Michel Bettane, one of France's most influential wine writers, says critics are not gurus - and Jonathan Nossiter's criticisms are 'infantile'.
In an interview with Swiss newspaper Le Temps, Bettane said that the role of the wine critic is to act as interface between the producer and the public, to be constructive and to guide the consumer.
'While he has a role as a judge, his judgement must not be brutal,' said Bettane. 'He also has the role of an educator. But we must not tell people what they should like. We are not gurus.'
Bettane takes particular issue with the position taken by Mondovino director Nossiter in his new book Le Goût et le Pouvoir, when he attacks 'all the critics and arbiters of taste who, in imposing their opinions, spoil the pleasure and culture of wine'.
Bettane defended the role and importance of the wine critic.
'Would you eliminate the criticism of film, theatre, art and literature? This is infantile,' he said. 'I know Jonathan Nossiter personally. He's a nice man, his film did a lot of good for the cause of wine. He succeeded in attracting thousands of people to wine. But he mustn't consider himself the great wine thinker of the 21st century.'
Bettane worked for 20 years for French consumer wine publication La Revue du Vin de France, and with colleague Thierry Desseauve, launched the magazine's wine guides. Both critics went solo last year and have since launched their own website, magazine and guide book.
In the Le Temps interview, Bettane begrudgingly defends the applying a point system to the qualitative classification of wines.
'I have always hated this, but it's difficult to avoid,' he said. 'Let's just say the points are a kind of Richter Scale of pleasure.'
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here we go again!!! we all remember the article Parker "backlash" in December..
Consumers are realizing or getting the impression that some of these "gurus" are emotional or passionate about some wines, or producers and not towards others. We occasionally have inside news that some of these critics spend holidays with producers and in some cases also are part of the "family"...
Of course it is good to have criticism, but when the critic becomes or gives the impression of being a money maker and not a simple educational and constructive advisor, the consumer is scared away from the critic or the wines he recommends.
Victor Bonello
Oh, but we knew that already, Monsieur Bettane...
MC, New York, USA
The role of the wine critic?
There was a time when I questioned what I was doing as a winemaker . The emotional and testing life of a winemaker is not always rewarding and comfortable , it can be euphoric or just as easily it can be heart breaking . After many years I analyzed my part in this challenging career and came to the conclusion that wine is a sport . It is a sport because there is no turning back . The vintage represents the first moment of each game ( even if they overlap ). Eventually the bottled product is the spectators chance to enjoy , dislike or score the level of ones game . This may happen 50000 times per bottling . If wine were an art one would be able to tear up ones canvas and start again , or if music was the analogy there would be no change in the product once the recording was made . As in sport there are going to be critics and they are welcome –they are part of the sport . As with most sport one eventually only competes with one's self , if you are going to spend your life worrying about the opposition or the critics then you will never get to the top of the game . The role of the wine critic in the wine world will present no fear if you play your game well . The reality is to realize that by presenting wine in the bottle to an eager and expectant wine public there is going to be comment made . One just asks that such comment is sensitive and cognizant of all the passion that has gone into the preparation of this wonderful product . A product like no other ! There should be no politics in wine , simply “may the best bottle win” !
Peter Finlayson, General Manager/Winemaker, Bouchard Finlayson
Thank God for wine critics, otherwise all we would have to talk about in America is Brittany Spears!
I go to a wine retailer and after explaining the type of wines I enjoy, he recommends a dozen wines. I find only two of them acceptable. I don't ask again!
If Robert Parker, Michael Bettane or any journalist recommends a dozen wines and I like 10 of them, I look forward to their advice. I believe there is a mass palate. The wine drinker had to develop that palate, but his basic likes and dislikes were always present. The journalist didn't create that complicated response to our beloved hydro-alcoholic solution of grapes pulp and skins, no, it was there to begin with. A wine writer's pen doesn't make him popular; it is his ability to identify with the majority of the palates of his readers. That isn't a lot different than what a wine shop owner does when he identifies the individual palates of his customers and eight out of ten times recommends wines they really enjoy.
What's the mystery?
Cameron M. Close, Fredonia, Ohio, USA
Sorry my Broken English, but I think criticism in wine should be understood as in literature: you do not read James Joyce's Ulysses just because it is a critics champion nor Proust's A la Recherche du Temps Perdu. You read because you are looking for pleasure and relax and do not care about Harold Bloom's notes.... But, of course if you buy wine as an investor or an art investor, listen to the critics!
Silvia Cintra Franco, São Paulo, Brazil
George Bernard Shaw once said, speaking of the court jester, that every ruler needs to keep one person who can speak the truth around him, to keep him sane, and equated that person to the critic. The critic is not a guru. The critic, if reliable, is a guide and a counterbalance. As always, one needs the courage of one's convictions and the ability to laugh off a duff bottle now and then.
Lewis C Taishoff, New York City, USA
A round table discussion would be far more realistic a way to judge a producer and his wine. Each one would bring something to the table that the other may not have been aware of. Besides wouldn't it be more democratic if we the producers could rate the critics as well by their hits and misses.
The good news is that yes there are still the producers that chose to create a wine true to its own nature and soil. If those critics would do their homework they would do the consumer a huge service in discovering those small producers that really do work not for huge profits but for love of the process. Check out the tiny number of bio producers and their remarkable wines for us, why don't you!
LT, Montalcino, Italy
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here we go again!!! we all remember the article Parker "backlash" in December..
