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Title: PARKER'S WINE BUYER'S GUIDE, 5TH EDITION : Complete, Easy-to-Use Reference on Recent Vintages, Prices, and Ratings for More Than 8,000 Wines from All the Major Wine Regions by Robert M., Jr. Parker ISBN: 0-684-80014-4 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 21 December, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.28 (18 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Just accept the bias
Comment: If you'll accept Robert Parker's bias towards French wines, you'll appreciate the 5th edition of Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide. (As a holder of France's Legion of Honour, you'd hardly expect him to lean towards German plonk!) That said, Parker's Guide is an almost complete reference on wine vintages and prices with ratings for more than 7,500 wines from all major wine regions. It is by far the most comprehensive and respected wine rating book in the market.
There are critics who say that Parker is too influential, that his weakness for strong, tannin rich reds makes him biased in their favour, but there is still no other rating book that comes close. Until his critics come up with something better, they should hold their peace.
What impressed me was the way the Parker's Guide picks up even on some of the smaller chateaux. Clos de Gamot, for example is a tiny producer and I wouldn't have expected to find their wine given a mention. On the other hand, South Africa and Canada (both somewhat larger 'chateaux') seem to have been missed altogether! Like I said, you need to accept Parker's bias to all things French. I guess at 2,000 pages, the book weighs enough already!
Rating: 3
Summary: Too much Burgundy and too little new world...
Comment: I've always (up to now) been a fan of Parkers books. In my opinion, he's always managed to give a thorough description of all areas he has visited - since last book issue.. This is not the case for 'Wine buyers guide, 5th edition' ! First of all, 500 pages (of 1700 in total) on Burgundy alone is waaay over the top (unless you are a burgundy devote, of course !) On the other hand, it seems like mr. Parker still hasn't recognised the potential in many new areas of the world (ie NZ, here look for James Hallidays EXCELLENT wine companion instead) And what about the emerging South Africa ? As stated by other reviewers, other parts of France don't get their fair share and - you can certainly do better that that on Germany, Bob ! Even though I've bought the book - and in some way, feel it covers the newer vintages, I cannot help feeling let down, considering earlier editions. So...I only give it an 86 out of 100 ! (eat that, Bob)
Rating: 3
Summary: interesting but not as comprehensive as the cover suggests
Comment: This book is almost 2,000 pages and I am taking the liberty of writing a few comments based on a quick overview. The text on the bottom of the front cover states "...Ratings for more than 8000 Wines from All the Major Wine Regions". Some important wine areas are completely excluded, such as South Africa, the USA apart from the West Coast, Canada, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East (where there are a few very prestigious growers, such as Chateau Musar). Burgundy and Beaujolais together receive about 500 pages of commentary whereas Bordeaux gets only about 200. Germany gets 11 pages only, of which 5 are maps and general information about how its labelling system works, and no tasting notes at all. Austria is appended to Germany, and receives 5 and a half pages with tasting notes. All of the notes are devoted to one Austrian producer's Trockenbeerenauslese wines. I was quite astounded to find the exclusion in the German chapter of Robert Weil among recommended producers. His Rheingau Riesling wines are getting some of the highest prices in the country and comparable recognition. The section on Spain includes no evaluations of its white wines, as they were not considered by the author to be worthy. There are no comments on the country's wonderful sherries. The section on Portugal is devoted almost entirely to Port, with about half a page on table wine. There are no evaluations of any madeiras. I fail to understand why the author chose to include detailed commentaries on vintage Ports and Sauternes chateaux but practically nothing on sherry, madeira, Hungarian Tokaji Aszu Essencia, or German dessert wine. To me this seems very arbitrary.
It should also be noted that Mr. Parker's assistant Pierre-Antoine Rovani wrote the tasting notes and/or scoring (using the 100 point system of course) for red and white Burgundy, Alsace, the Loire, Germany, Washington and Oregon, and New Zealand. This comes to somewhere between a third and half the total text. His very significant contribution is noted in one paragraph in the introduction.
Having said all of this, for the most part I like what is contained here. It was decided - correctly in my view - to present the major French wine regions in alphabetical order rather than starting with either Bordeaux or Burgundy. Therefore the first 75 pages or so are devoted to Alsace. I have been a huge fan of this area's wines for the last 12 years and Mr. Rovani's comments are excellent. I concur wholeheartedly with his assertions that the very best vintages from the estates of Domaines Weinbach and Zind-Humbrecht (among others) offer quality equal to anything from Burgundy. You are not likely to go wrong with any of the recommendations here. The Burgundy section may seem a bit excessive at 500 pages, but again Messrs. Rovani and Parker emphasize there are sizeable variations in quality and it is easy to pay top dollar for mediocre wine here. It was noted that in the elite Le Montrachet, some 20 acres, there are 15 producers, of which only 5 or 6 can be relied upon for producing consistently excellent wine - yet all of them charge anywhere from $150 to $300+ a bottle. I cannot fault the authors for providing some extra guidance and information here, and if it saves the reader from spending money on one mediocre bottle the book has more than paid for itself. The Bordeaux section is well written but with over 2,000 chateaux to choose from, it could have been longer. To be fair, this area (and Burgundy) can take a book by itself, which Parker has done on 3 occasions already.
The rest of the book has some interesting things too, but I have to disagree with the author's assertion that there is a lot of bad wine made in Washington. I've enjoyed it for many years and cannot honestly recall ever paying too much for a bottle. Oddly enough, Washington's best offerings get higher scoring than those from Oregon. New Zealand's offerings are confined to only one page.
So far I like this book but cannot in all fairness give it an unqualified recommendation.
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Title: Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide 6th Edition : The Complete, Easy-to-Use Reference on Recent Vintages, Prices, and Ratings for More Than 8,000 Wines from All the Major Wine Regions by Robert M. Parker, Pierre-Antoine Rovani ISBN: 0743229320 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 01 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
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Title: Bordeaux: A Consumer's Guide to the World's Finest Wines by Robert M., Jr. Parker ISBN: 0743229460 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 28 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $60.00 |
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Title: Wines of the Rhone Valley by Robert M., Jr. Parker, Robert W. Wines of the Rhone Valley Mayberry ISBN: 0684800136 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 13 June, 1997 List Price(USD): $40.00 |
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Title: How to Taste: A Guide to Enjoying Wine by Jancis Robinson, Jan Baldwin ISBN: 0743216776 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 25 September, 2001 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: BORDEAUX : REVISED THIRD EDITION by Robert M. Parker ISBN: 0684800152 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 02 November, 1998 List Price(USD): $50.00 |
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