By Erik Schatzher originally posted January 15, 2018
Willingly, or unwillingly, we are inundated with politics, local and national news, beauty tips, insurance ads and now more wine reviews will flood the scene. Mr. Antonio Galloni takes guidance from Robert Parker to create a self-acclaiming approach to review wines in a completely different way. New opinions and palates are always welcomed and we look forward to what Galloni can add to the wine world – Mana Wine
Wine is one of those rare industries in which one person’s opinion can make fortunes or break them. Credit Robert Parker. For three decades he dominated as the world’s most influential wine critic. He popularized the 100-point rating scale, and the scores in his monthly newsletter, the Wine Advocate, drove demand and prices. Prior to selling the company in 2012, Parker had planned to hand the business to his protégé, Antonio Galloni, but they couldn’t reach a deal. Galloni has since built his own brand, Vinous, bought the crowdsourced ratings app Delectable, and lured away the Wine Advocate’s top critic, Neal Martin.
What sets Galloni apart from competing publications such as Wine Spectator and Decanter, or individual critics such as Jancis Robinson and James Suckling, is ambition. Not only is Vinous more prolific, thanks in part to a 2014 merger with Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar, Galloni has added interactive vineyard maps and explanatory videos, all part of the former banker’s plan to make his the definitive platform for connoisseurs and novices alike. And like Parker before him, a high rating on his own 100-point scale can turn inexpensive bottles into blockbusters. He spoke with Bloomberg Television Editor-at-Large Erik Schatzker.
BLOOMBERG PURSUITS: Do you think of yourself as the next Parker?
Not at all. Steve Jobs said, “You can’t live your life trying to be somebody else.” He’s one of my biggest influences, and I’ve never wanted to be a replica of somebody else, because a replica’s never as good as the original. Bob is a genius, fantastic, one of a kind. We’re going to be something completely different.
Different in what way?
Every decision that I’ve made at this company is completely antithetical to what Bob did with his company. All of my senior people are locked into the company. They all have equity, or they have a path to equity based on business results. That’s something that we never had with Parker. I’ve got three young people in my office who are all in their early twenties who are going to be superstars—and it’s my job to make them superstars, and that is a very different environment from the environment that I came from.
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