Robert Parker Jr has marked the end of an era by announcing that he will stop reviewing Bordeaux en primeur wines, handing over the reins to Neal Martin.
After covering the first new-vintage releases of Bordeaux wines for close to 40 years, Parker said that he was handing over to fellow Wine Advocate critic Neal Martin for the 2014 vintage.
In a posting on his website, Parker said Martin ‘will review the 2014 en primeur releases from Bordeaux’.
The change comes just over two years after Parker stepped down from the post of Wine Advocate editor-in-chief, to be replaced by Lisa Perrotti-Brown. At around the same time, Parker sold a stake in the publication to Singapore-based investors.
Parker said this week that Martin’s taking over of en primeur reviews had been ‘actually the ultimate plan’ when he was first hired in 2006.
‘I loved the anticipation and challenge of trying to analyse and evaluate a vintage, and will undoubtedly miss it. But, after 37 years of covering virtually every Bordeaux vintage since 1978, change is inevitable.’
He insisted that he was not retiring. He added that he planned to review the newly bottled Bordeaux 2012 vintage and produce a retrospective report on the highly rated Bordeaux 2005 vintage 10 years on.
