In his book The world of wine today (Editions Terre en Vues), the author Jacky Rigaux mentions that the French oenologist Michel Rolland and the American critic Robert Parker “are two emblematic contemporary figures of wine who arrived in a historical context where viticulture was involved in the chemical practices in the vineyard and oenological practices in the cellars”. Moreover, it was at the very beginning of the 1980s that the two friends who knew each other well underlined in their own way “a very special moment in history, namely the entry of wine production into globalization”.
Rolland, because of his talent for imprinting on wines a style of his own and which he would spread as flying winemaker to the four corners of the wine planet, and Parker, by dedicating a 1982 vintage to Bordeaux which will later ensure him a worldwide reputation as a critic who has since literally transformed the face of wine by dubbing it at the altar of a score out of 100 points. Did this particular window in history foreshadow the one that social networks would, more than a decade later, consecrate in turn with the birth of influencers of all kinds?
If they do not, strictly speaking, wear the suit of influencers as we know them today, the two men already imprinted a signature, an imprint, a trademark, even a know-how, which, within an all-out globalization, had control of a “message” whose effects had a direct impact on communication (Parker) and the production (Rolland) of wine production at the time, but also, in a register less than that of today.
I will be the first to say that if there was a before and after Parker in Bordeaux, the fact remains that I am not unhappy that we have moved on. With the collateral damage of use. Indeed, this imperialism of taste that the latter displayed at the time (he is a citizen of the United States, after all) was not so much displayed in the cardinal evaluation of the wines tasted, but also seemed to ethically cross this thin border between his profession of critic and his very personal vision to which the wines of Bordeaux should correspond. In other words — and I’m not the only one to think so — we had the impression that he “influenced” the winegrowers just as much on the technical details of the wine (extensive phenolic maturation, must concentration, consistent aging , etc.) that he noted them advantageously in stride. Did this “influence”, however subtle, have an effect on commercial reality? Follow my gaze.
Having interviewed them and rubbed shoulders with them during numerous press briefings and social events, I was in turn amazed at their confidence to convince as well as their great professionalism. Although I recognize the exceptional tasting skills of a Robert Parker and the fine understanding of maturities in the fields and blends in the cellars of a Michel Rolland, I was still amazed at the enormous influence that these two men distilled in a world of wine which was then entering its golden age. They were certainly not alone of course, but they both held the upper hand, true oracles of a growing and changing environment.
Others have obviously taken over since, in terms of criticism as well as in terms of cellar “styling”. A battery of innovative stars in the vineyard are already influencing a new generation of consumers with their uninhibited, often singular and highly personalized approach, while the border seems to be thinning between journalists and influencers due to a democratization of opinion that has become almost exponential today. Which isn’t so bad. When it comes to wine, everyone has their own truth. Even if she can also be influenced without her knowledge!