His rating--has integrity? or is an integral part of money?

[Chateau Vin]

The more he puts 100 pointers, the more he can sign. The more he can sign, the more money he can get...

A conflict of interest at best...

http://www.wine-searcher.com/m/2013/06/ ... gned-wines

[JimHow]

He is out of control.

[DavidG]

From TWA Editor:

The Wine Advocate team would like to address some of the inaccuracies in media reporting on our recent launch of the commercial subscription that includes the granting of a commercial license to commercial subscribers and of the gift subscription cards that we’re about to launch. Some of the claims suggest that we are profiting from the marketing and packaging of wines that are being sold by the merchant Bordeaux Vins Selection (BVS). This is not true. Robert Parker did not give permission for his signature to be used on any such packaging or material and, after speaking with Bordeaux Vins Selection, they will no longer be using his signature at all (which is, in fact, our logo). Some of the claims that are being spread by media sources have not been verified, so we would liketo clarify the facts for our subscribers:

·In response to daily enquiries on how to use our name/scores/tasting notes, we recently launched our commercial subscription that incorporates a commercial license to reproduce notes and scores, providing clarity in this matter and better managing how and under what circumstances our tasting notes can be used.

·Bordeaux Vins Selection recently purchased a commercial license. In doing so they can within the terms of the agreement put together their own selection of “RobertParker” rated wines. This is in no way a deal exclusive to them. Other merchants are free to put together their own selections or offers of Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate rated wines. We’re aware that merchants have in fact been putting together such offers for some time now. We have simply provided clarity on how this can be done.

·Neither Robert Parker nor the TWA team have had any part in the selection of wines. We are not endorsing or profiting from the packaging or sales of the BVS wine selections.

·We sold Bordeaux Vins Selection a pack of our new “Gift Subscription Cards” to eRobertParker.com. This is a new product that we are about to launch on the website and sell through wine retailers around the world. Essentially it’s no different from our current Gift Subscription available on the website; it’s just in a fancy card format that makes for a more presentable, tangible gift. Retailers can bundle these Gift Cards in with wine gift boxes. And this is what BVS has done with their offer of wines rated 100 points by Robert Parker.

·We spoke with Bordeaux Vins Selection last night to confirm that Robert Parker’s signature was not to be used in their packaging, in the format of our logo or otherwise.

·We continue to maintain our strict policy of not profiting from the sale of wine. Endorsing wines for profit is in direct conflict with the policy we have maintained for more than 34 years. We have no plans to change this policy.

Thank you for your continued support.

Best wishes,

Lisa
__________________
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW

[DavidG]

My guess as to what happened: Mssr. Pujols of BVS bought a WA commercial license, some gift subscription cards, maybe made a deal for the USBs, then cooked up the idea of marketing an "RP Selection" 100-pointer mixed case all on his own, stretching (exceeding?) the bounds of the commercial license agreement to do so. He then got a writer for the local paper to write a puff piece promotional story which managed to get by the editor with nary a call to WA for any fact checking. The story got repeated by Wine Searcher, and away we go...

[OrlandoRobert]

My guess as to what happened: Mssr. Pujols of BVS bought a WA commercial license, some gift subscription cards, maybe made a deal for the USBs, then cooked up the idea of marketing an "RP Selection" 100-pointer mixed case all on his own, stretching (exceeding?) the bounds of the commercial license agreement to do so. He then got a writer for the local paper to write a puff piece promotional story which managed to get by the editor with nary a call to WA for any fact checking. The story got repeated by Wine Searcher, and away we go...

Does not change what TWA has become. It is no longer, and arguably has not been for a very long time, a consumer advocate, but has become instead, an industry advocate. It is purely commercial enterprise that is of zero interest to me. Funny that I intuitively started to feel this way back in '99 when I canceled my subscription. I was a young dude, but something just did not smell right the way he was pumping and scoring wines. It has only gotten worse.

[DavidG]

I agree that this is a big change towards further commercialization of TWA. I wouldn't go so far as to say it has become all pro-industry. There are a lot of people who could still benefit from the TNs and ratings, especially those fairly new to the game and those interested in the non-trophy wines. And I suppose speculators who need the word of G-d. Though I suspect his influence will wane in the coming years.

Those of us with more experience know our palates and don't need the ratings. Never mind the palate shift towards bigger wines which may no longer match our palate preferences, the proliferation of high scores has led to clearly consumer-unfriendly prices, ruining the appeal and affordability of a lot of old standbys.

I don't find anything surprising or unethical about the direction this is going si. I don't personally believe that Parker would inflate scores to please commercial licensees. Sure there may be potentially for unconsciously bias, but the man likely doesn't need the money, there's no ego gratification involved, and geez, how much higher can his scores go?

All that said, it sure feelsike the end of an era. If it weren't for a few very positive personal interactions with Bob in the past, I'm sure I'd drop my subscription.

[RDD]

.... I wouldn't go so far as to say it has become all pro-industry. ......

I disagree. It has been pretty evident in the last few years that the retail industry gets ratings in advance of the general public. Just like the Spectator.
I'm sure Bob is a great guy but TWA is now just a branding tool. It isn't Robert Parker anymore. The investors own it.

[Jeff Leve]

.... I wouldn't go so far as to say it has become all pro-industry. ......

I disagree. It has been pretty evident in the last few years that the retail industry gets ratings in advance of the general public. Just like the Spectator.
I'm sure Bob is a great guy but TWA is now just a branding tool. It isn't Robert Parker anymore. The investors own it.

That is 100% false. No one gets the TWA notes first. They are released on line at the same time to everyone. They are mailed from Monkton. So, there are people with local post offices that get them earlier.

[RDD]

.... I wouldn't go so far as to say it has become all pro-industry. ......

I disagree. It has been pretty evident in the last few years that the retail industry gets ratings in advance of the general public. Just like the Spectator.
I'm sure Bob is a great guy but TWA is now just a branding tool. It isn't Robert Parker anymore. The investors own it.

That is 100% false. No one gets the TWA notes first. They are released on line at the same time to everyone. They are mailed from Monkton. So, there are people with local post offices that get them earlier.

I wasn't trying to imply TWA was released early. But I can see how it could be interpreted incorrectly. Mea culpa.

The industry knows how to work the system. And TWA has by its success become an industry tool.

[DavidG]

The industry knows how to work the system. And TWA has by its success become an industry tool.

I agree with the above. But my earlier comment that TWA still has value for some consumers still stands. Just not for us consumers.

[DavidG]

The end result though is pretty much as Orlando Bob says.

Prices went up as retailers flogged WA scores, and the WA became more popular and powerful as a result of the exposure. Price increases may have been an unintended consequence/knock on effect of WA's success, but they weren't consumer-friendly. The industry learned to take advantage of that success, eliminating in most cases the price advantage consumers may have gained from use of the WA, at least for the top scorers. Advice about which wines the consumer might like, introduction to new/untried wines and the value selections remained as consumer-friendly aspects. For those who don't need buying advice and aren't in the value market, much of the value of the WA was gone once this happened. And it happened before the sale to Asian investors. The sale is just another step along that path, and the investors are going to want to see a return on their investment.