About Robert Parker

Robert Parker was born in Baltimore and both trained and worked as a lawyer. He discovered wine at the age of 20 on a trip to Alsace. Frustrated at the lack of a truly independent and reliable source of wine criticism, he launched his bimonthly newsletter, The Wine Advocate, in 1978. His reputation was established when he was one of the first wine critics to recognize the greatness of the now legendary 1982 Bordeaux vintage.

Parker was the first to apply a numeric score to rate the quality of each wine he tastes. Nevertheless, at the beginning of each issue of the newsletter he reminds his readers that his numerical ratings are "utilized only to enhance and complement the thorough tasting notes, which are my primary means of communicating my judgements to you."

In addition to The Wine Advocate (from which the wine database included with the software is derived -- click here to learn more about this process), Parker is the author of several of the wine world's most definitive books: Bordeaux, Burgundy and The Wines of the Rhône Valley and Provence.

Parker was the first non-Frenchman to write a wine column for L'Express magazine, and was awarded the Chevalier de l'Ordre du Mérite National in 1992.

"Parker has revolutionized American wine criticism, and...has brought [to it] the stringent standards of a fanatic, the high moral purpose of a reformer." -- Newsweek

"The one voice of the wine world." -- People Magazine

Overview | Tips & Tricks | Robert Parker | Wine Technologies | Downloads | Order Now | Links