attain surprisingly high prices, sometimes well beyond historically top-priced products. However, the early 2000s saw indications of a reverse in the trend. Wine writer Jancis Robinson noted that the Garage wine market had "shrivelled considerably in recent years", and Robert Parker stated that while the wines are "here to stay ... only the best will survive." Steven Spurrier commented further, "the belief that ridiculously low yields make better wine has finally been exploded by the quality of [the abundant] 2004, as it should have been by 2000, 1996 and 1990. Goodbye to a fad." The American garagiste movement received its first exposure in 2011 at the inaugural Garagiste Festival in Paso Robles, California. Paso Robles represents the core of the garagiste movement, according to WinesVinesDATA. It lists some 127 wineries with annual production of 1,000 or fewer cases in Paso's home county, San Luis Obispo (SLO). Every year dozens of artisan winemakers pour at the non-profit festival. Criticism Despite the critical acclaim and high prices that have been fetched by some vins de garage, both the term and the movement have faced criticism. In addition to wine experts such as Steven Spurrier describing it a fad, some writers, noted by Graham Harding, have gone so far as to suggest the cult following of these wines are an example of "The Emperor's New Clothes syndrome" and that the wines are made more for collectors than for wine drinkers. Another critic is Master of Wine Michael Palij, who compares garagistes, particularly those of Château Valandraud, to the large California wine producer E & J Gallo Winery saying "Each is a triumph of style over substance. Neither pays any regard to either history or terroir." See also French wine Bordeaux wine History of French wine References Further reading Taber, George M. Judgment of Paris: California vs France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting that Revolutionized Wine. NY: Scribner, 2005. Bordeaux wine producers