Robert Finigan

Robert Finigan (born 1943 in Virginia) is an American wine and restaurant critic based in San Francisco, California. Finigan exerted his greatest influence as a wine critic in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with his monthly newsletter. [cite book |title=The Emperor of Wine: The rise of Robert M. Parker, Jr., and the reign of American taste |last=McCoy |first=Elin |year=2005 |publisher=HarperCollins |location=New York |isbn=0-06-009368-4 |pages=39] cite web |url=http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R612201000 |title=Forum: Archive |accessdate=2008-03-23 |last=Krasny |first=Michael |date=2006-12-20 |work=Food and Wine Critic Robert Finigan (radio interview) |publisher=KQED]

Robert Finigan's interest in wine was sparked while studying at Harvard University. After having completed his studies, he moved to San Francisco in 1967 to take up a position in management consulting. There, he became acquainted with Napa Valley wines, at a time when California wine had not reached national popularity, but was primarily consumed on the west coast. Several business trips to Europe also offered him opportunities to became acquainted with French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish wine regions. His first opportunity to try his hand on wine criticism came in 1970, when San Francisco wine merchant company Esquin's asked him to evaluate the 1969 Bordeaux vintage, since Esquin's was uncertain whether to buy the wines "en primeur". After tasting the unbottled wines from cask, Finigan was unimpressed and advised against buying, and it turned out that this evaluation was later reflected in other critics' evaluations of the vintage. [cite book |title=The Emperor of Wine |last=McCoy |year=2005 |pages=40-41]

Finigan's newsletter

In September 1972, Finigan published the first issue of "Robert Finigan's Private Guide to Wines". As a subscriber to "Jack Shelton's Private Guide to Restaurants" (which he later bought), Finigan's intention was to do to the wine scene what Shelton did to restaurants, and covered Californian and European wine including wines available in restaurants in the Bay Area. In difference to the numerical scale popularized by Robert M. Parker, Jr. some years later, Finigan initially rated wines in four broad quality categories: Outstanding, Above Average, Average and Well Below Average. Finigan's newsletter was consumer-oriented, did not shy from criticising wines that Finigan thought were substandard, and quickly became popular. In 1977, Finigan added a national edition of his newsletter, and was to some extent also read outside the US. [cite book |title=The Emperor of Wine |last=McCoy |year=2005 |pages=39, 41]

Evaluation of the 1982 Bordeaux vintage

In March 1983, Finigan was one of very few US wine writers or critics to travel to Bordeaux for the tasting from the barrel of the 1982 vintage. [cite book |title=The Emperor of Wine |last=McCoy |year=2005 |pages=61] In late 1982, Finigan had reported in his newsletter on the enthusiastic early evaluations coming out of Bordeaux from proprietors like Jean-Pierre Moueix and Alexis Lichine. However, when he tried the barrel samples, he was generally disappointed, and found the wines too alcoholic and lacking in flavor. He therefore gave the 1982 Bordeaux vintage a fairly bad review in the March 30, 1983 edition of his newsletter, and recommended his readers buying Bordeaux wines of the 1980 and 1981 vintages instead. [cite book |title=The Emperor of Wine |last=McCoy |year=2005 |pages=103-104]

Another US wine critic who tasted the 1982s from barrel was Robert M. Parker, Jr., who at this time was much less established than Finigan. Parker gave the 1982s the highest possible acclaim, described them as one of greatest Bordeaux vintages of the century, and predicted steep price increases for those who did not secure their 1982s "en primeur". [cite book |title=The Emperor of Wine |last=McCoy |year=2005 |pages=104, 106] Later in 1983, "Wine Spectator" through its writer James Suckling concurred with Parker, while Finigan strongly stood by his negative evaluation of the vintage. [cite book |title=The Emperor of Wine |last=McCoy |year=2005 |pages=106-107]

After more and more critics adopted Parker's view on the 1982 Bordeaux vintage and prices rose, Finigan's influence as a wine critic started to decline, while Parker achieved his breakthrough. In the late 1980s Finigan was considered much less influential than Parker and several others. [cite book |title=The Emperor of Wine |last=McCoy |year=2005 |pages=135]

His newsletter was eventually cancelled in 1990, but Finigan has remained an influential San Francisco restaurant critic.

elected publications

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References

External links

* [http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R612201000 Radio interview with Robert Finigan in 2006 on KQED]