Quotes by Robert M. Parker, Jr.

About Robert M. Parker, Jr.:

Robert M. Parker Jr. is a leading U.S. wine critic with an international influence. His wine ratings on a 100-point scale and his newsletter The Wine Advocate, with his particular stylistic preferences and notetaking vocabulary, have become influential in American wine buying and are therefore a major factor in setting the prices for newly released Bordeaux wines. He is widely acknowledged to be the most widely known and influential wine critic in the world today.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

At 66 years of age, I feel about 20.

Robert M. Parker, Jr.

I always said your best palate is your own, not mine. I'm a guidepost.

Robert M. Parker, Jr.

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.

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.

The best Chateauneuf-du-Papes are among the most natural expressions of grapes, place and vintage. Chateauneuf-du-Pape vineyards are farmed organically or biodynamically, and the region's abundant sunshine and frequent wind (called 'le mistral') prac...

Robert M. Parker, Jr.

I'm a common-sense kind of guy.

Robert M. Parker, Jr.

I've always followed the rule that anything worth doing is worth doing excessively.

Robert M. Parker, Jr.

When I put my nose in a glass, it's like tunnel vision. I move into another world, where everything around me is just gone, and every bit of mental energy is focused on that wine.

Robert M. Parker, Jr.

My personal philosophy is, you can be sure of nothing.

Robert M. Parker, Jr.

I'm an anti-industrial kind of guy.

Robert M. Parker, Jr.

I believe that the responsibility of the winemaker is to take that fruit and get it into the bottle as the most natural and purest expression of that vineyard, of the grape varietal or blend, and of the vintage.

Robert M. Parker, Jr.

In the wine world, crusaders would have wine consumers believe that the only wines of merit are something completely indefinable but which they call 'authentic' or 'natural.'

Robert M. Parker, Jr.

The advantage we have as Americans is that we can be fair; we tend to be more open-minded about different styles of wine.

Robert M. Parker, Jr.

It's nearly impossible to believe just how provincial the wine world was in 1978, the year I launched my journal, 'The Wine Advocate.' There were no wines exported from New Zealand and virtually none from Australia (including Penfolds Grange, one of ...

Robert M. Parker, Jr.

Wine to me is something that brings people together. Wine does promote conversation and promote civility, but it's also fascinating. It's the greatest subject to study. No matter how much you learn, every vintage is going to come at you with differen...

Robert M. Parker, Jr.

You can't simplify my taste and say, 'Parker likes big wines,' because it's just not true.

Robert M. Parker, Jr.

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.

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.

These are the people who do studies that your carry-out Chinese meals are saturated in fat. I'd just like to meet them! I mean, what do they do for pleasure?

Robert M. Parker, Jr.

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.

Author Bio

  • NameRobert M. Parker, Jr.
  • DescriptionAmerican wine critic
  • BornJuly 23, 1947
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionJournalist; Writer; Publisher
  • AwardsOfficer Of The Legion Of Honour