Robert Parker, meet Kitty Kelley

Does this look like the face of a woman you'd want writing your expose'?

That's Hanna Agostini, otherwise known as the former assistant of Robert Parker, and the name of her book is "Anatomie d'un mythe." Uh-oh.

"Robert Parker, Anatomy of a Myth -- Parker and Bordeaux Drink and Clink Glasses" as a hoped-for English translation might be called, was released in France yesterday and immediately met legal fire over Agostini's suggestion that high-profile Bordeaux winemaker Alain Reynaud asked Parker to be a godfather in order to curry his favor. Reynaud asked for the offending paragraphs to be deleted and first printing to be destroyed; the court said no.

So what's in her book that's so gawdawful?

Agostini, who spent eight years as Parker's translator and assistant, says:

* Parker is thick with wine consultant Michel Rolland and they push the guides toward the fruit-forward wines American prefer.

* He recommends wines he's never tasted.

* His annual guides have a lot of cut and paste and not a lot of updating.

* He advocates critics' independence but dedicates books to friends in the wine world.

The story's all over the news feeds and wine writers are already responding with something less than outrage. Personally, I don't think much about him beyond occasional annoyance at his ubiquitous Parker scores, but the wine writers appear to be even more sanguine. According to Agence France Presse:

Wine taster, and critic for Britain's Wine and Spirit magazine, Gavin Quinney, tempered the criticism.

[snip]

"Merchants quote him all the time because he is so quotable. And the 100 point system really works for consumers," Quinney said at the launch.

"Plus, most of the time, I have to say, he is right about the wines."

Chateau owner loses court battle over Parker book [Decanter.com]
"Emperor of Wine" Parker picked apart in new book [AFP/Yahoo News]
The Emperor of Wine and the attack over a question of taste [Times Online]
"Robert Parker Anatomie d'un Mythe - Parker Deguste et Bordeaux Trinque" [Amazon.com/France]

Comments

[Simone]

Perhaps we should mention the mess Ms. Agostini put Parker through when she did business with the Geens Group a few years ago. To add insult to injury, now this opportunist wants to tarnish Parker's reputation, which is well deserved, in my opinion.

[berlin]

Gut!