Robert Parker & The Wine Advocate
The Wine Advocate is a bi-monthly wine publication established in 1978 by American wine critic Robert M Parker, arguably the most influential wine critic in the world.
Parker has famously tasted and scored some of the world's finest and most prestigious wines. He has certainly tasted the majority of the World's Most Expensive Wines.
History
Born and bred in Maryland, Parker spent 10 years working as a lawyer in Baltimore before making the full-time switch to wine writing in 1984. The Wine Advocate newsletter first became known after Parker accurately predicted the high quality of the 1982 Bordeaux vintage. It soon became a standard reference for fine-wine consumers in the United States.
In 2006 Parker chose a group of staff members to cover the majority of the world’s wine regions in his place. In December 2012, Parker stepped back from his full-time position at The Wine Advocate, naming Lisa Perrotti-Brown as the publication's new editor-in-chief. He retired formally in 2019. In 2017, Michelin acquired a 40 percent stake in Robert Parker Wine Advocate, and in 2019, Michelin became sole owner of the company.
In December 2021, Perrotti-Brown stepped down as editor-in-chief and former Managing Editor Joe Czerwinski became the new editor-in-chief. Robert Parker Wine Advocate currently employs nine wine reviewers.
The power of Robert Parker wine ratings
The Wine Advocate is believed to have a profound effect both on prices and market demand for fine wines around the world, particularly those from Parker's preferred regions, such as the Napa Valley and Bordeaux. Today, a "100-point Parker score" can make a wine brand (and low scores can break it). See this list of Robert Parker 100-Point Wines.
The Wine Advocate/Robert Parker 100-point wine-scoring scale
- 96–100 – Extraordinary
- 90–95 – Outstanding
- 80–89 – Barely above average to very good
- 70–79 – Average
- 60–69 – Below average
- 50–59 – Unacceptable