2014 UGC (Vin 2011) Standouts for me. What are yours?

[pomilion]

http://forums.winespectator.com/eve/for ... 9157028442

A few excerpts:

"... I have essentially seen and heard it all. Yet it is extremely difficult to bite one's tongue and hold back comments when a vociferous minority are perpetrating nothing short of absolute sham on wine consumers."

"[The internet is] also a breeding ground for the perpetration of myths, half-truths, innuendoes and at times outright falsehoods. How frequently do we see such individuals passing off as conventional wisdom things that have been created and manufactured by one person and then bouncing them off hundreds if not thousands of people in cyberspace. Of course, this becomes a self-reassuring circle of group think, or it may be called "Kim-Jung-unism". Those that start this nonsense care little for the truth or about actual quality, even though it would seemingly be easy for most people to see how self-serving and agenda-driven their rhetoric is. The worst results can be that perfectly reasonable people come to blindly accept these statements as fact. Of course, that is the intention of the perpetrators. The propaganda machines of totalitarian regimes work the same way."

"Obviously 35 years of [RP's] comprehensive writing about the wines of the world doesn't leave too many stones unturned, and so it is difficult to impossible for new wannabes to get attention, and even more unlikely to monetize their internet site. So they do what many people do in many fields when they can't stand on their own merits and credibility - they simply try to discredit the people at the top and use both the producers and their readers alike in their self-serving scheme."

"It is easier now than it was 35 years ago to enter the "wine writing" field and - at least theoretically - become a "wine writer/critic", but because of that, it is also quite difficult to make money at it. And money, one's livelihood, ultimately becomes the real truth serum. Few website owners make a living from their sites, largely because many of them are 1) lazy, 2) have narrow agendas, 3) offer little in the way of content and substance, 4) appear to be constantly whining about the failure to monetize their sites, or 5) are the antitheses of consumer advocates."

"This sort of vaudeville, thinly veiled behavior is intended to divide the wine-consuming public into an elite minority of "truists" (they are not really; no real truth there) versus the "oh so uneducated masses" or downright stupid consumers blindly drinking supposedly unhealthy, reprehensibly made, compromised, industrial crap. The absurd heights of this have even added phony words such as "spoofing" or "spoofilator" to the wine lexicon to suggest some omnipresent evil laying waste to "authentic" wine. Don't these people consider how offensive they are to you - presumably a wine consumer? Of course, these false prophets of doom are simply putting forth self-serving propaganda..."

"What we also have from this group of absolutists is a near-complete rejection of some of the finest grapes and the wines they produce. Instead they espouse, with enormous gusto and noise, grapes and wines that are virtually unknown. That's their number one criteria - not how good it is, but how obscure it is.... just how absurd this notion is becomes evident when the results are oxidized, stale, stink of fecal matter as well as look like orange juice or rusty ice tea being poured into a glass and passed off as "authentic", "natural" or "real" wine. This is the epitome of cyber-group goose-stepping, a completely deranged syndrome that somehow the internet has allowed to persist. Again, there is only one reason for this type of writing, and that is not to bring greater pleasure to readers and wine consumers, but rather a lame and fraudulent effort to get self attention to the detriment of the wine consumer."

"In conclusion, please realize this was motivated first and foremost by the fact that I am a wine consumer advocate. While it is usually my inclination to take the high road and just avoid these firestorms, widespread deceptions and distortions mandate an intelligent response."

"I desperately have tried to find merit in these movements, and would love to invite well-reasoned arguments that support them. The fundamentals of open and cordial discussion and debate are essential."

[Tom In DC]

WOW! Some very Unabomber-type sentiments there. Everyone is self serving save I?

Except for the "I made a fortune doing this, so I must be more credible than anyone entering the fray today who will never be compensated" theme. Sounds like a NIMBY homeowner (Not In My Back Yard) -- none of these kids can hold a candle to me. He has the attitude of a WWII vet, but he was born in 1947.

And hasn't the Bob hired Antonio Galloni (The Piedmont Report) and Jeb Dunnick (The Rhone Report) from among all of the rabble on the interwebs???? How could they have risen to such a level unless even the Bob agreed there was some credibility among all of the unwashed masses of wine bloggers?

He's cashed in so I suggest he take his many ducats and his incredibly valuable cellar (no self-serving there, I assume, else his saintly robe might be tarnished) and simply enjoy a well deserved ride into the sunset.

[pomilion]

Yeah, totally agree... He's essentially saying, "I got here long before all of you worthless/lame/lying/self-promoting/lazy/valueless upstarts; I've been working at it for 35 years, have uncovered every nugget of wine insight available, and made shitloads of money doing it; so nobody coming after me could possibly have anything worthwhile to say or have any integrity -- and by the way you're all totalitarian fascists......" Parker has totally gone off the deep end, in my honest opinion. He's made his reputation, he's made (presumably) a ton of money, and he should just ride off gracefully into the sunset. Instead, he's lurching towards retirement with these semi-senile, delusionally self-idolizing screeds... Really sad.

[JimHow]

His last worthwhile WA edition was of the 1996 vintage.

[DavidG]

I've been a big fan and supporter of Bob, but to use a winter Olympics reference, he really seems to have lost his edge and veered off course of late. His style preferences, the evolution of wine styles and the proliferation of high scores and their effects on prices have been a growing problem since the late '90s, making his reviews less useful. That was ok with me. I have a lot of respect for what he's done and how he's helped me, and I really like him as a person based on a few meals and tastings together. He's probably the same nice guy in person that he's always been, but the tone of his public postings have really hurt his reputation.

[Rudi Finkler]

For ages, people create idols, worship them and then destroy them. The last phase of such a spectacle is painful for everyone involved, particularly, of course, for the idol – or should I say the idiot - himself.

[Tom In DC]

David, I agree that he was a warm, passionate wine lover whenever I met him at a dinner, but it has been years since I've seen him in person. Probably related to the fact that it seems to cost at least $500 to go to any of his events these days, as opposed to him just showing up for a tasting at someone's home.

His online persona seems to be molded after Mark Squires (also a friendly guy in person at dinner or a tasting) -- some combination of post-apocalyptic paranoia and "my feces smell like great Chateauneuf, in magnum" delusions.