Wijngoeroe Robert Parker laat alsnog uitzoeken wat er waar is van de beschuldigingen aan het adres van zijn vroegere medewerker Jay Miller, die geld zou hebben gevraagd voor wijnkritieken, maar dat in alle toonaarden heeft ontkend. Jay heeft inmiddels z’n baan bij de Wine Advocate opgezegd, maar werkt daar nog tot 1 januari. Parker zelf zei : 'Wij geloven niet dat Jay Miller de onafhankelijkheid van onze wijnkritieken heeft aangetast. Het stond begin dit jaar al vast dat hij zou vertrekken’. Ook over Pancho Campo, MW van de Spaanse Wijnacademie die Millers toernee in Murcia had opgezet en de mail heeft verspreid met de bedragen die voor een wijn-beoordeling zouden worden gevraagd, wil Parker (nog) geen kwaad woord horen. Die verklaarde op zijn eigen website:

“We have taken the accusations very seriously since this story broke. When the final report is in, we intend to be totally transparent and publish it fully on this Board.”

 Felicity Carter verzamelde voor Meininger’s Wine business International nog de volgende feiten:

‘The accusations that Parker refers to are that Jay Miller’s representative in Spain, Pancho Campo MW of the Wine Academy of Spain, was charging regions for access to the critic. Miller covers Spain, Chile and Argentina for Parker’s publication, The Wine Advocate, and the ‘Parker points’ that he awards are highly coveted, particularly by recession-stricken Spanish producers. The story has gained traction in the wine blogging community, with UK wine writer Jim Budd in particular publishing a number of strongly worded allegations and releasing emails and other documents relevant to the story on his jimsloire.blogspot.com

“Our lawyers are interviewing Pancho Campo and all relevant contracts and emails have been translated into English and reviewed,” continued Parker’s message. He said that he remained “appalled at the lynch mob rush to judgement by the blogging community”.

Earlier Parker answered a number of questions put to him by Meininger’s Wine Business International, in relation to the ‘pay to play’ story. When asked about the role of Pancho Campo MW, he replied: “I did ask Pancho and the Academy to assist in setting up tastings for Miller. Pancho has been very cooperative and has generally been very professional in all our dealings with him, but Jay Miller decides which wineries to visit and the tastings are open to all local wineries.”

In his post, Parker published a statement from eRP.com’s lawyer Steve Haas, esq, about the investigation: “In light of allegations and innuendos posted by various internet blogs concerning visits made to Murcia, Spain by Jay Miller, an independent contractor who has conducted tastings on behalf of The Wine Advocate for more than 5 years in addition to his own wine related endeavors, and the participation by The Spanish Wine Academy in such visits, The Wine Advocate has engaged the law firm of Cozen O’Connor to conduct an investigation to determine whether our strict policy of independence in the review and tasting of wines for publication in The Wine Advocate or posting on www.eRobertparker.com was compromised by any conduct of The Wine Advocate or any other party associated with tastings in that region.”

Parker also said that Jay Miller will remain working for The Wine Advocate until 1 January 2012, “because we believe he has done nothing to compromise the independence of our reviews… Moreover, his retirement has been in the works since January of 2011.”