It appears that the Bordeaux wine world has come to their senses and will be stopping the erratic behavior of making wines to pass the “Parker” test. Personally I gave up what the false prophet of Bacchus has said many years ago, choosing to trust my own palate and those of others in the wine trade I had learned to trust.
Did Parker play a place in my wine learning? Yes. But over time, and after I began gaining access to trade tastings vs. consumer wine events I quickly discovered that with a little practice one can learn the difference between a good wine, and an amazing wine. For too long too many people have relied on the scores of Parker and his Wine Advocate. Well after learning early on it was more in his words than in his numbers that mattered to me, I gave up chasing trophies and concentrated on value and under-appreciate regions, wines and producers. That led me to learning that it really was the importer and the merchant who mattered, and of course, my own every maturing palate.
In the move to get away from “Parker” or Parkerized wines, we’re seeing a shift in winemaking philosophy by the most highly regarded winemakers in the world. The Bordeaux producers. We can only hope that Napa Valley winemakers follow suit.