Decanter 2007 Power List

The July 2007 issue of Decanter, a British wine magazine, has their 2007 Power List. This gives their opinion on the top 50 people who have a direct influence on the wine style you drink now and the near future.

The top ten include:
1. Robert Parker (up from #2 last year)
2. Mel Dick (up from #3 last year)
3. Richard Sands (down from #1 last year)
4. Trevor O'Hoy (up from #14 last year)
5. Richard Evans (a new entry)
6. Patrick Ricard (up from #7 last year)
7. Joseph Gallo (a new entry)
8. Michael Rolland (down from #4 last year)
9. Jancis Robinson (up from #13 last year)
10. Annette Alvarez-Peters (new entry)

I am sure the choice of Robert Parker as #1 will be controversial. There is much anti-Parker sentiment around yet he still does wield much power, even if it has lessened a bit in recent years. Yet Parkers scores still sell much wine.

It was good to see two women in the Top Ten list, showing that women are being taken seriously in the wine world. Though there is only a total of four women in the Top Fifty which indicates men still dominate the wine world. Are there any other women in the wine world that you feel are very influential?

Marven Shanken, owner and editor of Wine Spectator, is #15 on the list, the same as last year.

It was certainly a surprise to see Al Gore on the list as #48, a new entry. He is present though because of his endeavors against global warming.

It is interesting that the winebuyers for Costco Wholesale Corp. and Sam's Club/Walmart made the list, respectively at #10 and #13. These discount stores are certainly selling a lot of wine. Costco sold $850 million last year and Sam's/Walmart sold 35 million bottles.

So, who else do you think is extremely influential in the wine world? Will we ever see a blogger on such a list?