Customer Reviews

Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide, 7th 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

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide, Robert M. Parker, Jr., Simon and Schuster, New York, 2008, 1513 pages, softback, $35. Four pounds of numbers. For $35 you get pages and pages filled with no specific wine descriptions, just lists and lists of the numerical score on the one hundred point scale. I don't get it. For years whenever the 100 point scale has been debated Parker has always responded that a reader should never just rely on the number he gives to a wine. The reader must also consider the written evaluation of the wine. Indeed he makes this same point in the introduction to this work. "However, it is also vital to consider the description of the wine's style, personality and potential." If it is "vital" why have all of these descriptions been stripped out this book? All that the author provides is the score and a window of drinkability. Other than some general comments about the winery as a whole, there are no specific comments about any of the wines. So a wine gets a score of 94 but will it go well with duck confit? No guidance is given at all. The reader deserves far more.

Given that Parker is the most influential wine critic in the world, I would have thought that before making derogatory remarks about a wine producer, he would have done extensive detailed research about the wines. Not so. Parker takes a swipe at the wines of Kosta-Browne stating that, "I find them somewhat superficial and overripe." (Pages 1194) Here is a winery that made its reputation on small lots of Sonoma County Pinot Noir. But Parker only lists scores on two pinots, both from the Central Coast, not Sonoma County. I thought that perhaps other Kosta Browne wines sourced from Sonoma grapes might have been tasted but dropped from this work because of space limitations. But when one goes to the Parker's web site, the only tasting notes are on these same two Central Coast pinots. Wouldn't you think a powerful critic is under an ethical obligation to taste all, or most, of the wines from a producer (especially their best wines) before publicly disparaging them?

To be fair, I really liked the section of the book that presents an annotated bibliography of wine books. Thankfully the books get more than just a naked numerical rating.

Parker afficionados will probably adore this work from their guru. I find it frustrating and missing key components. Not Recommended.

Mostly this book is just a synopsis of the latest point ratings and a summary on the wine producers. As noted by others, there aren't actually reviews for each wine, so you're left to buy a wine based simply on the "Parker Points" awarded. The introductory portion is merely a repeat of past books.

To me the best parts were the region summaries of the Loire, Germany, and Burgundy (which I believe were all produced by David Schildknecht). I've heard fans of Italian wines also laude Galloni's summary of Italy.

It's also worth noting that although Parker has indicated that most (60%) wines are purchased and "tasted blind when possible", recent conversations on his online forum indicate that he apparently may not follow these policies any longer, leading me to question what really is his stance on blind tasting and critical independence.

Just numbers and numbers and numbers.

I found the 6th edition to be a far better work. It is a fun and interesting read. He had stories to tell then, henri bonneau, the first growths, jayer...

The 7th edition turns out to narrow wines to a compendium of numerical values that I thought would be the exact antithesis of what he preached. Did he get lazy or just lost the passion? I am disappointed and saddened by this turn.

I was surprised by the length of this book. Its over 1500 pages. Plenty of information and I liked that he covered several vintage years for each region and gave a reason (primarily weather) why some vintages were better than others. The reason I gave this book 4 stars and not 5 was because I found it was lacking information on new world wines. Most of his attention was focused on French wines.

I ordered for my son who is getting interested in wine, but kept for myself after scanning. It is much too detailed for a novice.

Parker wine buyer's guide 7th edition is quite disappointing and shows that fame is no guarantee of consistent quality.

Compared to the 6th edition, the writings about the wineries and their wines are way shorter and most of the time of little if any interest.

Before buying the upcoming 8th edition I will check it out and if it has not improved, I will definitely skip it.

May be Robert Parker should just stick to Bordeaux wines and not try to expand worldwide.

This book is a massive reference for wines from major regions of the world. It is relatively unequal in the space dedicated to the different regions and some are more up-to-date than others. Parker's ratings are mostly for Bordeaux and California wines, all other regions are handled by different people which can lead to variations in the notation.

There is a honest discussion on wine tasting and interesting comments on most wine makers.

This book is a great reference for both professionals and winos alike. It provides in depth information on regions, vintages, grapes and producers for most of the wine world. I highly recommend it.

Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide Nº 7 is an astonishing compendium on wine written by the world's foremost wine critic in concert with his entire new Wine Advocate team. The Guide covers every wine region of any consequence on the planet, and includes a bit of history, a comprehensive survey of the wines of each area, discussion and ratings of all the relevant producers in each region, and poignant essays that cut to the heart of all the major contemporary issues of all of these regions. There is no other comparable work with the comprehensive coverage, the insightful commentary, and the ratings of thousands of wines from recent vintages that this seventh edition of Parker's popular guide provides.

By leaving out the detailed individual tasting notes of previous editions, probably to keep it at a slim 1513 pages, this book has reinvented the consumer wine guide yet again. It now begs to be read cover to cover (it really does, and I did), rather than be used simply to look up a favored wine or a favorite region, though it still works perfectly for the quick pre-purchase look-up: all the scores for wines of recent vintages are there. The detailed tasting notes can readily be found on Parker's website, though it requires a subscription (which is well worth it for everything else going on there nowadays), but curiously, they aren't even missed. The unencumbered flow of text and lists has completely re-energized the Guide. It facilitates the enthusiast's quest for quick answers about a wine or region, as well as quenching even the most insatiable thirst for all details vinous, including insider information about winemakers and their winemaking approaches, and a thorough, candid, and unbiased read of what's good, what's great, and what's not.

Parker's essays on all matters of wine in his forty page introduction, and David Schildknecht's extensive essays on Alsace, Austria, Burgundy, and Germany are worth the book's tariff alone. Then add the insights and critical assessments by the new members of his team that includes Dr. Jay Miller on Spain, Australia, South America, Washington, and Oregon; Antonio Galloni on Italy; Mark Squires on Portugal and the wines of Israel; the indefatigable and completely British Neal Martin on New Zealand and South Africa; and of course, the master himself on Bordeaux, the Rhone, and California wine, and the benchmark for wine writing has been raised to new heights. And I've left out many other regions covered. This wine buyer's guide not only meets the need for every wine buyer from the occasional purchaser to the obsessed enthusiast, it exceeds all previous expectations of the genre. And Parker invented the genre.

Breathtakingly brief, in a good way, the majority of this guide is a line item list of offerings by vintage within winery, within region. Parker includes short notes on each winery, vintages as a whole, and points out relevant changes to wineries. He also provides some throwaway advice in the beginning of the book on storage, aging, and the like. The brief winery notes, typically a paragraph per, are worth the cost alone.

Parker's ratings and comments are useful to have even if you don't care for him, as they are firmly embedded in the wine criticism conversation at the top tier.

One has to ask if it's better to subscribe to Parker's online service, however. You will get all that's in this book and quite a bit more, plus it will be available to you with a mobile device at the store or restaurant. The cost, while more than this volume, is still relatively modest.