Liv-ex made a brief appearance on TV earlier this week, as part of the BBC4 programme 'Wine: The Firm'. The first of a three part series, it concentrated on the venerable British merchant Berry Bros & Rudd and its relationship with Cos d'Estournel in Bordeaux and Domaine David Clark in Burgundy.
For those of who you missed it, you can view it on BBC iplayer (UK only). It is also repeated at 7.30pm on Sunday (again on BBC4). Liv-ex makes an appearance at around 35 minutes, and again at around 39 minutes.
The episode received a good critical reception – both from the wine press and the broadsheets. The section on the power of Robert Parker even provoked a case of 'critic envy' from the TV critic for the Guardian, Nancy Banks-Smith:
"I was particularly thrilled to discover Robert Parker, 'the world's most influential wine critic'. He is American but, breathless with terror and deference, the great chateaux of Bordeaux wait to hear how he rates the year's vintage. 'If Parker gives them 80, 82 points, nobody's going to touch their wine.' I have no idea what this means, but I am jolly impressed anyway. Criticism could use a leg-up. There is not much terror and deference going on around here, I can tell you. No one has ever put up a statue to a critic and, by God, it grates."
The next episode – which concentrates on Chateau Margaux – is being shown on Monday at 9pm.
