Parker announces new staff

The new writers for Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate were announced today, following last week’s departure of Pierre Rovani and Daniel Thomases.

Aside from Parker, four new or expanded roles at the publication have been created. Parker himself will now cover only four regions.

David Schildknecht, who has written for the Advocate part-time since 2005, will leave his job in the wine business to become full-time in the New Year. He will bear much of the work left by Rovani as well as covering other areas not regularly touched on by the publication.

‘In addition to his continued championing of the wines of Germany and Austria as well as Central Europe and America’s Eastern and Midwestern wineries, [Schildknecht] will also cover Alsace, Burgundy, the Loire Valley and the Languedoc-Roussillon,’ Parker said.

Parker said his journal ‘will expand coverage by at least 30-50 percent, as many areas that have been shortchanged because of a lack of person-power will now receive full coverage.’

Schildknecht will also take on Champagne. Parker admits that until now, he has been ‘remiss’ in not focussing enough attention on the region. Further responsibilities include New Zealand and South Africa.

Beginning on 1 Oct, Antonio Galloni, who created the Piedmont Report newsletter two years ago, will cover all of Italy’s major wine areas, providing tasting reports and vintage assessments.

Galloni’s first reports will appear in the Advocate’s October issue, and will embrace 2001 Piedmont wines, 2003 Barbarescos and possibly 2001 Brunello di Montalcinos.

Parker has also hired Dr Jay Miller, with whom he has tasted wine weekly for almost 25 years. Miller will leave his post as the buyer and manager of Bin 604, a Baltimore wine shop, to cover Portugal’s fortified wines, the Pacific Northwest, Spain, Australia and South America. Mark Squires, who oversees the Bulletin Board on Parker’s Web site, will cover Portugal’s dry wines.

Parker himself will focus on Bordeaux, California, the Rhône Valley and Provence.

Much of the extra data, analysis and tasting notes will be absorbed by his website.

Parker also said he anticipated introducing a ‘critic-at-large’ to his website. He offered no identification but said the candidate is ‘a prolific writer who will provide remarkable diversity and expertise, and will represent a point of view outside the American perspective that now dominates this site.’

Written by Howard G Goldberg in New York