Robert Parker toasts Bibou
The wine expert hits the South Philly BYO -- hard.
Robert Parker toasts Bibou
Michael Klein, Philly.com
Filed Under: TableTalk
Robert Parker with Bibou owners Charlotte and Pierre Calmels.
Wine expert Robert Parker showed up at Bibou, the well-regarded French BYOB in South Philly, last night.
Your question is: What did he bring?
What didn't he bring? Maybe a Yellowtail.
Parker posted this:
- Marcassin Estate chardonnay 2000
- Leuwin Estate 2004 chardonnay
- Guigal 1990 white Hermitage
- Dagueneau 2006 Silex
- Beaux Freres 1994
- Haut Brion 1982
- Vina Tondonia 1976
- Catena Alta 1997 Malbec
- Rostaing 1991 Cote Rotie La Landonne
- Guigal 1991 La Landonne
- Guigal 1985 and 1988 La Mouline
- Guigal 1989 La Landonne
- and a few others
"I loved everything about this place...the quality of the food alone merits a must visit," he wrote. "Add the BYO and no corkage....and better yet...no precious sommelier trying to sell us some teeth enamel removing wine with acid levels close to toxic, made by some sheep farmer on the north side of his 4,000-foot foot elevation vineyard picked two months before ripeness, and made from a grape better fed to wild boar than the human species....we all know the type-saving the world from drinking good wine in the name of vinofreakism... Will be going back.....frequently....apparently reservations are nearly impossible on weekends....so weekdays might be a plan...they are not open for lunch."
He praised the "limited but intensely flavorful menu... the food was as great a bistro fare as one can imagine...the snail ragout, boudin noir, terrine en crout, out-of-this-world beef marrow bones as well as superb stuffed pig's feet with foie gras over a bed of black lentils had me in Rabelaisien Nirvana."
Comments (15)
Comment removed.
I guess you are not a wine drinker.— lia- Wow, what a rant.— twg
- His comments read like he drank all those bottles by himself. That, or he's just a complete jerk. Or a mouth-breather. Maybe all three.— bibendum
- Many used to think that he was the world's greatest wine critic. The "vinofreaks" that he refers to include proponents of wines that are moderate in body, tasty, well-balanced in terms of tannin, acidity, fruit and, if used, oak. Mr. Parker is the true "vinofreak", actually. He prefers that overripe, overextracted grapes be used in his wines, and turned into fruit bombs with toomuch alcohol, too little acid and, too often, too much new oak to achieve anything resembling a balanced, ageworthy wine. An ever-growing number of fine wine drinkers and collectors think that tasting tens of thousands of wines for 30 years has burnt out his palate, so that his preferred style is really all that he can taste accurately these days. Maybe so, maybe not, but the man is on the attack in an effort to beat down his critics. Despite the tirade above, he is failing at that. All of the good arguments belong to those who are more open-minded and rational...— De-mythologizer
- 99 points.— dwhiterow
- I like how he goes to a nice restaurant in an Under Armour long-sleeved t-shirt. So he's a slob to boot.— bibendum
- Sorry to De-mythologize you Mr. Mythology, but the wines that you allege Mr. Parker prefers don't describe ANY of those wines that he brought from his own cellar. So unless he is clearing out great wines to find space for those over-oaked, over-extracted freak wines you speak of, you are clearly mistaken.— moueix
- Perhaps another guest brought the wines, moueix. I am guessing that the Marcassin Chard did not want for fruit nor oak, and I am equally sure that the wine was not ruined by bracing, defining acidity, either. The Guigal La-Las, while fine wines to be sure, also feature big fruit and plenty of oak. The 1976 Tondonia surely was not his. He has refused to review Lopez de Heredia wines for decades, and trashed them when he did. Too traditional and vinofreaky for Mr. Parker. But you make a fair point. He often tastes, and sometimes even likes, wines that are not his preferred style. Even a blind pig finds a pig's foot stuffed with foie gras now and then (or is that an ACORN that the blind pig finds now and then?) Alas, those facts do not the reality of his preferred style. That is where most of his points come home to roost...— De-mythologizer
- De-mythologizer nailed it.
High sugar, low acid wines are what have made Parker alot of money. These wine appeal to the masses and new wine drinker. This is the best business model for a large subscription base and a large percent of Napa Valley wineries. I like those wines on occasion but it is hard to eat grilled wild boar all of the time. Once the wine consumer gets beyond sweet and simple they will find a whole world of wines that are interesting and properly pair with most food.— Bruce Johnson - The food rocks at this small eatery Chef & Wife are lovely folks!!!— einreb
- Apparently while he was at dinner he had his driver pick up cheesesteaks at Pat's and Geno's so that he could do a comparison on the drive back home. So, a) he has lousy taste in cheesesteaks and b) he's just plain gross.— bibendum
- Let's note that Parker posted on his own site in a food and wine forum. His comments are decidedly broad--he singles out no one. He is a critic, the backlash against his being "critical" is astonishing. It appears that a lot of folks are reading quite a bit into his critical comments.
Can we give the "prefers fruit bombs" thing a rest? This is a myth easily shattered by the thousands of positive reviews of wines that do not fit this profile. He loves Haut Brion and Daggeneau--fruit bombs? His "call them as he sees them" honesty is attacked with a "blind pig" analogy. I see a lot of "blind" hatred-in passing faulty conventional wisdom around. Obviously, much of this hatred is a result of those "blind" to reality.
— John Lahart - I see your Haut Brion and Dagueneau and raise you a Mollydooker, a Turley, a Noon and a Greenock Creek with his flogging of Edmunds St. John for a kicker. Has he ever actually reviewed Dagueneau, by the way? Meaning Parker and not one of his minions.— bibendum
- We can play this game all day. The fact that we can play it proves my point. The problem seems to be that some people are up in arms that Parker (anyone really) can appreciate a particular style of wine. So who has the narrow palate problem?
Wine is made in a wide range of styles and too often we confuse style for quality. Haut Brion and Molly Dooker represent two strikingly opposing styles. If we stop focusing on scores and read the tasting notes, much of this debate goes away.— John Lahart
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Michael Klein, the editor/producer of philly.com/Food, writes about the local restaurant scene in his Inquirer column "Table Talk." Have a question? Email it! See his Inquirer work here.
Reach Michael at mklein@philly.com.
Michael Klein
Philly.com
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