Wine-rating system leaves some with sour taste

By Leslie Gevirtz

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Mention the name Robert Parker to those in the wine business and most will toast him while others will spit.

Makers of Bordeaux credit him and his 100-point rating system, which Americans have embraced, with revitalizing their livelihood.

But others blame Parker and his points for what is termed the "international" style that has overrun vineyards from Bordeaux to Healdsburg and Porto to Perth.

"It is wine that has no sense of place. You can take one sip or 10 and still not know where it is from," said Alice Feiring, author of the book "The Battle for Wine and Love or How I Saved the World from Parkerization."

"Basically, it's a formula, a recipe. The winemaker isn't working with what nature gave him, but a chemistry set and machines," she said.

Parker could not be reached for comment on Feiring's remarks.

But she quotes him in her book as saying, "When I started out I don't remember running into organically or biodynamically run vineyards. So the idea that you think there is a bland international style out there ... You can drive an 18-wheel truck through that argument."

Feiring is ready to get behind the wheel.