Ex-banker has Wall Street-sized ambitions as a wine critic

WINE is one of those rare industries in which one person's opinion can make fortunes - or break them.

Credit Robert Parker. For three decades, he dominated as the world's most influential wine critic. He popularised the 100-point rating scale, and the scores in his monthly newsletter, The Wine Advocate, drove demand and prices.

Before he sold the company in 2012, he had planned to hand the business to his protégé, Antonio Galloni, but they couldn't reach a deal. Mr Galloni, a former banker, has since built his own brand, Vinous, bought the crowd-sourced ratings app Delectable, and lured away The Wine Advocate's top critic, Neal Martin.