Wine Critics Unite!

As reported by decanter.com and undoubtedly other news outlets, wine-journal.com's Neal Martin has gone up a level (we hear he's now a level 12 wine critic with a +3 palate or something) and is moving his operations to erobertparker.com. You go Neal. Congratulations! We will miss the wine-journal, but on to greener fields as they say.

It looks like the independent critics are being consumed by the wine machine. With Parker's updated website due to dazzle the masses, it looks like Bob has been slowly acquiring independent wine talent fashioned in his own mold. This is clearly a smart play by Bob and the powers that be. He has always said (as we recall) that the internet is where wine journalism and criticism is heading and we whole-heartedly agree. Web 2.0 has changed the landscape of how we get our wine information and how we use it.

The good news for yours truly is that with Antonio Galloni and Neal Martin out of the way, it paints a clearer picture of our place in the wine critic's pantheon. While the new additions may have achieved demi-god status sitting next to Zeus himself, we are relishing this consolidation of wine power as a paved path to defining ourselves as the wine Burger King to Bob's Mickey D's. Well perhaps it's more like White Castle -- for now.

In any case, we are waiting for Alder Yarrow over at Vinography to be given a sweet deal by the Spectator so that the last barriers to entry can be removed and we can take our rightful places on the dias.

Does anyone want fries with that?