A relative of the Parkerbeeste

Like many other wine folk I’ve been amused by the going ons over at the eBob.com site this week. While the Parkerbeestes*** feasted on Jonathan Nossiter’s book and politics and questioned his palate and wine knowledge, he’s proved to be a champ in France. His book has outpaced Agostini’s kiss & tell offering on with an Amazon ranking of 37.

For over a decade, the author/auteur, lived around the corner from my apartment. We first met around 1992 or 1993. I was interviewing the owner of a Crosby Street tapas place. Jonathan wrote their wine list.

I admit that I found him a little annoying. I admit that I didn't find him as cute as the fierce eyed owner of the place whom I was trying to interview/flirt with while Jonathan kept on trying to steal the attention. When I realized he had a palate simpatico with mine, I segued into heavy wine speak and some good drinking. It turns out he was the first person I met who used cynical to describe wine, way before we used Bettanized, Parkerized or spoofulated. Nothing like a good word to turn a girl's head.

***PARKERBEESTES are extremely loyal wine enthusiasts who gather in large herds and make grunts, which sound like GNU. Newborns can drink 18% alcohol shirazs within 3 to 5 minutes after they are born.

Both males and females have sharp, curved, smooth horns. Males are slightly larger than females. They all have beards (white or black, depending on the subspecies), long manes, humped shoulders, and long legs. Parkerbeestes have excellent hearing and an impressionable sense of smell.