ROBERT PARKER’S WINE ADVOCATE BRINGS  MATTER OF TASTE TOUR TO NAPA VALLEY  Global Series of Exclusive Wine Experiences to Feature Top Rated Wines from Around the World on Saturday, November 5, 2016     San Francisco, CA (October 19, 2016) – Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate (RobertParker.com), the world’s most recognized authority on wine, is bringing its international Matter of Taste tour to Napa Valley on Saturday, November 5th at the elegant Meritage Resort & Spa Napa as part of a global series of exclusive events for RobertParker.com members, non-members and guests.   Coming on the heels of a sold out event in New York City earlier this year, this no-holds-barred wine tasting experience, Matter of Taste Napa is built around 150 of the most iconic wines from around the world. The globe-trotting Matter of Tastewalkabout tastings have celebrated different regional themes with every city, but the wine focus of Napa’s installment will be “Reviewers’ Choice: Icon Wines of the World.” Most of the reviewers on the publication’s expert team – led by Robert M. Parker Jr. himself – have nominated their favorite finds from throughout the wine world to feature at Napa’s Matter of Taste, all of which have been scored 90 points or above.   Events will include a VIP preview hour, the grand walk-around tasting as well as a selection of rare wine Master Classes. There will also be range of intimate, exclusive dinners on offer on the days surrounding the events, including a reviewer-hosted BYOB dinner at Meritage (see below) and a Château Cheval Blanc Retrospective & Dinner at La Toque, hosted by Robert M. Parker Jr. and Director of Château Cheval Blanc, Pierre Lurton. Several of these events sold out almost immediately upon release so anyone interested should book remaining tickets ASAP.   Held from 2pm-6pm, the walkabout will include an unrivaled line-up of some of the world’s most incredible wines, spanning a vast range of grapes, regions and styles. Rock star winemakers will be pouring their wines, including iconic names such as: Harlan, Larkmead and Shafer (Napa), Kistler, Chalk Hill and Sojourn (Sonoma), Brewer-Clifton, Ridge, Booker Vineyard and Paul Lato (Central Coast), Château de Beaucastel, Chapoutier and Guigal (Rhone), Max Ferd. Richter (Germany), Quilceda Creek Vintners, Gramercy Cellars and Force Majeure (Washington), Penfolds, Henschke and Jim Barry (Australia), and Two Paddocks, Schubert and Craggy Range (New Zealand) – just to name a few!   In addition to the Grand Tasting, five exclusive Master Classes will be offered for those who wish to delve a bit deeper. Wine Advocate Editor in Chief, Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW will host ‘Top of the Class New School Pinot Noirs & Chardonnays,’ featuring 12 classic wines, including high-scoring examples from Cullen, Giant Steps, Kongsgaard, and nine other producers. Perrotti-Brown will also moderate ‘Australia’s Greatest Single Vineyards’ including 12 top wines from Torbreck, Brokenwood, Yangarra and Pewsey Vale, among others. Wine Advocate Reviewer Jeb Dunnuck will host a special ‘Titans of the Northern Rhone’ Master Class, where the region’s epic 2009 vintage will be showcased, with wines from M. Chapoutier, Delas Freres, Voge and Guigal, and neighboring blockbuster estates.  Dunnuck will also host ‘Sine Qua Non: One of California’s Greatest Wineries,’ featuring a select vertical of the famed estate’s Syrah & Grenache from 2004 – 2012. Finally, a very special Master Class will be hosted by Robert Parker himself, entitled ‘Napa Valley’s Next AVA? Robert Parker Explores the Singular Estates of Pritchard Hill,’ where he will delve into one of Napa Valley’s most sought after hilltops and its epic 2012 vintage.  A complete list of featured wines as well as tickets for both the Grand Tasting and all three Master Classes are available at a-matter-of-taste.com/.   The Matter of Taste walkabout tasting will be capped of by The Ultimate Hedonist’s BYOB Dinner on November 5th. As part of the Napa Valley installment of Matter of Taste events, the Robert Parker Wine Advocate review team will host a “La Paulée” style Finale Dinner BYOB event, where guests are invited to bring up to three bottles of their favorite “90 RP points or above” wines to share with fellow subscribers and reviewers. The dinner will take place on the Oakville Terrace of the Meritage Resort & Spa with a sumptuous sit-down, four-course haute-cuisine menu. Only 100 seats will be available on a first come, first served basis - a rare chance to participate in a true Hedonist’s Gazette dinner with vintners and Wine Advocatehosts Dunnuck and Perrotti-Brown.   “Matter of Taste is our way of saying a heartfelt thank you to our members who we know are the most passionate & knowledgeable wine lovers on the planet,” said Perrotti-Brown. “It’s a tasting for members to experience world-class wines in an entirely new way while meeting the winemakers and estate owners who craft them. It’s also a fantastic opportunity to welcome new members into the world of The Wine Advocate.”   The Matter of Taste series commenced in 2014 and has since traveled to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, London, Chicago, Miami, Manila, Jakarta, San Francisco and New York City. Following Napa, the tour will head to Zurich on February 4, 2017.   Annual members of RobertParker.com are entitled to discounted tickets ($150) to the Matter of Taste Grand Tasting. Non-member tickets ($180 through 10/21) include a one-year membership to RobertParker.com and access to over 500,000 professional wine reviews and articles. A limited number of early entry VIP passes are available for $300. All Master Classes prices vary between $90 and $300 depending on the class. Further details and booking information are available at a-matter-of-taste.com/.   About Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate            For more than 35 years, The Wine Advocate, and later RobertParker.com, has been the global leader and independent consumer’s guide to fine wine. The brand was established by world-famous Robert M. Parker, Jr., the only critic in any field to receive the highest Presidential honor from three countries – France, Italy and Spain. Robert Parker’s Wine Advocateprovides a wealth of information to its subscribers, including a searchable database of more than 500,000 professional wine ratings and reviews plus articles, videos, daily news content, online retail availability and pricing, an active, professionally moderated bulletin board, a mobile app for easy access to the comprehensive online database of reviews, and much more. For more information, visit http://www.eRobertParker.com.

  London, UK: Robert Parker Wine Advocate and RobertParker.com, considered the world’s most widely read independent consumer’s guide to fine wine, announces that Neal Martin will be assuming full reviewer coverage of the wines of Bordeaux, both Bordeaux en primeur and Bordeaux in bottle reports, as of May 1st 2016.   The coverage of Bordeaux wines was previously the responsibility of Robert M. Parker Jr., who has reviewed every vintage of Bordeaux for the last 38 years, since he started the publication in 1978. This news follows the announcement last year that Neal Martin would assume responsibility for reviewing Bordeaux en primeur wines – barrel samples of the new vintage – commencing with his coverage of the Bordeaux 2014 vintage, published in The Wine Advocate magazine and on the RobertParker.com website in April 2015. Meanwhile, Robert Parker will continue his comprehensive annual coverage of Northern California, including the iconic regions of Napa and Sonoma, and he remains the president of the publication.   “Neal is clearly the most experienced and seasoned veteran to assume the tasting responsibilities of Bordeaux barrel tasting,” noted RobertParker. “He has been doing it well for nearly two decades, having started as a young man. I have full confidence in his ability, experience, integrity, independence and work ethic to make this an easy transformation. While I loved the challenge of tasting en primeur every spring, it is time for a change and an injection of younger talent."   Neal Martin has been visiting Bordeaux and tasting the region’s wines constantly for 19 years. After creating his own successful Wine Journalwine review website in 2003, Neal began working with Robert Parker for his eponymous publication. In 2008, Neal took over The Wine Advocate’s coverage of the sweet, white wines of Bordeaux. His award-winning 2012 book, Pomerol, and continued coverage of Bordeaux for the Wine Journal column of RobertParker.com demonstrate his unwavering commitment to the region.   Neal Martin commented, "It is a great honor that Robert Parker has passed Bordeaux coverage on to me. Robert Parker's coverage of Bordeaux, both in The Wine Advocate and his books, were instrumental in my understanding of the region and its wines. Bordeaux is where I began my wine education many years ago and though I have amassed a great deal of experience, visiting regularly since 1997, tasting thousands of wines and penning hundreds of Bordeaux-related articles, my passion for its wines and its people remains undiminished."   "Subscribers to The Wine Advocate should expect a constant stream of articles immediately after en primeur 2015. Every month will see at least one new report on RobertParker.com. On the immediate horizon: horizontal tastings of 2006 and 2013, a raft of vertical tastings accompanied by first-hand interviews with winemakers; as well as regular updated reviews of mature vintages both legendary and obscure. I'll not only be reporting on the top of the hierarchy or iconic wines. Bordeaux is occupied by countless, relatively unknown châteaux and rarely mentioned sub-regions that produce great and affordable wine. All of these will be on my radar. As usual, I will be writing everything in my own style that strives to be entertaining as well as insightful. Finally, there are a couple of "secret projects" up my sleeve, but readers will have to wait for those. In a nutshell, if you have an interest in Bordeaux, there is still going to be only one place to come."   On the calibre of the 2015 vintage, Neal remarked, "Three weeks in Bordeaux tasting the 2015 vintage from barrel has unveiled a clutch of wines so sublime that they are certain to become landmarks for their respective châteaux...not necessarily from the most obvious names."   Neal Martin’s “2015 Bordeaux En Primeur” report will be published in the end of April issue of The Wine Advocate and will be posted on RobertParker.com on April 29, 2016, featuring an in-depth look at the growing season and calibre of the wines for every major sub-region, with over 600 tasting notes. (Available for subscribers only.)   About Robert Parker Wine Advocate For more than 35 years, The Wine Advocate, and later RobertParker.com, have been the global leader and independent consumer’s guide to fine wine. The brand was established by the internationally recognized, Robert M. Parker, Jr., the only critic in any field to receive the highest Presidential honor from three countries – France, Italy and Spain. Robert Parker Wine Advocate provides a wealth of information to its subscribers, including a searchable database of more than 300,000 professional wine ratings and reviews, in addition to articles, videos, daily news content, online retail availability and pricing, an active, professionally moderated bulletin board, a mobile app for easy access to the comprehensive online database of reviews and much more. For more information, visit www.RobertParker.com or follow @Wine_Advocate on Twitter. For more information on the Matter of Taste tour, visit http://www.a-matter-of-taste.com and follow #MatterOfTaste on Twitter.   For a French version of this release, or for interviews, images and queries, please contact Kimberly Noelle Charles, DWS or Alexandra Fondren at Charles Communications Associates press@charlescomm.com or (415) 701-9463.

  Robert Parker Wine Advocate and RobertParker.com, the world’s most widely read independent consumer’s guide to fine wine, announces that it has recently expanded its global presence and reach by hiring Liwen Hao as the publication’s new Asian Wine Reviewer. A Chinese national and experienced wine writer and educator, Liwen Hao will be based in Shanghai. His responsibilities will include reviewing Asia’s best wines including those from China, India and Japan. He will also be overseeing the translation of parts of the RobertParker.com website and database in simplified Chinese. “It is a great honor and a privilege to join Robert Parker and his illustrious reviewer team,” commented Liwen Hao. “I feel that China and other areas are coming of age in terms of grape growing and winemaking. It is my hope to bring many high quality, truly interesting Asian wines to the attention of the wine world.”   Liwen Hao’s first articles will feature in Robert Parker Wine Advocate and RobertParker.com in the second quarter of 2016. It is anticipated that the Chinese version of RobertParker.com will launch in June 2016.   Meanwhile, Robert Parker Wine Advocate has recently opened a new office in Napa, California to house its expanding editorial, marketing and business development teams. Editor-in-Chief Lisa Perrotti-Brown has relocated from Singapore to Napa to set-up and manage the new office.   “The USA remains our largest market and an incredibly important one for us,” commented Perrotti-Brown. “At the heart of the American wine industry and with such a wealth of local talent, the Napa Valley is an ideal location for growing our team and a great place to service our U.S. subscriber base. While we aspire to be the world’s most comprehensive, timely and expertly produced wine guide, we are constantly looking to offer our subscribers even more. We are very excited to begin doing so over the forthcoming months from our new Napa home.”   About Liwen Hao Born in Xi’An and raised in Shanghai, China, Liwen started his career as a marketer in multi-national companies. His first wine job was working for ASC, the biggest wine importer in China, from 2004. During his eight-year period with the company, Liwen’s role ranged from marketing officer to a wine educator and writer. From 2009, Liwen has starred in the Chinese wine education video “Wine Connoisseur”, to bring the wine knowledge to audiences in a fun way. Today the series of his videos has more than one million viewers and is posted on China’s most popular video websites. In 2012, he worked as the Editor-in-Chief for WinePress magazine, one of the most influential wine magazines in China. In 2014, Liwen founded his own wine education school, and assumed the role of Brand Ambassador for Decanter Shanghai Fine Wine Encounter. In 2010, together with Chantal Chi, he wrote his first book, “Whys in Wine”, sharing the answers for the most common questions Chinese wine drinkers have. At the beginning of 2014, his second book, “The Footprints in the Vineyards”, was launched in China.   About Robert Parker Wine Advocate For more than 35 years, The Wine Advocate, and later RobertParker.com, has been the global leader and independent consumer’s guide to fine wine. The brand was established by the internationally recognized, Robert M. Parker, Jr., the only critic in any field to receive the highest Presidential honor from three countries – France, Italy and Spain. Robert Parker Wine Advocate provides a wealth of information to its subscribers, including a searchable database of more than 280,000 professional wine ratings and reviews plus articles, videos, daily news content, online retail availability and pricing, an active, professionally moderated bulletin board, a mobile app for easy access to the comprehensive online database of reviews, and much more. For more information, visit www.RobertParker.com.