When was the last time that you either

a) travelled with Miller or Parker
b) dined with Miller or Parker

I highly suggest you google ethics and Robert Parker. There is a great article written in the Wall Street Journal, particularly involving Jay Miller. It seemed to have added up to them. Probably to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars, to date.

I became acquainted with Dr. Jay around 1976/77 when I was a waiter in Baltimore at The Prime Rib. Later their wine buyer, opened my own restaurants and then pursued wholesale fine wine distribution with regional importers.

Parker was, after all, a local attorney in civil law and wrote a wine column for the Washington Post. I waited on his party at the Rib the night he left law practice to begin publishing the Baltimore-Washington Wine Advocate. I believe Jay began tasting with Parker as his assistant around that time.

Fast-forward through two restaurants I owned that Parker and Miller patronized; bringing many winemakers and importers to a place with a private room to take as much time as needed, often 9AM-5PM, to taste wines and have food provided.

They are, then, wonderful business acquaintances/friends but always maintain a professional distance when it comes to their critical process of assessing hundreds of wines-and maintaining a meticulous veil of secrecy so no one has the jump on insider information before publishing dates of the WA.

In all the time I’ve served them, managed and owned the restaurants, dined with them in a wine dinner club we shared-the rule is: Parker gets the check, never let the suppliers or guests pay a penny. There’s never even been a “we’ll spit the check but I brought the wine”…it’s an extremely sensitive issue with either of them.

I’ve traveled with Miller several trips, in fact, (and our wives on occasion) through Tuscany, Champagne, Bordeaux Premieres-same rule. He either pays or it’s dutch: supplier, winemaker, winery owner, distributor, retailer, restaurateur.

I’m not trying to incur favor with them here either-I’m on sabbatical from the wine industry and no longer reside near. But I do miss the comraderie and integrity of these true gentlemen-and I’m sure this story is consistent with thousands of wine profesionals they’ve encountered.

The allegations, in the light of all these years, just don’t add up.

Can you disclose your relationship with Jay Miller and the Wine Advocate? That will help us all get a clearer picture of where you are coming from?

José María has posted a lucid explanation about the situation in question-with Dr. Jay held an innocent party. How many stripes you gonna give an innocent man?

As a wine distributor, I can easily see how an agenda manager could hold his suppliers hostage for attendance fees and implicate Miller in the process. They’re called trade shows, fairs, tasting events: the sponsor is providing, sometimes at great expense, all the site accommodations for hundreds of suppliers and thousands of guests.

Why is there a gate? Because SOMEBODY’s buying. So from whom do you ask cooperative costs for the event? If you were attending any other kind of convention, your customer would be lured to attend with a HOOK-a politician, rock band, tech guru, scholarly or industry experts, right? Here’s Miller on a travel schedule to taste 2000 wines at 150 wineries on a 2 to 3-week scheduled itineray in a foreign country. He’s not demanding the wineries give him ANY fee, just the chance to assess and compare their wines; products for his publication.

Now here’s one of your posters implying Miller had issues in his psychology practice (on the premise he’s such a crook). You people are a lynch mob.

You WILL NOT find any wine-critical periodical with greater integrity than the Wine Advocate, nor a kinder, more honest and intelligent person than Dr. Jay Miller. Jay’s MO is DISCOVERY. HIS eyes light up when encountering unexpected, expertly artisan, honestly-made wine jewels. He’s a wine evangelist. This publication has been preaching and advocating flavor excellency for 30-some-years. Still Jay tastes a great new bottle it’s like a teenager’s first romantic kiss.

Parker sets the standard as an advocate for the wine consumer since something like 1978, his periodical a simple tool based on his (own) qualitative assessment of hedonistic enjoyment of the beverage. The reviews are based on over 40 years of tasting; with the winemakers, in the cellars, vertical and horizontal comparisons going back well into the 1800′s. Parker didn’t INVENT the 100-point-system, your school-teacher did. Maybe she should have taught you some manners as well.

And you ingenues who have your dignity, oh, so insulted because only the SCORE was published in Jay’s notes? Sit down, day-after-day to 100-200 wines (at least), no labels, no pedigree and taste them blind. How many accomplished bottles you think are there and how many stinkers, flawed, dirty, poorly-made, unripe, over-ripe, SO2, stripped? Sure there are notes-but SCORES are invariably KINDER.

Go find somebody else’s head for your platter.

To other web owners: In case this commenter appears on your site, he/she posted from the IP address

83.32.161.8 , 8.Red-83-32-161.dynamicIP.rima-tde.net

The facts are as reported in the article by Tim Atkin MW. I have never been arrested by the police in the UK or any other country. Nor incidentally have I ever been to Los Angeles except on the occasion in 2007 of a flight to and from New Zealand. Spending a few hours in a transit lounge while the plane refueled.

I launched investdrinks.org in 2000 and in 2001 a smear site was set up as described by Tim Atkin. All the allegations are entirely false. Once I discovered the site I went to the police in South London and took measures successfully to close the two versions of the sites down.

I suspect that Peter Park/James Bond may well be connected someone whose company is listed on my investdrinks blog as one of the companies I would not buy wine from. If I’m correct this individual once accused me of stalking his girl friend. Pure fantasy as a) I had no idea whether he had a girl friend or not, b) if so, no idea of her name, c) no idea where she lived. Furthermore I have never harassed or stalked anyone.

For a number of years I worked an English teacher in South London where I ran a department. I ceased to work regularly in the classroom in 1983 when I was seconded to a joint assessment project that involved The University of London Schools Examinations Board, and the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) and Kent and Essex education authorities.

This project continued until 1988 when Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher abolished the ILEA. Although I had enjoyed my time teaching, this gave me the opportunity to make a career change and I started to write about wine.

I posted a question on his blog the other day of whether this was not perhaps a smear campaign against Mr. Campo, similar to the one he was victim of back in 2000 http://www.harpers.co.uk/news/news-headlines/437-jim-budd-victim-of-smear-campaign.html, but of course, he withdrew the post immediately.

Another issue that I find strange is why Mr. Budd, an English teacher in London give up teaching in his forties, to write about wine? Although a teacher’s pay may not be massive, at least you get a pension once you retire after a number of years. Was his leaving his career related to the accusations made against him back in 2000? Does he have a degree in journalism? Is he an actual investigator? I am curious…

Classy.

Where they’ll be easy to scrub, unlike printed copies?