Miller leaves The Wine Advocate, and a few questions

Of course I can say it now but it was only a matter of time before something happened. The continued pressure on Jay Miller as Robert Parker’s man on Spain (don’t forget South America and the Pacific Northwest too) had to end in tears for someone. It began several years ago (the old Sierra Carche affair) and since then it seems that wherever Miller put his feet, someone had laid a jaw trap.

Whether or not he deserved it, the latest criticism (centered on the relationship between Miller and his man in Spain, Pancho Camp MW – mainly covered on UK blogger Jim Budd’s Loire site) was making more noise than BigJ’s tasting notes.

I even talked about it earlier this year, when Miller and Campo were in Priorat. Of course, looking back on it now, it all seems exceptionally tedious. That said, comparing a great wine to watching porn – conjuring up the rather unappetising image of Jay Miller in onanistic delight – was at best naive and at worst reprehensible.

And now he’s gone – not because of the pressure, by the way:

Some may believe my stepping down is in response to my critics. Nothing could be further from the truth.

An interesting statement given that, apart from outlining his future projects, the rest of his announcement is a response to his critics.

But questions still remain:

> What of Pancho Campo MW’s role as facilitator for the Wine Advocate‘s Spanish taster (now Neal Martin)? The problem with Miller’s statement is that his resignation from The Wine Advocate claims to be unrelated to the recent bad press surrounding him and Campo. If The Wine Advocate wishes to maintain this line, there are only two options: 1 – Pancho remains (Parker can’t bring an end to his services because that really will look like the bad press has got to The Wine Advocate) or 2 – Pancho ends his contract with The Wine Advocate himself.

> Neal Martin. The envy of amateur wine bloggers everywhere. Tim Atkin MW’s quote on Twitter attributed to Neal Martin: ‘I have never really got under the skin of Spanish wine’ was perhaps not the nicest way to welcome someone into a new job and to be fair to Neal this was in 2006 and, well, let’s see how he gets along. ‘Time to start trying, Neal,’ said Atkin. Indeed. But this wasn’t really my point. My point is to look at some of the gruelling beats Neal Martin and the Parker team – not to mention the one-man-bands like Atkin or Jancis Robinson MW – have to cover and wonder if they can ever ‘get under the skin’ of any region. People like Atkin, Robinson, Parker, Tanner, etc. cover huge areas of wine. Just reading Miller’s old domain: Spain, South America and the Pacific Northwest, looked like more than a full time job, it looked positively Sisyphean.

> But perhaps the biggest point I want to end with is this: is it fair to close any discussion about the standards of wine writers with the threat of legal action? Last week, Parker said this:

I have been asked by our USA lawyers to refrain from commenting about this given the potential lawsuits by Jay,by Pancho, and possibly by TWA [The Wine Advocate] against these bloggers. Until we are 100% certain of all the facts, I think this subject, which appears to be a reckless and malicious disregard for the truth and clearly aimed at damaging Miller, Campo, and TWA, needs to be closed.

Now, I don’t have an axe grind against Parker, but to threaten legal action against a blogger or bloggers while at the same time calling into question the ethics of those bloggers [Not being certain of the facts while saying there "appears to be a reckless and malicious disregard for the truth" is a bit pot-kettle-black], and thus closing any discussion on the topic…well, let’s just say I find that a bit worrying. If that’s the future of wine writing in Social Media, I’d rather not be a part of it.