New advocate for SA wine

Tuesday, February 15th, 2011

The fact that Master of Wine Neal Martin had tweeted about serving a 2008 Mullineux straw wine for a dinner en famille with new neighbours is a good sign. That tweet was posted in late January – before the news broke about the reallocation of responsibilities for Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate team.

It’s a good omen in that it means that Martin includes at least some SA wines in his leisure drinking repertoire – and choosing the Mullineux straw wine over a Sauterne, Eiswein or anything else also bodes well. The tweet reflects that he pronounced the Mullineux and two other wines “tip top”…

That Wine Advocate hasn’t really articulated major judgement on South African wines has been seen as something of a mixed blessing by many in the local wine fraternity. One or two of the more outspoken souls have been happy not to have the glare of the Robert Parker spotlight brought to bear on local wines while others have seen it as a handicap not to be able to trot out favourable Parker scores for the all important international buyers.

Neal Martin is highly regarded for his expertise in Burgundy, a portfolio he’s handled for The Wine Advocate for years – since Robert Parker bought his Wine Journal webpage, something Martin calls his “independent state within the kingdom of eRobertParker.com”. His bio on eRobertParker.com makes for interesting reading and gives an impression of his easy manner and lack of pretension. He admits that his Wine Journal website began out of sheer boredom on a rainy Monday afternoon – and his dirty little secret is the vinyl collection of music records in his spare bedroom… He’s been Robert Parker’s UK man since 2006 and many view him as the anointed successor or Parker’s “chosen one” since he’s the Critic-at-Large for the influential website.

Martin will be in South Africa in May to judge at the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show.