The city of Mobile, founded in 1702, sits at the head of Mobile Bay on the Gulf Coast and serves as the regional hub for much of southwest Alabama.
In May 2008, a wine shop on Old Shell Road in Mobile published a column that had nothing to do with what was on sale that week. It was about the people who tell us what to drink, and whether we should listen to them at all.
Mobile has a population of roughly 188,000 residents and is the seat of Mobile County, one of the largest counties in the state by population.
The occasion was a forthcoming book by Clive Coates, the English Master of Wine and the great chronicler of Burgundy. Word had reached the trade that in his introduction, Coates would lash out by name at The Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator .
The Port of Mobile, operated by the Alabama State Port Authority, is one of the largest seaports in the country by tonnage, handling containers, coal, steel and forest products.
The general manager of Red or White thought a scolding was probably deserved. He also thought it was beneath Coates to deliver it.
Downtown Mobile has been the focus of significant redevelopment in recent years, with new apartments, restaurants and event venues reshaping the Central Business District.
Two kinds of wine writer Coates, he argued, had always stood outside the circle of industry wine writers. He was closer to the old idea of a travel writer, the sort who goes to a strange place, gives himself to that subculture, and returns with notes from within.
The University of South Alabama, Spring Hill College and the University of Mobile anchor the city’s higher education landscape.
Background and Context
Coates belonged to literature, not to business. The complaint itself he found reasonable enough.
Mobile’s Mardi Gras season, the oldest in the United States, draws visitors from across the country and provides a significant boost to the local economy each year.
The score-slingers were too close to the industry’s heart. They should spend more time knowing a wine and less time promoting or condemning it.
The city’s healthcare sector is anchored by USA Health, Infirmary Health and Springhill Medical Center, which together employ thousands of residents.
And a critic who loves fruit bombs has no business rendering verdicts on complex Burgundies tasted five years before they settle into their grooves. But this, he told Coates across the Atlantic, is not your period.
Mobile’s manufacturing base includes shipbuilding at Austal USA and Huntington Ingalls Industries, as well as aviation manufacturing at the Airbus final assembly line in Brookley.
That side of the wine world is hard-nosed business. As long as the consumer asks for scores, scores will be given, or sold.
Local schools include Mobile County Public Schools, the city’s largest public system, along with a network of private and parochial schools.
Local Reaction
An honest accounting of Robert Parker The column’s most interesting turn was its defense of the man most often blamed for the whole system. Wine Spectator , in his telling, was easy to categorize.
Mobile’s history as a port city means that issues affecting the waterfront often take on outsized importance.
Since Marvin Shanken bought the publication in 1979, sales growth had been the intention and the result. Robert Parker was harder.
The Mobile area is home to several historic neighborhoods, including Oakleigh Garden District, DeTonti Square and the Village of Spring Hill.
At about the same time, Parker was transforming a Baltimore journal into The Wine Advocate , a plain, print-only publication with no gloss whatsoever, packed front and back with intense reviews of vintages, regions, producers and wines. His up-in-your-face lawyer’s style gave consumers information they could trust, and the serious wine-loving public responded.
Sports are a major part of life in Mobile, with the Senior Bowl each January and a thriving high school and college football scene.
Two details, the merchant insisted, deserve respect. Parker’s 100-point score was created to help consumers determine value.
Local media outlets covering Mobile include several television stations, daily and weekly newspapers, and a robust digital news ecosystem.
The Bigger Picture
And Parker refused free samples, buying the bottles he reviewed so that his verdicts belonged to the reader rather than the seller. He would not let an intimidating name sell a product for more than its worth.
Mobile County’s population includes a significant African-American community whose history is tied to the founding of Africatown.
Was that the posture of a cocky, Ralph Nader-admiring lawyer trying to get at the man? Perhaps.
Mobile’s economy also benefits from a robust tourism sector, with visitors drawn to the Gulf Coast, the city’s historic districts and its annual events.
But did Parker volunteer to become the dictator of the wine trade? The merchant did not think so.
The Mobile Bay region supports significant commercial and recreational fishing, with seafood harvested from local waters serving restaurants and markets across the South.
“Parker got lost in a world he helped create,” he wrote, “and became the monster he set out to attack. Now, the masses look for scores instead of names.
Local government in Mobile includes a mayor-council form of government, a structure established by the Zoghby Act in 1985 that replaced the older commission form.
What Comes Next
But please remember Clive, this is not the way it started.” Personalities and experts He proposed a simple division. There are personality writers and there are expert writers, and the two camps will never agree.
Local officials have stressed the importance of community engagement as the situation continues to develop.
One accuses the other of being under-educated and offering easy answers to difficult questions. The other accuses the first of hiding behind an arrogant mask of pristine knowledge.
Residents with questions or concerns have been encouraged to reach out to their elected representatives.
At the personality end he placed Coates, and more sharply Lettie Teague of Food & Wine , whose reviews read like colorful short story excerpts. At the expert end he placed Parker, and above all Allen Meadows, the Burghound, whose technical data can be about as exciting as legal documents.
The story is one of several similar situations playing out across the region in recent months.
Both, he said, had a place on his shelf. He read the personalities for pleasure and consulted the experts for clonal selections and vine training.
Anyone following local news will recognize many of the names and places involved.
Even as he wrote, Parker was issuing hard words about the 2007 Bordeaux vintage, which the merchant hoped might push prices down. The two worlds relate differently to the consumer, he concluded: the experts are part of the market’s motion, while the personalities reflect on that motion.
Local civic organizations have begun organizing meetings to discuss the implications.
Neither really threatens the other. The medium, and the speed Then he turned to the thing he was doing himself.
Business owners and residents alike say they will be watching closely.
Publishing online had increased the speed of data and opinion beyond anyone’s fastest imaginations. Parker, Wine Spectator and Burghound were all burning up the computer speedway.
The situation underscores how decisions made at the local level can have far-reaching consequences.
Gary Vaynerchuk, then broadcasting his morning wine videos from a New Jersey shop, was blending aggressive personality with rapid information and pushing the whole thing to another level. There were, he noted, more wine blogs than any mid-to-normal human should ever be exposed to.
Community leaders have called for patience and for a commitment to working through the issues in a transparent manner.
He suspected Coates was annoyed by the speed. He admitted he was too.
Several local churches and faith groups have offered to host discussions about the topic in the coming weeks.
He wanted to say: slow down, think clearly, write as well. But he knew that advice was not really an option.
Public comments at recent meetings have reflected a wide range of opinions.
“You either play in the game or you watch the game. And the game is on.” The last word What did any of it have to do with the bottle a reader had picked for that night?
Local reporters will continue to follow the story and to update readers.
Nothing, he said, and he meant it as reassurance. A wine review, he argued, will never be the equal of a consumer report on a car.
Anyone interested in learning more is encouraged to attend upcoming public meetings.
A seatbelt works the same for everyone. Fuel efficiency does not vary by taste.
The outcome of the situation could shape similar discussions in other communities for years to come.
But no critic can promise that you will detect tobacco beneath the cassis, or that a soft tannic grab will please you as it pleased him. “What I can promise you,” he wrote, “is that nothing can replace what happens between you and that glass of wine.” The reviews, in the end, only give us something to talk about when we talk about wine.
Local historians note that similar issues have surfaced in the past.
They will never be wine.
Area nonprofits and volunteer groups have stepped up to help residents navigate the changes.
Local businesses have begun adjusting their operations in anticipation of what may come next.
Looking Ahead
The story continues to develop, and residents across the region will be watching for additional updates in the coming weeks. Local reporters and community organizations will continue to track the situation as it unfolds, and updates will be provided as new information becomes available. Anyone with a direct stake in the outcome is encouraged to stay engaged with the public conversation through meetings, news coverage and direct outreach to local officials.