Customer Reviews

Bordeaux: Revised Third Edition

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a recent student of Bordeaux wines, I have bought and read over 20 books on the region,the chateaux and its wines. After spending over $1500 on books, for a mere $50 more I bought Parker's new edition of Bordeaux: A Comprehensive Guide to the Wines Produced from 1961 to 1997. It was so rich in detail and so interesting to read, I read it almost cover-to-cover, and I read some parts several times. For the wines I knew, Parker's great scoring approach, and detailed and dated tasting notes were "spot on." I became so confident in his judgement that I used his book to build a spreadsheet of the chateaux and wines, with year-by-year scores. From this spreadsheet and the book, I researched eight excellent wines and held a professionally led wine-tasting party with outstanding results. There, Parker's tasting notes came screaming out of the book and jumped into my glass as I joyfully smelled, tasted and experienced them. Since then I have acted on his advice by buying and drinking many of his recommended wines--all with similarly terrific results. I have become a real Parker fan and intend to buy everything he ever publishes, sight unseen. If, like me,you are a lover of great wines, especially Bordeaux, or want to be, you will simply adore this book.

This book is comprehensive and informative and should be added to the library of any serious wine lover. However, it is important to bear in mind that Robert Parker has very definite views on what a great Bordeaux wine should be! Wine, of course, is very much like art - the beauty is in the eye of the beholder! It goes without saying that if you enjoy your wines black and tannic and undrinkable for the first 15 years then Robert Parkers famous points system is for you! It is probably better to ignore his points system altogether as a wine with 85 points could well be vastly superior to a wine with 95 points , depending on whether you are looking for elegance rather than inky blackness. It is also worth noting that wines such as "Cantemerle" are sometimes penalized by Parker for being light coloured and elegant rather than a blockbuster heavy wine (such as Latour). Hachette produces a much better wine guide which presents a more balanced view on wine appreciation. It helps undo the damage which is rife in America - many wine consumers feel obliged to serve only wines with 90+ points , thereby missing out on an ocean of extemely delicious and elegant wines which Parker only rates with 85 points.

Good drinking!

A thoroughly comprehensive work, seemingly the definitive current description of all Bordeaux's. More than just a frank rating by one of the world's wine experts, as Parker shares facts and opinions about the various chateaus and their progress, ups and downs, in producing fine wines. This is certainly an encyclopedic effort, and one truly feels that each and every chateau and its wine have been described in considerable detail. Someone not familiar with Parker might find it interesting that his ratings are often quoted in wine publications and at auctions to give readers somewhat of a guide as to the quality of an individual wine. This is not a book that rates all old wines. Parker tends to rate still drinkable old wines, and does go back, in many cases to the 60's, in a chronological order. He also has notes about "superb" ancient vintages, that goes beyond the chronological listings.

This book is the result of the most extensive bordeaux wine ( claret, white and sweet) tasting in record. All of the important chateaux are described in an objective and professional way. The 100 point system is the best aproach to evaluating wine. A few small properties should be included, but nothing is perfect anyway.I have over ten books covering this subject and not even all of them would equal the information contained in this book.

This is as comprehensive as any wine compendium comes. References can be found to just about anything you will come across, and certainly helps those who collect wine.

The only complaint I have is that the old texts generally aren't updated. When a note dates from 1990 and says "should be cellared for 3 more years", does that mean 1993? Or should I take it as 3 years from the published edition date?

Otherwise this is a great book and has helped me a lot as a novice.

Parker strenghtens his position as the number one author on Bordeaux. This book is a must for those interested in fine wine. Six stars.

One reviewer noted that this really comes closer to a buying guide than anything else. I suppose that is true, but it is much more, also. It is easy enough to write histories of Bordeaux, and many are very entertaining, such as D. Markham's work on the 1855 Classification. But when most of us pick up a recent Bordeaux work, isn't it more helpful to hear more than "Chateau Lafite is a first growth and has produced good to excellent wine in x, y and z vintages, and many others." This is a book that takes a stand. And quite frankly, Parker's Bordeaux palate is as good as anyone's in the world. You don't have to agree with everything he says on every wine to recognize a master at work.

The 3rd edition of Robert Parker's "Bordeaux..." is disappointing compared to the first 2 editions, because much of the general text is exactly the same, and the text for many of the château-profiles hasn't changed at all (exept for the mentioning of the 1996 and 1995 vintages among the "great vintages"). However the tasting notes are more up-to-date including the 1997 vintage, but some of the older tasting notes - some which are now about 20 years old - should have been omitted. If you are a subscriber to Parker's newsletter "The Wine Advocate" there isn't much new in this book, but it is of course convenient to have all the tasting notes of Parker in one book, instead of in 5 years newsletters!

I consider this to be by far the best book on Bordeaux. While I do not agree with Parker or just about anyone else regarding the rating of Italian wines, Parker is right on target in his ratings for Bordeaux. I find it interesting that Parker is a fan of the rich and opulent micro wines coming out of Pomerol and St. Emilion. There are strict Bordeaux traditionalists that don't care for these wines. I think they are great and agree with Parker. They simply add another dimension to the many styles of wine being made in the greatest wine producing area of the world. Parker is extremely consistent and the only other taster that comes close is Stephen Tanzer. The Wine Spectator and James Suckling are pretty good, although I think they overrate too many wines in subpar vintages. Ironically, Spectator is not a big fan of the decadent wines Parker likes from the right bank.

Comprehensive and generally trustworthy information. A critical analysis, from the standpoint of a wine buyer like myself should not dissuade anyone from getting this useful and professional guide. The way Parker evaluates wine is not fool proof- but he is right 95% of the time. That in itself makes him better than almost any peers considering the sheer volume of juice he tastes. For the initated and value seeking with a professional slant, it would be nice if Mr. Parker would spend more time looking at Entre deux Mers for both red and white. Professionalism and compentency has increased there and it is not the land of co-op's and swill that it once was. Also, I would like to see more attention paid to petit chx. But then again, the sheer fact that they are not in his book keeps the price down for some of my best petit estates. There are also some worthy Lalande de Pomerol and Castillion sites he has not caught onto or he omits for lack of consistancy. I'd like him to thicken the book up with a bit of this and less on what we know is great (Clasified Growth top stuff) One thing, Cru Classe wines are bad too sometimes and Parker pulls no punches when they ship out a real looser. He can find you relative bargains, like Chx Tayac in Bourg (had 82 in mag last week- fantastic). So get the book if you want to know anything about Bordeaux. Robert Parker has kind of been black listed in Burgundy- this is too bad. He knows his stuff and some minor discrepancies should be overlooked. Cant wait for a Parker / Rovani Burgundy to be released.