| Title | The Emperor of Wine: The Rise of Robert M. Parker, Jr., and the Reign of American Taste |
| Author | Elin McCoy |
| Publisher | Ecco Press (HarperCollins) |
| Date | 2005 |
| ISBN | 978-0060093686 (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 342 |
| Excerpts | Google Books |
| Synopsis | This is the story of how an American lawyer raised on Coca-Cola caused a revolution in the way wines around the globe are made, sold, and talked about. |
| Award | www.harpercollins.com/products/the-emperor-of-wine-elin-mccoy |
About the Author
Elin McCoy started writing about wine in 1981 for Food & Wine magazine together with her husband, John Frederick Walker, with whom she also co-authored her first book Thinking About Wine (1989). As contributing editor, McCoy edited the early work of Robert Parker, Jancis Robinson (and many others); wine writing was still very much a novelty at the time. In 2000, she started writing columns about wine and spirits for Bloomberg, Decanter, and other publications. She also serves as a wine judge and event speaker.
- elinmccoy.com/bio
- linkedin.com/in/elin-mccoy-28251b6
- www.decanter.com/author/elin-mccoy
- www.bloomberg.com/authors/AGhlVNcPY94/elin-mccoy
- awards-wbwla.worldoffinewine.com/judges
For an entertaining interview
- Levi Dalton, I’ll Drink to That – episode 244 (Feb 17, 2015)
Elin McCoy can still be heard on The Wine Conversation podcast (see below).
About the Book
The book covers the years from 1947 until 2004, when the influence of Parker was at its summit.
Chapters
- An American palate in formation
- The wine boom and the other Bobs
- Wine crusader
- The 1982 Bordeaux
- Tasting 10,000 wines a year
- Perils of the tasting route
- The emperor’s progress
- Making wines to please Parker
- Scoring Parker
Five years after the publication, McCoy posted an “epilogue” article.
- Twilight of the Emperor – The Waning Power of Robert Parker – by Elin McCoy, World of Fine Wine 2010
Book Reviews
The book has been widely reviewed. For a sampling (and quotes), see
A selection:
- Book review: The Emperor of Wine: The Rise of Robert M Parker Jr and the Reign of American Taste – by Adam Lechmere, Decanter 2005
- ‘The Emperor of Wine’: The New World Order – by Tony Hendra, NYT 2005
McCoy clearly likes Parker. But she can’t avoid painting a picture of an irascible, arrogant, ill-mannered man. It’s something of a mystery why someone so abrasive enjoys such awesome power.
- The power and the story – by Corie BrownText, Los Angeles Times 2005
McCoy, a 30-year veteran wine writer, brings a longtime friendship with Parker to bear on her insider’s view of his life. She gave Parker his first national magazine assignment as an editor at Food & Wine magazine and has had dinner at his home, and while researching this book, she was invited to join him as he tasted a recent vintage of some of the California wines he helped popularize. Far from being a disinterested observer, she has included first-person accounts of herself as a participant in some of the scenes she describes.
- First book on Robert Parker details his impact on the wine world – by Linda Murphy, SFGate 2005
Relying on an exhaustive list of magazine, newspaper, book and online sources that runs 13 pages in the book, plus 200 hours of taped interviews with people who know Parker and 35 taped hours with him, McCoy presents both sides of the arguments about whether Parker is too powerful, that he is a star- maker and brand-breaker, that his 100-point scoring system is flawed, that his ethics are compromised, that his predilection for ultraripe, high-alcohol wines is unfair to those making wines of elegance and subtlety.
About Robert Parker
According to the Oxford Companion to Wine
Parker, Robert M., Jr (1947-), extremely influential American wine critic whose most obvious contribution (…) has been the concept of applying numbers to wine. His scores, followed slavishly by some collectors and even more by investors, had a demonstrable effect on individual wine prices, especially in the 1990s and the early years of the 21st century.
In his own words
- 1978-2003 Days That Used to Be – by Robert M Parker Jr, winejournal.robertparker.com 2003
Bio on the robertparker.com website
- Robert M. Parker, Jr. (608 Articles, 114139 Tasting Notes)
With his stubborn disregard for the hierarchy of wines, Robert Parker, the straight-talking American wine critic, is revolutionizing the industry — and teaching the French wine establishment some lessons it would rather not learn.
- The Million-Dollar Nose by William Langewiesche, The Atlantic, 2000
Parker retired at the age of 71 (2019).
- Robert Parker formally retires from The Wine Advocate – by Richard Woodard Decanter 2019
The Robert Parker Wine Advocate is now owned by the Guide Michelin.
- www.robertparker.com
- The Wine Dinner Advocate – by Alder Yarrow 2017 jancisrobinson.com
No one individual before or since has changed the world of wine as dramatically, or as beneficially, as Robert M. Parker Jr.
- Robert M. Parker Jr extended interview: Decanter Hall of Fame 2020 by Andrew Jefford, 2020
Parkerization
With great power comes great responsability.
- Robert Parker – Les sept péchés capiteux, Benoist Simmat, Philippe Bercovici (2014)
About the Wine Conversation
The Wine Conversation was founded in 2020 by Sarah Kemp, it is
a podsite, as it’s a hybrid, a home to podcast interviews and a website for great articles and recommendations – plus all the information you might not have had time to scribble down while listening.
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