Wine critic Robert Parker recently announced his decision to stop scoring Bordeaux futures and focus on just-bottled vintages, reports Bloomberg. Known for his 100-point wine scoring system which has been influential in determining Bordeaux prices over the past three decades, Parker’s move will likely reduce new vintage prices as they come onto the market.
Gary Boom, the managing director of London-based Bordeaux Index, said about Parker, “There’s nobody that moves a market as significantly as he does.” He continued, “There’s no doubt that scores going forward are going to be lower than Parker would have scored them. Lower scores are going to lead to lower prices.”
Reviewer Neal Martin, who has worked with Parker since 2006, will take Parker’s place scoring the 2014 Bordeaux vintage while Parker looks to the newly bottled 2012 vintage. Because Parker will rerate the 2014 wines retroactively, Boom believes there’s a chance that vintages Martin rates inititally will jump in price after two years. [Bloomberg] [Photo: Flickr.com/quacktaculous]