Bordeaux: A Consumer's Guide to the World's Finest Wines

by Robert M. Parker Jr.

Parker's phenomenally successful first book, which established him as "the most influential wine writer in the world today" (Los Angeles Times), now completely updated. It is also expanded to contain discussions of 100 more chateaux and tasting notes for 1,000 more wines. Decorative art and maps.

Genres: Wine, Reference, Food and Wine

1040 pages, Hardcover

First published November 15, 1985

Reviews

[Sanford Chee]

Intro to wine making
https://youtu.be/2PIvfUvlBvg

Emile Peynaud 9 categories of wine notes:
1. Fruit: red/blue/black, stone fruits, fresh/dried/stewed
2. Floral: rose, violets, lilacs, jasmine, white/yellow
3. Balsamic: pine trees, resin, vanilla
4. Vegetal: herbs, mushrooms, veggies, tea
5. Spice: pepper, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, truffle, anise, mint
6. Animal: game, beef/venison, barnyard, fur, leather
7. Wood: oak
8. Empyreumatic: creme brûlée, smoke, toast, coffee
9. Chemical: acetone, yeast, hydrogen sulfide, acidity, mercaptan, fermentation

100 pt scoring system & how Robert Parker differs from James Suckling?
Base score: RP =50; JS starts fr scratch
Colour: RP +5 = 10% (5/50); JS 15% - does color show typicity e.g. Pinot Noir looks like a Pinot Noir and not a Cabernet Sauvignon; does it look attractive? Does it invite you to drink it after looking at it & swirling it?
Nose: aromas & bouquet; complexity; evocative; gives typicity as well as distinctiveness RP +15 = 30%; JS 25%
Palette: flavour, finish (length & depth), balance, complexity, smoothness; distinctiveness; delicious, does one sip leads to another? Are you blown away? Is it transformative? RP +20 = 40% heavier emphasis on big wines w/ long finish vs JS 25%
Overall impression/quality: RP +10 = 20%; JS 35% potential for ageing when drunk from barrel (not the wine as it is now that's why some young Bordeaux vintage can receive such high scores from RP when it is not ready to drink yet).

https://youtu.be/tiZ-_5j6LvU

100 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ = 20/20
96-99 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 = 18.5-19+ extraordinary
93-95 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 18 outstanding
90-92 ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 = 17-17.5 cut above superior, excellent
85-89 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ superior = 16.5
80-85 ⭐️⭐️1/2 above average, good = 16
⭐️⭐️ = average wine 15/20

https://www.wine-searcher.com/critics...

Vintage chart
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ro...



Wine for Normal People - Serge Dore
https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast...

Movie: Mondovino
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondovino

[Wendy Hollister]

everything I wanted to know about wines from Bordeaux and more. He's my wine guru.

[Megan Rohr]

This is a great reference for Bordeaux wine!