The Emperor of Wine
The Rise of Robert M. Parker, Jr., and the Reign of American Taste
ELIN McCOY
The first book to chronicle the rise of Robert M. Parker, Jr., the world's most powerful wine critic, who has ruled the international wine world for the last twenty years and now symbolizes the triumph of American taste.
To many, Robert M. Parker, Jr., is a cross between Julia Child and Ralph
Nader-part enthusiastic sensualist and part consumer crusader. To others,
he is the ultimate wine geek, the critic who has reduced the soul of
wine to a two-digit number. The man who now dominates the world wine
scene grew up drinking soda, but rose to unheard-of prominence by means
of the traditional American virtues of hard work, determination, and
integrity, combined with an unshakeable ego and a maniacal obsession with
the one area of gastronomy-fine wine-that mimics, in many ways, the art
market. Parker's newsletter, The Wine Advocate , exerts the single
most significant influence on consumers' wine buying habits around the
globe and impacts the way wine is being made in every producing country.
Yet, despite the world's attention and unending acclaim, Robert Parker
stands at the center of a heated controversy: is he a passionate lover
of wine who can be credited with the vast improvement in wine quality
everywhere, or is he, as others claim, killing tradition and wine's
poetic appeal? This definitive portrait of Parker examines his remarkable
career and "the
Parker phenomenon" -his impact on the wine business and the consumption
of a long-revered beverage. Publication date: June 28, 2005
Elin McCoy has chronicled the world of wine for the
past thirty years. She is wine and spirits columnist for Bloomberg, a
contributing editor at Food & Wine and the co-author of Thinking
About Wine. Her writing on wine, food, travel and social issues
has appeared in The New York Times, Forbes, House Beautiful, Organic
Style, House & Garden, Decanter, and many other publications.
McCoy frequently lectures on wine and serves as a wine judge internationally.
She lives in Connecticut. 
