Bordeaux: Revised Third Edition

The third edition naturally highlights the series of (mostly good) vintages that Bordeaux has seen since the release of the second edition in 1991, but it also includes updated tasting notes on the vintners and vintages Parker has revisited since that time. His opinions command such worldwide attention that, given time, either your palate or your wallet is bound to benefit from keeping up with Parker's advice. --Todd Gehman

Product Description

When Robert M. Parker, Jr.'s Bordeaux was first published in 1985, it was greeted with tremendous enthusiasm by such legendary authorities as Hugh Johnson and Michael Broadbent. Time, Newsweek, Business Week, Esquire, and People magazines soon joined in the praise, and the book became a huge commercial and critical success. In England, it won the prestigious Glenfiddich award.

Since that time, Parker has published eight other books for wine lovers, many of which have received critical awards -- Burgundy, The Wines of the Rhône Valley and Provence, four editions of the Wine Buyer's Guide, The Wines of the Rhône Valley, and an updated edition of Bordeaux in 1991 -- as well as his highly respected newsletter, The Wine Advocate, and bi-monthly columns in Food & Wine magazine. With each book, his audience has expanded to the point where not only American wine consumers but also those in France, England, Japan, Sweden, and Germany have quickly learned to trust his palate. In 1995, Parker became the first American in the wine field to receive La Croix du Chevalier de l'Ordre Nationale du Mérite (The Cross of the Knight of the National Order of Merit), one of France's two highest honors, conferred on him directly by President François Mitterrand. In 1998, he won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional. Clearly, it can be said that Robert Parker is America's foremost wine professional.

With this third edition of the classic that launched him, Parker strives to maintain his unprecedented independence, objectivity, clarity, and enthusiasm in reporting on the vintages of Bordeaux and provides the prodigious comprehensiveness for which he is known. Not only has he added tastings for the vintages in the intervening years between this and the last edition but he has also retasted and reevaluated many earlier vintages. His accessible and direct style welcomes both the seasoned wine collector and the eager beginner to the pleasures of fine wine and France's most illustrious châteaux.

Organized by appellation, Bordeaux moves alphabetically from one producer to the next, providing essential information and an overview of the property and its owners, listing each vintage, and including numerical ratings and detailed tasting notes of most of that chateau's wines for the past thirty-seven years. At the end of each tasting note, Parker estimates the "anticipated maturity" -- the range of time when the wine should peak in flavor and balance -- and each entry concludes with a summary of the chateau's older vintages. Throughout these extensive commentaries and tasting notes, there is never a doubt that this is the most complete consumer's guide to the wines of Bordeaux ever written.

Who is making Bordeaux's best and worst wines? What has a specific château's track record been over the last thirty or forty years? What châteaux are overrated and overpriced? Which are underrated or underpriced? Always with an eye toward the consumer, Parker distinguishes true value from perceived value.

While the bulk of the book is given over to these ratings, the opening and closing chapters of the book provide readers with a true sense of the changes in the region and its vintages. Such critical issues as: Who most influences winemaking styles?, What role does technology play in modern wine production?, and What impact do second labels have on the quality of the first? are tackled here. Parker also lovingly describes the growing conditions in the region year by year, spending considerable time discussing the 1995 vintage, which he terms "the most consistently top-notch vintage since 1990." In addition to this, Parker reassesses the Bordeaux Classifications, the effects of the soil on the grapes, and the different winemaking processes. He then rounds out this incredible volume with a User's Guide to Bordeaux Wines, practical travel and dining information for wine-touring trips, a complete glossary of terminology, and a quick reference index of the entire book.

As the first book to discuss the 1995, 1996, and 1997 vintages in detail -- vintages that are being hailed as the Best of the Century -- the third edition of Bordeaux is the best tool to use in making both purchasing and consuming decisions. From the wine writer The Sunday Times (London) calls "the world's most experienced and trustworthy palate," Bordeaux provides all the information today's consumer needs in order to select the perfect bottle.

Good drinking!


Bordeaux   November 28, 1999
 6 out of 7 found this review helpful

A thoroughly comprehensive work, seemingly the definitive current description of all Bordeaux's. More than just a frank rating by one of the world's wine experts, as Parker shares facts and opinions about the various chateaus and their progress, ups and downs, in producing fine wines. This is certainly an encyclopedic effort, and one truly feels that each and every chateau and its wine have been described in considerable detail. Someone not familiar with Parker might find it interesting that his ratings are often quoted in wine publications and at auctions to give readers somewhat of a guide as to the quality of an individual wine. This is not a book that rates all old wines. Parker tends to rate still drinkable old wines, and does go back, in many cases to the 60's, in a chronological order. He also has notes about "superb" ancient vintages, that goes beyond the chronological listings.


The only real guide to Bordeaux   May 10, 1999
 12 out of 12 found this review helpful

Comprehensive and generally trustworthy information. A critical analysis, from the standpoint of a wine buyer like myself should not dissuade anyone from getting this useful and professional guide. The way Parker evaluates wine is not fool proof- but he is right 95% of the time. That in itself makes him better than almost any peers considering the sheer volume of juice he tastes. For the initated and value seeking with a professional slant, it would be nice if Mr. Parker would spend more time looking at Entre deux Mers for both red and white. Professionalism and compentency has increased there and it is not the land of co-op's and swill that it once was. Also, I would like to see more attention paid to petit chx. But then again, the sheer fact that they are not in his book keeps the price down for some of my best petit estates. There are also some worthy Lalande de Pomerol and Castillion sites he has not caught onto or he omits for lack of consistancy. I'd like him to thicken the book up with a bit of this and less on what we know is great (Clasified Growth top stuff) One thing, Cru Classe wines are bad too sometimes and Parker pulls no punches when they ship out a real looser. He can find you relative bargains, like Chx Tayac in Bourg (had 82 in mag last week- fantastic). So get the book if you want to know anything about Bordeaux. Robert Parker has kind of been black listed in Burgundy- this is too bad. He knows his stuff and some minor discrepancies should be overlooked. Cant wait for a Parker / Rovani Burgundy to be released.