|
||
Robert Parker: «But I believe that even with all these new producers, the saturation point will not be reached, since ever greater numbers of the world’s population will demand wine as their alcoholic drink of choice.»
In 2004 Robert Parker came up with 12 predictions regarding wine world of the nearest future (until 2015). The leaders, the losers, what would happen to France, Spain and the New World. Wine trade, prices, consumer trends, packaging, wine on the Internet — it was all there, in his 12 commandments.
Well, half of the time has passed. And any news and trends-wise wine drinker can confirm that in many of his points the wine guru was right. In some sense he predicted ‘the rise’ of Gary Vee whose interview (below) Parker’s predictions are funny to compare with:
Ok, we’ve got a new kid in our constantly growing collection of premium iPad wallpaper. This time it’s a sort of a cabin with maps and spice scattered on the table. As you might know, coffee played an important role in wine history. For it became a major wine competitor (along with cocoa and tea introduced to Europe all around the same time in 17th century). To sustain the competition wine makers had to learn to produce better wines. The ones we drink now surfing the web with iPad…
To reach Paul Rainey was only slightly easier than to come into contact with aliens. The geography of his travels in connection with lectures on evolutionary genetics covers America and Europe, plus he spends much time in his island hut (5 hours by boat from Oakland, New Zealand) far from electricity, roads and e-mail. «It’s a wild place, — he says, — you can think there». Why did we address Paul with the request for interview? It was interesting to learn first-hand what it was like to operate an educational institution cellar (Mr Rainey used to run St Cross College wine cellar). Secondly, it is curious to find out, whether he transferred «the Oxford traditions» to his own international laboratory. How do wine and science go together?
read more