Yesterday afternoon Robert Parker tickled the imaginations of posters on eRobertParker.com’s Mark Squires’ Bulletin Board. He promised an announcement forthcoming “that will shake the fine wine world.” Less than one day later, the sale of Chateau Montelena to Cos d’Estournel owner Michel Reybier was announced. Although this is significant news, Mr. Parker may have overstated its impact, as suggested by others, including Alder Yarrow, author of the blog Vinography. Following the sales of Duckhorn, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, and Budweiser to European companies, Montelena is simply the latest surrender of the dollar to the almighty euro and it will not likely be the last.
However, I must admit that more interesting than the news itself is the speculation put forth by posters on Squires’ Board. Given time to speculate what this earthshaking news would be, their guesses ranged from thoughtful and astute to lewd and slanderous; entertaining is the best word to describe the banter of these contributors. Among my favorites are “Screaming Eagle’s new boxed wine ‘Bird In A Box,’” “Elvis is ALIVE and making wine in Healdsburg,” and, of course, the heated debate over attractive international news reporters. (My vote is for Melissa, by the way.)
After a solid 19 pages of contributions and more than a few horse laughs, perhaps the shrewdest comment was “It’s bound to be anticlimactic now.” And so it was. Even though posts moved on to important matters of quality and pricing, a staggering 55.02% of users still voted they “Don’t Care.”
