When I first got into wine, back in the 1990s, I discovered\na book in a friend\u2019s toilet that was to prove inspirational.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was Robert Parker\u2019s Wine Buyer\u2019s Guide<\/em>, the book\nversion of his increasingly successful wine review newsletter, The Wine\nAdvocate<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The thing about this book that grabbed me was its utility.\nIt was written for me, the consumer, and all the other people like me who\nwanted unbiased commentary on all the wines out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parker\u2019s big strength was that he was clear who he was\nwriting for: the consumer. It came across clearly in his reviews. He described\nhimself as a consumer champion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was a large spread of scores. It was clear which wines\nhe liked, and whether or not your palate correlated with his, you knew what he\nthought. He put his neck on the block. When he liked a wine, he was effusive;\nwhen he disliked one he made it very clear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n [In retrospect, he had a lot of strengths, but when he\nstrayed from his familiar territory he was sometimes weak. I remember his notes\non Portuguese wines (he hadn\u2019t tried many), and from my small knowledge base on\nthis country they looked well off the mark. But this is an aside.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n The current critic territory looks quite different. There\nhas been a subtle shift in emphasis. I don\u2019t think the leading critics always read\nlike they are on the side of the consumer. It seems like they have their eyes\non the producer as well as the consumer. They give the impression that they are\npart of the wine trade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Part of this is because now a lot of wine critics make a\ngood portion of their income from the wine trade. There are critic-organization-sponsored\nevents, where producers pay to show their wines to consumers. There are\nstickers to be sold. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Now the wine world is deemed too big for single critics to\ncover, wine criticism for each publication is invariably done by teams, and many\nof the critics become advocates for the regions that they cover. We have this\nstrange hybrid creation: half critic, half promotional advocate\/specialist for\na particular wine region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And then there\u2019s the self-marketing. If you are dishing out\nhigh scores you are more likely to get quoted by producers, thus boosting your\nbrand equity. And 100 point scores are now often used by critics a marketing\ntool: a few well targeted top scores creates a buzz and helps sell the report\nor magazine. Perfection is tactical! <\/p>\n\n\n\n All this has incentivised higher scoring, and this inflatory\nboost has seen the scores for fine wines rise to the point where the 100 point\nscale no longer has much discriminatory power at the high end. Compare the Wine\nBuyers\u2019 Guide from the 1990s with the current tightly banded points, and there\nis no doubt that the spread of scores is much lower than it used to be,\nrendering the scale less useful for consumers, but more useful for those trying\nto sell wine or market their region \u2013 pretty much everyone who shows up is a\nwinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The wine producers are delighted, at least at first. The\nhigh score they were awarded is a validation for their work. That is, until they\nrealise that all their neighbours have also been amply rewarded too. As I\u2019ve said\nbefore: it\u2019s like going to the school disco age 15 and being thrilled that the\ngirl you\u2019ve had a crush on for ages has given you a kiss, only for your\neuphoria to be shattered when the next day you rock up to school and find out\nshe also kissed five of your friends the same evening. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The root of the problem is that while many critics think they are still on the side of the consumer, the fact that they are targeting the trade for cash and are making money from wine producers and regional marketing associations means that their attention is diverted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Something has to change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We really need new consumer champions offering good buying advice, whose business model doesn\u2019t involve tapping the wineries they are reviewing for cash. It\u2019s all become a bit stale. Are there any fresh voices out there? Is wine criticism needed? Is it dead? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Something has to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n