Bordeaux - Hardcover

Parker, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0751301434 ISBN 13: 9780751301434

Publisher: DK, 1998

Who is making Bordeaux's best and worst wines? What has a specific chateau's track record been over the last 40 years? Which chateaux are overrated or underrated? These are the questions Robert Parker answers fully in the new edition of his comprehensive and authoritative guide to the wines of Bordeaux. His vintage-by-vintage reports demonstrate thoroughness and discernment; he has set uncompromising standards in assessing each vintage from 1961 to 1997 for every major chateau. Each vintage is described in detail for taste colour texture quality and anticipated maturity so you can see at a glance which wines are ready to drink now and when to enjoy those that are still maturing. For each chateau Parker also provides details of how the vineyards are planted yields annual production and style of vinification. Parker takes you through each of the famous Bordeaux regions: St.-Estephe Pauillac St.-Julien Margaux the Medoc Graves Pomerol St.-Emilion Sauternes as well as lesser-known areas like Lalande-de-Pomerol Canon-Fronsac and Barsac. The official 1855 classifications the crus classes and crus bourgeois are given for each chateau but Parker also offers his own appraisal of each one. Many chateaux long regarded as producing high-quality wines receive surprisingly low evaluation and Parker argues that many little-known chateaux ought to be upgraded on the evidence of the wines they have produced in the last 40 years. His assessment of the value of Bordeaux's top wines including second labels of major chateaux as well as hundreds of under-publicised estates makes this book indispensable for the wine buyer.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:

A long-awaited update to the US Wine Guru's second edition of this book, which was published while the famed 1990 Bordeaux vintage was barely a grape, this is a reference book to beat all reference books on the subject.

Robert Parker has sniffed, gurgled and ejected through the kasbah which is Bordeaux. There is hardly a chateau or a shack which hasn't been stormed by General Bacchus in his efforts to give, on the one hand, a concise, factual report on the property and, on the other, his own, very personal evaluation of the wine through as many vintages as he has tasted.

The author is very opinionated and others do not always share his views. After all, the test of a wine is as much about the drink itself as it is about the type of glass used, the food with which it is taken and the surroundings and company with which it is enjoyed. He does, however, wield an enormous amount of power. His bimonthly newsletter can make or break wines on the commercial market, doubling the cost of a top-scoring wine compared to that of its immediate peers within weeks of the Parker Pronouncement.

This is an invaluable book for anyone who adores Bordeaux wines or wants to hear the views of a knowledgeable companion on their trip through the minefield of styles and vintages. --Nick Tarayan

About the Author:

Robert M. Parker, Jr. has been the author and publisher of The Wine Advocate for nearly a quarter of a century. In 1999, Parker became the first wine critic to ever receive La Croix du Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur (The Cross of the Knight of the Legion of Honor), France's highest honor, conferred on him by President Jacques Chirac. In 1993, President Mitterand had given him France's other national honor, knighthood in the National Order of Merit. He won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional in 1998, and he is now the author of thirteen books, including Burgundy, two editions of The Wines of the Rhone Valley, and six editions of Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide. He lives in Parkton, Maryland, with his wife Patricia, his daughter Maia, and numerous basset hounds and English bulldogs.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.