Rollover Bordeaux and Parker

by Steven Fox

Recently the New York Times declared that Bordeaux was dead… At least as it concerns the younger and newly minted generation of wine consumers. To quote the author Eric Asimov: “Bordeaux, once the world’s most hallowed region and the standard-bearer for all fine wines, is now largely irrelevant.”

The Times mentioned that numerous sommeliers no longer include Bordeaux on their wine lists, partly due to the fact that they themselves have no passion for it: “I don’t know any young sommelier who I’ve encountered in the last 15 years who is a Bordeaux hound,” said Paul Grieco, an owner of the restaurant Hearth as well as two innovative wine bars, Terroir and Terroir Tribeca, all in Manhattan.”

I’ve noticed this trend away from Bordeaux myself. The age group buying Bordeaux in our store is generally north of fifty. I recently mentioned to one of my young Turk distributor salespersons that they don’t carry any Bordeaux in their French selection. His reply: “We’re not into it. – That’s for old guys like you.”

Well, I may be an old guy, but when it comes to Bordeaux and the more in vogue, lesser-known new world wines, I do swing both ways; I’ll have you know.

A side issue in my mind is that the most powerful wine critic in the world, Robert Parker, built his reputation on reviewing Bordeaux. Does this mean that along with the declining fortunes of Bordeaux, so too will his influence wane?

I emphatically declare: yes!

For the under forty generation of wine lovers I have seen the future of wine criticism and its new frontier is none other than James DeThomas and his Face Book friends.

DeThomas, in the process of selling his boutique wine store in Larchmont N.Y. was looking for his next opportunity in the wine profession. He decided to try an innovative approach to reviewing and evaluating wines. If you know James well, you are well aware that he knows dozens of young, stunningly attractive females. His Face Book friends’ photographs look like the website of the Ford Modeling Agency.

DeThomas has enlisted these fabulous friends to review wines. His on-line periodical is called: "Spin the bottle."

Trust me, a Robert Parker score of 96, cannot hold a candle to what the blond, perky Alyssa has to say about a recently reviewed wine: “I’d go home with any man who has a case of this in his cellar.”

The wine in question has not only sold out, but there is a waiting list for the next three vintages.

Donna describes “The Mask” a Cabernet Sauvignon / Zinfandel blend as something she simply “can’t take her lips off. “

Megan, accompanied by a photograph of her in a black strapless dress declares that the small production New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc from Auntsfield is deeply satisfying, and features a most wonderful mouth feel. “The finish is so long, very unusual for a white wine.”

I met with some of the members of DeThomas’s tasting panel and asked them what their thoughts were on the subject of Bordeaux.

Alyssa spoke for the group by answering: “Yew… that’s like a wine for grand dads and old perves!”

Bordeaux is dead. Long live Blaufränkisch!