Dr. Jay Miller leaves The Wine Advocate

[David M. Bueker]

See story here on Dr. Vino's blog

Even as he leaves, Big Jay is still in denial...

Hey, (the wide) Jay Miller is starting a wine blog. I'm sure his 4 devoted followers are looking forward to that.
Jim Budd should be congratulated for putting the spotlight on the whole sordid affair (though I confess I personally guess that Miller was less overtly corrupt than self-deluded re his own importance, lazy, and enjoying his undeserved gig, and that Campo was the truly corrupt one).

Hey, (the wide) Jay Miller is starting a wine blog. I'm sure his 4 devoted followers are looking forward to that.
Jim Budd should be congratulated for putting the spotlight on the whole sordid affair (though I confess I personally guess that Miller was less overtly corrupt than self-deluded re his own importance, lazy, and enjoying his undeserved gig, and that Campo was the truly corrupt one).

I fully expect him to team up with James Suckling to maximize the potential for blovation. Combined, they could be 198 points on a wine. The possibilities are gobstopping.

Mark Lipton

[Jenise]

Very interesting. And now we get David Schildknecht, if I spelled his last name right. He seems to command a lot of respect, but I sense that he has a very different palate from Parker and Miller. Think he'll like Quilceda Creek as much?

[David M. Bueker]

Very interesting. And now we get David Schildknecht, if I spelled his last name right. He seems to command a lot of respect, but I sense that he has a very different palate from Parker and Miller. Think he'll like Quilceda Creek as much?

No, he will not. But...he will assess it with an open mind, and give it a review and rating that it deserves.

More than anything else I am looking forward to seeing his work on Oregon Pinot. I may re-subscribe because of these changes.

[Jenise]

My first thought upon seeing DS's name there was that the wineries here that I like will now get more of the attention they deserve.

Whoa, talk about burying the lede! I realize that because the scandal the Dr. Jay resignation is the big news. Who would resign from being a wine critic, the cushiest job in the world if you can find someone to pay you to do it?

That said, Schildknecht reviewing Oregon is like a dream come true. He's the writer with whom I'm most palate aligned, and now he's reviewing Germany and Oregon, my two favorite regions! I have found precious little relevance in Parker's reviews, but The Wine Advocate may well turn into a valuable resource yet.

I met David S. some years ago at a tasting in Raleigh and I do respect his knowledge and palate although he may be a little overgenerous on some of his ratings.

Presumably the threat from Parker to sue the bloggers will now be withdrawn.

At least it's now come down to the three professionals on the team (Galloni, Schildknecht & Martin), who always seemed like the sensible choices to the rest of the world. Oh and Parker himself. The only worry I can see for Schildknecht taking more on, was the previous problem of getting him to write at the speed WA demanded.

Hopefully those three can restore credibility (and perhaps even a little humility) to the WA. If so, then it might just have a bright future.

regards

Ian

I'm a big Schildknecht fan, but even he sounds a bit nervous picking up two regions that he has very little experience with. I trust he'll do a great job, and will most likely renew my subscription over there because of this. Additionally, I've tuned out Spanish wine for so long now that having Neal Martin tackle that country is quite exciting too.

The WA must be looking for new people to join their staff...talk about stretching their ranks thin!

[David M. Bueker]

I met David S. some years ago at a tasting in Raleigh and I do respect his knowledge and palate although he may be a little overgenerous on some of his ratings.

???

David Schildknecht is one of the most conservative raters out there. Heck, he wasn't even willing to go to a scoring system until he joined the Wine Advocate in 2005.

Come on, folks, BigJay provided a wonderful service to the wine world by keeping prices depressed in the regions he covered!!! If only other critics were so contentious of our pocketbooks!

Jay, we lovers of Spanish wine salute you.

My first thought upon seeing DS's name there was that the wineries here that I like will now get more of the attention they deserve.

They'll also dramatically escalate in price and become more hard to find, Jenise.

Schildknecht will do fine on OR Pinot Noirs....they have high acids.

Very interesting. And now we get David Schildknecht, if I spelled his last name right. He seems to command a lot of respect, but I sense that he has a very different palate from Parker and Miller. Think he'll like Quilceda Creek as much?

Jenise, you're correct David does have a different palate than Parker. David is a friend of Mark Anisman who used to post here once in awhile going back a few years. Mark lives here in Napa and is a drinking buddy for many years. I've broken bread and spent quite a few hours with David when he was here tasting wine for his own company back a few years. His emphasis is on balance, doesn't like a lot of oak, or alcohol, over extraction, etc. He's got a fabulous memory doesn't seem to forget almost anything he has tasted. Etched in my memory is one night at the French Laundry with David and a group of like friends. Oh, did we eat and drink fabulously! David is one of the few critics that I would buy a case of wine just on his review.

...and now the gutter press weighs in. It's enough to make you feel sorry for the guy.

Also, for what it's worth, it seems Miller's departure was in fact in the works before the scandal broke.

A few clicks on the Gawker site linked to this fascinating Wall Street Journal article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703683804574533840282653628.html

[James Roscoe]

Why would anyone willingly return to work in Baltimore? Is he trying to avoid someplace worse?

A few clicks on the Gawker site linked to this fascinating Wall Street Journal article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703683804574533840282653628.html

Great article. Although no scandal, at least not to me, probably because I keep in my mind this passage from Jancis Robinson's "Tasting Pleasure":

I listened carefully to what these much more experienced tasters had to say about the wines. And the most extraordinary thing was that they all used contradictory expressions, and yet acted as though they were in complete accord. “It's a bit tart, isn't it?,” someone would say. “Absolutely. Nice roundness,” another would add, while yet another would volunteer, “I'd like a little more acid.” And the amazing thing to me was that no one argued. They seemed oblivious to the inbuilt contradictions. Reassured, I subsequently worked out, by the irrefutable fact that wine appreciation is an entirely subjective process, that professionals simply carried on expressing what they thought, impervious to any apparently opposing view....

“...there will always be as many opinions of a wine as there are tasters of it, and sometimes more even than that.”

[Jenise]

Jenise, you're correct David does have a different palate than Parker. David is a friend of Mark Anisman who used to post here once in awhile going back a few years. Mark lives here in Napa and is a drinking buddy for many years. I've broken bread and spent quite a few hours with David when he was here tasting wine for his own company back a few years. His emphasis is on balance, doesn't like a lot of oak, or alcohol, over extraction, etc.

Just what I'd surmised from the perifery; I stopped taking the Advocate at about the time David got on board, so I haven't read much of his stuff. When happened upon, though, his reviews are good reads, wordy but also careful and precise. It's sure going to be interesting to see what he makes of big Washington reds.

i've found that the best bet is to taste for yourself - mostly that is who you are buying for anyway. on jay miller. i've never read his stuff; but the first time i saw his photo on jim budd's site i thought - hmmm would i buy a used car from that guy. no, no, no.

David, it's always best to taste for yourself and trust your own palate (even if your palate and momentary enthusiasms can lead you astray at times ). But most people 1) don't have the time, opportunity and Money to taste as widely as they wish, even in the most narrow of spectrums, and certainly not widely (the wine omnivore's dilema ). And 2) most winos just love to read others impressions, either for affirmation of the right to violently disagree and diss the opiner.

Thus we all have our gurus, guides and tipsters. Mine don't happen to be either the WA or WS, but others seem to follow them. In most cases, that's fine with me, as while they are pursuing the flashy jangly trophies, they leave the prices and quantities of my preferred wines alone, thank you very much.

I'm happy to rely on my own selected sources, like David and Salil when it comes to Riesling tipsters, say.

WA. Heck, that lost cred for me way back when Rovani was embarrassing himself, and the shark got jumped when Squires was officially recognized as having something worthwhile to say about anything (if I think the man is a dangerous cretin about everything else he does, why would I pay any credence to his opinions on wine?).

I'm happy to rely on my own selected sources, like David and Salil when it comes to Riesling tipsters, say.

and FL Jim and TomHill for all those new CA hipster producers.

Mark Lipton

i've found that the best bet is to taste for yourself - mostly that is who you are buying for anyway. on jay miller. i've never read his stuff; but the first time i saw his photo on jim budd's site i thought - hmmm would i buy a used car from that guy. no, no, no.

You know, I was thinking something very similar and didn't think it was quite adult to say it. But what the hell, the guy really doesn't have confidence-inspiring photogenity.

The Baltimore Sun is now reporting on it:http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/dining/bs-ae-wine-scandal-20111206,0,5816683.story

And the NY Times: http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/05/a-parker-reviewer-departs-after-questions-about-payments/