /><br />Heimhoff recently wrote about a (conveniently unnamed) SF restaurant where the desperate customers are forced to BYO Napa Cab and Chard under the withering scorn of the somms because the list is dominated by obscure grapes and undrinkable "natural" wines. These brave, Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08650449136836434227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-21927535608685111492014-07-07T10:52:40.024-07:002014-07-07T10:52:40.024-07:00Collin: Another commenter earlier said this happen...Collin: Another commenter earlier said this happens on the east coast, and I can't say because I'm not there. But I haven't experienced it in the Bay Area. Somm suggestions for me have generally been quite good. Can you name a couple restaurants where this happens? W. Blake Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-85348426038474543032014-07-07T10:16:03.000-07:002014-07-07T10:16:03.000-07:00While I disagree with the rhetoric, he is absolute...While I disagree with the rhetoric, he is absolutely right about some somm's peddling crap and passing it off as unique and different. Some somms are buying and selling things because they can get them on the cheap and come from small, frankly horrible producers who hide behind words like "boutique" and "natural". Most the time these wines are deeply flawed, and in a lotCollin Cranorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14405505528682231855noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-13113327599965617782014-07-04T17:56:47.737-07:002014-07-04T17:56:47.737-07:00Dear Mr. Gray.
It is July 4th, and I am at work....Dear Mr. Gray.<br /><br /> It is July 4th, and I am at work. I work at a small wine storage facility in Los Angeles. I am the only employee. It is very quiet today and I am bored. So I am going to write this to you regarding your June 30 post calling out Robert Parker for his latest comment against hipster sommeliers.<br /> <br /> Thoughts, incidentally, I’ve no business writing. I know Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-55265765759673339732014-07-02T12:20:04.084-07:002014-07-02T12:20:04.084-07:00Kyle: I have contacted Parker's office many ti...Kyle: I have contacted Parker's office many times, while working for several publications, sometimes looking for a quote, sometimes asking for an interview. He has never once responded.<br /><br />I'm not special in this regard. But you knew that already, right?W. Blake Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-37138327149697219302014-07-02T10:55:23.722-07:002014-07-02T10:55:23.722-07:00Every time this comes up it makes me think of this...Every time this comes up it makes me think of this Jean Cocteau quote, “Listen carefully to first criticisms made of your work. Note just what it is about your work that critics don't like - then cultivate it. That's the only part of your work that's individual and worth keeping.”<br />Individual tastes are just that. I might like Époisses but for someone who only eats American CheeseMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16389021348635254070noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-24236781452050838802014-07-02T10:11:07.452-07:002014-07-02T10:11:07.452-07:00Blake, have you tried calling his office to ask hi...Blake, have you tried calling his office to ask him?kschlachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12810309689429676303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-47110913415130843222014-07-02T08:07:14.875-07:002014-07-02T08:07:14.875-07:00VdT: If he would make himself available to followu...VdT: If he would make himself available to followup questions, we would know what he meant. W. Blake Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17755307711801965966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-13479907869252956972014-07-02T07:36:36.495-07:002014-07-02T07:36:36.495-07:00"Weird, undrinkable and deeply flawed": ..."Weird, undrinkable and deeply flawed": sounds like he was thinking about orange wine, not IPOB juice.Vin de Terrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12469348262788254687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-31812919544589176122014-07-02T07:07:10.727-07:002014-07-02T07:07:10.727-07:00Doug, I think that reason was answered in the piec...Doug, I think that reason was answered in the piece itself. Elaine was the one that wanted to interview Parker. She asked Drexel to do so and published the conversation. I don't get all the blow back to this. I actually found the content interesting and refreshing in that it wasn't what one expected.kschlachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12810309689429676303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-8044223258595200422014-07-01T22:33:32.647-07:002014-07-01T22:33:32.647-07:00I am still trying to understand why Drexel didn...I am still trying to understand why Drexel didn't publish it on their own platform. Confusing at the least. Sorry that collectively bloggers (and others) can't get beyond the cult of Parker. The man is not likely to change. The piece was more than I wanted to read at lunch as well.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02492352798863879362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-39048863819384060592014-07-01T13:22:35.436-07:002014-07-01T13:22:35.436-07:00I don't know what's more pathetic ( and mo...I don't know what's more pathetic ( and more amusing), Parker's descent into madness, bitterness and irrelevance or the knee-jerk defense of him by winemakers scared sh!tless at a world where he is no longer relevant and commercial success can not be cooked up by simply following the Michel Rolland cookbook?<br /><br />In any event, good riddance to all of them.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08650449136836434227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-91007892024517547722014-07-01T10:55:48.904-07:002014-07-01T10:55:48.904-07:00A better Hollywood analogy might be a director kno...A better Hollywood analogy might be a director known for producing big-budget summer blockbusters who disparages others known for producing films with a smaller following: family dramas, romantic comedies, documentaries. People seem to accept that there are different genre in cinema, why not wine?Dwayne Bershawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00194223026367473640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-33057658598147452332014-07-01T05:43:58.654-07:002014-07-01T05:43:58.654-07:00There's something to be said of "hipster ...There's something to be said of "hipster sommeliers." <br /><br />I see an archetype of sommelier forming in major cities:<br /><br />-WSET Level 1/2 Certified<br />-Often came up from waitstaff or, in a few cases I know of at pretty major restaurants, no industry experience at all<br />-Very young (usually under 30, often under 25)<br />-What you would call "hipster" Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15225969477128659048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-38941210435055427482014-06-30T19:45:11.874-07:002014-06-30T19:45:11.874-07:00Blake,
I couldn't agree with you more. To le...Blake,<br /><br />I couldn't agree with you more. To let somebody with a very a defined preference in wine tell the drinking public that a certain style no good is, for me, to miss the point of drinking wine. Paying $25 or $100 dollars for something to drink is a bit of a ridiculous notion except that the history, the enology, and story of the bottle make it engaging. When RP disparages a Mason6252@gmail.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07267992543279214404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-33767127327262431282014-06-30T15:29:13.448-07:002014-06-30T15:29:13.448-07:00I couldn't read all of her blog as well. Too ...I couldn't read all of her blog as well. Too solicitous, too full of navel gazing, as one commentator put it. Yuck. Unfortunately, Mr. Parker's recent bitterness undercuts everything he has accomplished.kcphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04303577717346340492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-60684053082405926442014-06-30T12:57:07.488-07:002014-06-30T12:57:07.488-07:00I actually agree with Parker in theory, however I...I actually agree with Parker in theory, however I don't like the verbiage chosen to express the opinion. To often when I done at "fine" establishments it feels like I am bombarded by lists and pairing where a "hipster" sommelier is trying to be more obscure then his colleague down the road by purposefully using wine that has no place being used in the context.Spencer Lanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05093299507168188120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9210235767643862872.post-9346458035434143552014-06-30T12:48:20.302-07:002014-06-30T12:48:20.302-07:00The thing I don't understand is why statements...The thing I don't understand is why statements like that do not get followed up with a clarifying question to explain them. I mean, all of those adjectives in Parker's statement are at least somewhat subjective, enough so that I'd want to know specifics (particularly on who is advocating for flawed wines; I don't know *any* wine pros who suggest wines that I'd consider to be Joe Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12302860568125840279noreply@blogger.com