Robert Parker has done more damage to wine than phylloxera. In this dry tome he continues his crusade to destroy terroir-driven wines. Parker's formula for these books is as tired and old as his palate. There are many fine wine writers, unfortunately Parker isn't one of them. Check out the fine work of Jancis Robinson, Hugh Johnson, Alice Feiring and many others.

I've got two objections to what you may or may not find to be a terrific book. One. It seems that everyone is ready to cede his personal wine tastes to Robert Parker. If you have the same taste as Parker, this book is great. What would be not to love? Parker highlights some great bargains, offers some "must-drink" wines (often not great bargains), and gives a very nice general history of each area. If your taste happens to be different than Parker's, however, get ready for some surprises. Example: The 2000 Lagrange that is supposed to be within its plateau of maturity starting in 2008 appears to me to be far too closed and tannic. Ten years from now, I'm sure it will be a beautiful wine. But I think that this really highlights something about Parker's tastes; he prefers "big" wines, heavy in fruit. Again, if this is your personal taste, you'll get along nicely with Parker and this is a great book to buy. If not, you might run into some trouble. Certainly tasters like the late Emile Peynaud and Michael Broadbent do not express the same proclivities as Parker. I find it ignorant to suggest that any of these men has "better" taste than the others, but due to established biology, it is safe to say that they have "different" tastes. If Parker's taste matches yours, you're good to go. If you're in the Broadbent/Peynaud camp, you might want to reconsider.

My second objection is a shorter one, and it is a criticism of the 100 point system used by Parker. Wines taste very different under different conditions. Parker tastes all of his wines in a very carefully controlled setting. You may not, and your experience of the wine will surely be different than Parker's. And what's the difference between an 89 and a 90? An 89 and a 91? The scale starts at 50 and goes to 100, making point by point distinctions along the way that seem, to be honest, frivolous.

So why do I still think this book is worth buying? It's comprehensive and fairly cheap for what it is. If you know how your taste compares to Parker's, in buying this book you'll have a comprehensive reference point for a lot of wines. Just don't feel compelled to agree with "the Emperor of Wine" at every turn. It's easy to be influenced by the numbers Parker attaches to each wine, but the differences may not be all that substantive and, barring faults or poor wine-making, they may not be objectively negative either.

Anyone that enjoys good bordeaux need this book.

Excellent reference book.

A must have for bidders, wine collectors and wine buyers.

Extensive information of the best and not so good vintages and chateau's wines.

Love french wine from bordeaux you will love the book.

User friendly

Easy to read and search.

Excellent historical record of chateau's evolution.

Anyone that enjoys good bordeaux need this book.
Excellent reference book.
A must have for bidders, wine collectors and wine buyers.
Extensive information of the best and not so good vintages and chateau's wines.
Love french wine from bordeaux you will love the book.
User friendly
Easy to read and search.
Excellent historical record of chateau's evolution.

Anyone that enjoys good bordeaux need this book.
Excellent reference book.
A must have for bidders, wine collectors and wine buyers.
Extensive information of the best and not so good vintages and chateau's wines.
Love french wine from bordeaux you will love the book.
User friendly
Easy to read and search.
Excellent historical record of chateau's evolution.

Recently I toured wineries in Bordeaux. Robert Parker's book is the indispensable guide to wineries in that region. He discusses each estate in detail and is quite frank in his reviews. He also recommended some hotels and restaurants, which proved to be excellent recommendations.

What a book!! Everything you wanted to know about Bordeaux and more. A comprehnesive and stunning, detailed account of the major chateaux in Bordeaux (there are hundreds of them!!)

Detailed tasting notes, going back many vintages. it is an excellent reference guide on the wines in this area.

You just have to think "the lucky so and so"; getting to taste the great wines and the great vintages of this region. To be honest you have to marvel about how he manages to do it.

This is an excellent guide; this edition has included pictures of the labels with each Chateau that is reviewed. One might hope that a future edition would have them in colour rather than B&W. A minor carp!!

An extraordinary insight into the vineyards of Bordeau
this book also is extremely useful while I continue to
purchase and consume my favorite "les vins de Medoc.
The book is both an exceptional reference tool and
an historic review of France's finest Chateaux.
"Le livre est tres magnifique!" Monsieur Parker,
"je vous remarcie"! En anglais, "I thank you"!

An extraordinary insight into the vineyards of Bordeau
this book also is extremely useful while I continue to
purchase and consume my favorite "les vins de Medoc.
The book is both an exceptional reference tool and
an historic review of France's finest Chateaux.
"Le livre est tres magnifique!" Monsieur Parker,
"je vous remarcie"! En anglais, "I thank you"!

Parker's insight is penetrating, but he manages to maintain an epic perspective. Parker's passion for wine vertibly sparkles from every page. His views can be idiosyncratic and he is not afraid to critisized grand crus which no longer merit the title. But only a scholar with Parker's passion could amass this comprehensive resource. This book is full of history, reviews, vintage analysis and ratings of all the chateaux, whether grand cru classe or cru bourgeois. If you are casually interested in wine or not ready to start spending big money, then this will be too much information. Let's face it: Good Bordeaux is expensive, and the shear volume of Parker's resources will overwhelm the uncommitted. But if you are willing to invest the time and money, you could not start at a better place than Robert Parker's Bordeaux.

Parker's insight is penetrating, but he manages to maintain an epic perspective. Parker's passion for wine vertibly sparkles from every page. His views can be idiosyncratic and he is not afraid to critisized grand crus which no longer merit the title. But only a scholar with Parker's passion could amass this comprehensive resource. This book is full of history, reviews, vintage analysis and ratings of all the chateaux, whether grand cru classe or cru bourgeois. If you are casually interested in wine or not ready to start spending big money, then this will be too much information. Let's face it: Good Bordeaux is expensive, and the shear volume of Parker's resources will overwhelm the uncommitted. But if you are willing to invest the time and money, you could not start at a better place than Robert Parker's Bordeaux.

I found Parkers' mention of vine age and references to the use of steel vats or oak in the making of wine by the chateau of bordeaux helpful in selecting better bottles of bordeaux for my collection. A reference every bordeaux lover should have.

My friend recommended this book highly [...]

I consider the latest iteration of Parker's Bordeaux book to be the best on the subject. While I do not agree with Parker or just about anyone else regarding the rating of Italian wines, Parker is right on target in his ratings for Bordeaux.

I find it interesting that Parker is a fan of the rich and opulent micro wines coming out of Pomerol and St. Emilion. There are strict Bordeaux traditionalists that don't care for these wines. I think they are great and usually agree with Parker. They simply add another dimension to the many styles of wine being made in the greatest wine producing area of the world.

Parker is extremely consistent and the only other taster that comes close is Stephen Tanzer. The Wine Spectator and James Suckling are pretty good, although I think they overrate too many wines in subpar vintages. Ironically, Spectator is not as big a fan of the decadent wines Parker likes from the right bank.

One caveat I have with the fourth addition is that useful tasting notes from some prior vintages for certain wines have been taken out and a handful of wines reviewed in the last version of the book are not even reviewed in this book. However, the book is still great if you're into Bordeaux.

Clive Coates's recent book on Bordeaux offers a good and interesting alternative, but it is not as complete nor does it have the depth of notes available from Parker.

I just received this book for Christmas and it is already dog-eared. When many people think of Bordeaux they think of stratospherically priced wines. Actually for every $400 bottle of Chateau Latour 2000, there is a wonderful $25 bottle by an unsung producer. $25 may not be cheap, but if drinks like a $50 one I'm pretty happy. This book helps me find those lesser-known producers.

While Robert Parker certainly heaps praise on the most famous wines when they are worthy, he does not hesitate to criticize them when they fall short. He constantly points the readers to great values.

The book is organized by region and then by chateau. For many of the chateaux there is a copious amount of information: some history of the producer, a list of the wine's component grapes, and detailed descriptions of significant vintages for the last ten years.. Be sure to read the introductory sections for Parker's take on how richness of flavor is attained (strict pruning of vines, letting the fruit ripen, abstaining from filtering) and for much encouraging news about Bordeaux wine today. For one thing, he says that while the price gap between First Growths and unclassifieds can be great, never has the quality gap been so narrow. Great news for us bargain hunters !

RP's new edition of Bordeaux gave me one impression. You have no choice but to buy it if you are really interested in Bordeaux wine. I have his Wine Buyer's Guide (6th Ed) and yet find this one irresistable when I first located it in a book shop.