Parker Interview
Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 4:26 pm
I thought I'd put this on the forum but I guess I just put it on my blog. Anyway for those interested Robert Parker Jr was interviewed by Charlie Rose and the transcript was put up on the Mark Squires Forum. There is a lot of information in the interview including the admission that the 100 point system is "well, it`s really a 50- to 100-point system. " There is also a comment on what he thinks Parkerized means. And then there is this exchange about Aussie wine. But I would read the full transcript before coming to any conclusion about Parker. Unfortunately the transcript is not of the same quality as the interview as seen on TV. Rose never really gives Parker a chance to explain himself in many of the exchanges. I guess we'll have to wait for the (auto)biography, although for those interested there are something like three interviews between Rose and Parker available on the Rose site.
CHARLIE ROSE: Australia. Listen to this. The final figures aren`t in
yet, but 2004 maybe the year when Australia dethroned Italy as the king
of wine imports in the U.S. That came from "Wall Street Journal,"
January 7th, 2005.
ROBERT PARKER: Well, the Australians I think have mastered industrial
farming at a very high level. I mean, you know, vineyards that are
completely controlled by computers, where -- and once they`re planted,
the only thing that goes back in there are these gigantic tractors and
machine harvesters that pick the grapes. And everything (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
CHARLIE ROSE: But do you have contempt for this?
ROBERT PARKER: Oh, I don`t like it at all. But I have to say, you
know, the success of this wine called Yellow Tail that sells for $8, $9,
I mean, it`s a very cleverly made wine. I`ve tasted the wine. It`s not
a bad wine. I mean, I remember it was, you know, when I was in college,
the stuff we would get at that price point was not terribly interesting.
But it`s not a bad wine, it`s just very cleverly made, and it`s very
industrial.
Mike
CHARLIE ROSE: Australia. Listen to this. The final figures aren`t in
yet, but 2004 maybe the year when Australia dethroned Italy as the king
of wine imports in the U.S. That came from "Wall Street Journal,"
January 7th, 2005.
ROBERT PARKER: Well, the Australians I think have mastered industrial
farming at a very high level. I mean, you know, vineyards that are
completely controlled by computers, where -- and once they`re planted,
the only thing that goes back in there are these gigantic tractors and
machine harvesters that pick the grapes. And everything (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
CHARLIE ROSE: But do you have contempt for this?
ROBERT PARKER: Oh, I don`t like it at all. But I have to say, you
know, the success of this wine called Yellow Tail that sells for $8, $9,
I mean, it`s a very cleverly made wine. I`ve tasted the wine. It`s not
a bad wine. I mean, I remember it was, you know, when I was in college,
the stuff we would get at that price point was not terribly interesting.
But it`s not a bad wine, it`s just very cleverly made, and it`s very
industrial.
Mike