[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 23476]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING ROBERT PARKER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MIKE THOMPSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 8, 2004

  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to one 
of the most prolific and respected wine writers in the history of our 
Nation, if not the entire world. It is only fitting that we recognize 
the distinguished career of Robert M. Parker, Jr. on this, the 25th 
anniversary of the first publication of his semiannual journal, the 
Wine Advocate.
  On October 22 and 23, 2004, the world-renowned Culinary Institute of 
America (C.I.A.) will host a gala weekend of events to honor the long 
career of Mr. Parker. I can think of no better place than the C.I.A. to 
have such an event, given all that Mr. Parker has done to further the 
enjoyment of fine wine and good food.
  Robert Parker was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1947. The first 30 
years of his life were filled with college, law school and a 10-year 
career in corporate America. In August of 1978, the Wine Advocate was 
born with less than 600 subscribers. Today, the Wine Advocate has over 
40,000 subscribers in all 50 states and 37 countries around the world.
  Mr. Speaker, over the course of 25 years of writing his newsletter, 
Mr. Parker has become known as one of the world's foremost experts on 
wine. Mr. Parker pioneered an innovative approach to wine criticism. 
Rather than limiting his ratings to a letter scale or a scale of 1-10, 
Mr. Parker rates wine on a scale of 50-100. This scale has become a 
widely accepted method of reviewing wines.
  However, Mr. Parker's rating scale only accounts for a small portion 
of his wine reviews. Mr. Parker compiles extensive tasting notes 
highlighting each aspect of the wines he reviews. He is known for 
pinpointing the color, tastes and aroma of a wine and eloquently 
translating these attributes into prose.
  In addition to publishing the Wine Advocate, Mr. Parker has written 
11 books on wine. His first book, Bordeaux, was published in 1985 and 
was met with critical acclaim worldwide.
  Mr. Parker has been a powerful advocate of the international wine 
industry. In a 1998 article, Los Angeles Times media critic David Shaw 
called Parker, ``the most powerful critic of any kind, any where.'' Mr. 
Parker's reviews have steadily guided wine consumers for many years.
  Mr. Speaker, at this time I think it is appropriate that we honor and 
congratulate Robert Parker on his 25 years of publishing the Wine 
Advocate and we thank Mr. Parker for his service as a tireless champion 
of the wine industry.

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