Parker ‘only wine critic’ to get Spanish gong

American wine writer Robert Parker has become the only wine critic to be awarded Spain’s Gran Cruz al Merito Civil.

In a ceremony last Wednesday in Madrid, government minister Rosa Aguilar gave the award to the influential wine writer.

The honour has not been bestowed on a wine critic before, according to Raphael Del Rey, director of the Observatorio Español del Mercado del Vino (OEMV).

Parker said on his bulletin board that he found the experience ‘surreal’.

‘I write about a beverage of pleasure, not about curing cancer, and to say it is humbling is to understate my sentiments and good fortune,’

Written by Panos Kakaviatos