I just read a contribution to the Robert Parker wine board.
There is a discussion on why Eric Asimov didn't like some of Mr. Parker's favorite 2007 Châteauneuf-du-Papes and one of the participants writes:
New York is sort of a hotbed for wines in a style that RP doesn't particularly like. Because of Dressner and Rosenthal, there are plenty of wine stores in the city that are chockfull of a leaner, more high-toned style....not just referring to geeked-out places like Chambers Street- almost any wine store in NYC....
I think that as a result of this, you have a lot of NYC-area natives with a taste that's just profoundly different than RPs. Thinking of me, in particular: I grew up in Manhattan and my parents pretty much exclusively drank Rosenthal wines. Since that's what I was tasting since I was 13, that's what I like now....
Eric Asimov is also a NYC-area native and has been with the times since the mid-80's. I would imagine that he too has a palate that may be different from the rest of the US. I couldn't help but notice that his favored CdP was a Rosenthal import which I've enjoyed in the past....
Are Neal and I finally being held accountable for the corruption of the New York wine drinking public?
If only I'd grown up in NYC, I could have had good taste.
Assuming, of course, that Denyse, Joe, and Kevin had started their business maybe 15 years earlier.
Oh, well, I'll have to muddle through somehow.