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Robert Parker: "Spain has quickly become one of the main wine producers in the world"

One of the most influential reviewers of wine in the world has been recognized by FENAVIN's organization for "A Life Dedicated to Wine"

Robert Parker, one of the most influential reviewers of wine in the world has been recognized by FENAVIN's organization with the award "A Lifetime Dedicated to Wine", with the award ceremony taking place on the upcoming Tuesday the 8th at 21:00 hours at the Hotel Guadiana in Ciudad Real, the same within the context of the 4th National Trade Fair on Wine, to take place from May 7th to the 10th.

Unfortunately the North American reviewer will be unable to personally assist to the award ceremony, thus he has sent the organization a letter of appreciation in which he assures that he feels "overwhelmed, yet tremendously happy to receive this extraordinary honor from the Spanish people". He also underlines that "Spain has quickly become one of the main wine producers in the world and the idea of a new generation of men and women claiming important terrains and committing to creating great wines is immense".

"Life is a journey of discoveries and Spain has afforded me some of the greatest discoveries of my professional life. The future of these young men and women is brilliant and, after a few decades, their achievements in the Spanish vineyards will be considered as a vital inheritance and reference for future generations", Parker confesses.

The reviewer finally thanks the Provincial Government of Ciudad Real and FENAVIN and "all those who have been so courteous and generous to confer this extraordinary honor on me. I will insure to be at the height of their expectations day after day", he concludes.

GIVEN THE SCARCE INFORMATION TO BE FOUND ABOUT THE QUALITY OF WINES, HE DECIDED TO START WRITING ABOUT THEM

He started to write about wine in 1975, starting his own "independent guide for consumers", mainly due to the scarce amount of reliable information that was to be found about the quality of wines.

Apart from writing and taking part in tasting sessions for The Wine Advocate, which is published every second month in Parkton, Maryland, Parker is also the collaborating publisher of the Food and Wine Magazine. He also periodically writes for the British Magazine The Field and he have reviewed wines for the French magazine L'Express, representing the very first time ever that a non-French person has occupied the post.

Robert Parker has appeared in magazines as important as Time, Newsweek, Atlantic Monthly, People, Money, The Traveler, Changing Times, Esquire, GQ, Business Week, Smart Money and The Robb Report, and in newspapers as outstanding as USA Today, The Boston Globe, The New York Times, The Baltimore Sun, The London Sunday Times, The Sunday Telegraphe, The Independent, Le Journal de Dimanche and L'Express. His philosophy as a writer continues to be a simple one: to offer opinions, critical valuable comments, complete, independent and very relevant information about good wines and evaluations on good wines.

Parker received the Wine and Vine Communication Award from Moet-Hennessey in 1993 for the French editions of Bordeaux and Burgundy. En 1995 Parker was appointed Third Honorary Citizen of the most important viticulture town in the Rodan Valley, Chateauneuf du Pape, with Frederic Mistral and Marcel Pagnol being the other two recipients of this honor.

Robert M. Parker, Jr. was appointed Knight of the Legion of Honor, directly receiving the honor from President Jacques Chirac, who mentioned that "Robert Parker is the most influential and venerated reviewer of French wines in the world, which is something that I was recently able to verify when I chose some wines for President Clinton, who automatically mentioned Robert Parker as his reference when he purchases wine".

In 2005 Simon & Schuster published Robert Parker's most recent book, The World's Greatest Wine Estates: A Modern Perspective.