Trailer

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Synopsis

On February 5, 2011, when the American critic Robert Parker announced that he would stop covering California wines for his publication The Wine Advocate, it sent shockwaves through the wine industry. This is because for the last thirty years, Robert Parker and his 100-point rating system have dominated the wine industry.

Parker's announcement is not a retirement—he is still covering and rating wines from many countries—but it is coming at the exact moment when millions of people around the world are deciding how they should develop their personal wine tastes.

The film starts by talking to a Parker loyalist, Peter Herbst. Since 1986, Peter has subscribed to the Federal Express edition of The Wine Advocate so he can buy the wines Parker recommends before they sell out. Peter explains that any person seeking to challenge Parker's dominance will need to be just as crazy about wine as Parker.

Escaping Robert Parker—The Director's Cut follows six such wine lovers. Based in Provence, France, Julian Faulkner strives to make wine in a personal style and sell it globally using passion instead of Robert Parker ratings. Operating from New York City, wine personality Gary Vaynerchuk, star of the hit internet shows Wine Library TV and The Daily Grape, seems poised to become the next Robert Parker. Also in New York, the founder of the innovative wine store Bottlerocket Wine & Spirit Tom Genniese, tries to equip consumers with enough information so they can pick wines. A few blocks away, wine importer, chef and sommelier Brian Dimarco strives to sell Julian's wines in all fifty-states. In Pal Alto, California, Founder and CEO of Bottlenotes, Inc. Alyssa Rapp uses technology and social media to empower wine consumers. In New York and Hong Kong, John Kapon, the head of the world's leading fine wine auction company, hosts spirited multi-million dollar wine auctions featuring wines from the top winemakers.

Robert Parker is an inescapable presence in the film literally as Julian narrowly misses crossing paths with Parker in Bordeaux and Beijing before finally meeting him in New York City and also psychologically, as Julian struggles to keep Parker's words from invading his mind.

For the frugal wine consumer Peter Herbst, the burning question is whether the wine advice of the challengers is as good as or better than Parker's advice in The Wine Advocate?

Escaping Robert Parker—The Director's Cut also includes interviews with the prominent California winemakers Nils Venge and Jean Hoefliger, Elin McCoy author of The Emperor of Wine: The Rise of Robert M. Parker and the Reign of American Taste, Columbia University Neurology professor Dr. Stuart Firestein, and The Wall Street journal financial journalist John Jannarone.

Produced by BurleyFilms         Presented by Amphibious Film Releasing

Awards / Screenings

Winner—Best Film
Wine & Food Category
Douro Film Harvest, Portugal

Official Selection
Moscow Wine Film Festival
Moscow, Russia
October 27, 2011

Press

Director Ed Burley interviewed on Portuguese television program A Hora de Baco (The Time of Bacchus)

"I like how the film showed Parker as a man of integrity... Escaping Robert Parker captivated me with the heroic tale of its protagonist Julian Faulkner in the hard quest of the idealist winemaker confronting another idealist—Robert Parker, whose uncanny talent and method defines the modern wine world."

• Francis Ford Coppola
  Director, The Godfather
  Winemaker, Francis Ford Coppola Winery

"Captures the wine industry better than any film to date."

• The Daily Sip
  bottlenotes.com

"Everyone interested in wine should see this film!"

• New York & Boston Wine Expo

"'Escaping Robert Parker' also a winner in Portugal"

• Variety

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