日前，美國知名酒評機構《葡萄酒倡導者》（Wine Advocate）主編 Lisa Perrotti-Brown發長文稱，“世界頭號酒評家”羅伯特·帕克（Robert Parker）已于5月16日正式退休，并封筆停止酒評工作。
Lisa在其文章中親切的稱帕克為：現代酒評界之父、《葡萄酒倡導者》的創始人，以及她本人最重要的導師、一個親愛的朋友。言辭深切令人動容。
相信很多人一定會說，Parker不是早兩年就已經“退休”了嗎？不是的，彼時他只是宣布卸任《葡萄酒倡導者》主編一職，作為這份雜志的創辦人，他仍保留管理者的職位，如今才是真正的退休。
《葡萄酒倡導者》由帕克在1967年創建，在美國上大學期間，他為了追自己的法國女朋友特意前往法國度假，后來這位女朋友成為了他的太太。
在法國度假期間，他不僅成功把女朋友追到手，還在旅途中愛上了葡萄酒。1960年中期，帕克生發了創建一個酒評機構的想法，但他的家人和朋友都勸他成為一名律師，不鼓勵他冒險。1973年，帕克從馬里蘭大學法學院畢業，作為一名執業律師加入了馬里蘭州巴爾的摩市的一家公司。但他的心已經被葡萄酒俘虜，1978年，帕克開始花錢品酒寫酒評，發表了首份酒評指南Baltimore-Washington Wine Advocate，這也是《葡萄酒倡導者》的前身。
1970年代初期，帕克期望出版一份能跟酒莊和酒商脫離利益關系的獨立酒評指南，這份專業指南如同一本僅針對葡萄酒愛好者打造的雜志，僅靠讀者的訂閱費就可以維持運營的酒評機構。
1979年，帕克的雜志正式改名為《葡萄酒倡導者》（The Wine Advocate）。1983年，帕克發表了令他一鳴驚人的1982年波爾多期酒酒評，彼時大多數酒評家認為1982年這個年份過于成熟，不足以長久陳年。但他卻認為這是一個將名垂青史的偉大年份。這個言論徹底的改變了帕克的人生，也堅定了他在酒評界的王者地位。
此后《葡萄酒倡導者》的名氣大升，訂閱數激增。1984年，帕克退出律師行業，開始全職專注于葡萄酒品評和《葡萄酒倡導者》的發展。
帕克在出版首期《葡萄酒倡導者》酒評指南時就使用了100分制酒評體系，相比于歐洲傳統的20分制，這種簡單易懂的100分體系改變了人們買酒的習慣：只要看分數高低就能決定是否要購入一款酒。如今帕克打造的《葡萄酒倡導者》在美國每個州都有訂閱用戶，并且遍布全世界40多個國家。
帕克是歷史上首位被兩位法國總統和一位意大利總統授予最高總統榮譽的葡萄酒作家/酒評家。
2012年12月，帕克宣布卸任《葡萄酒倡導者》主編的職務，欽定Lisa Perrotti-Brown接任。并將《葡萄酒倡導家》大部分股份出售給幾位新加坡投資者。早在68歲生日時，帕克就表示，“在55歲的時候我就萌生了出售雜志的想法，我的健康有很多問題，包括不斷加劇的背部疼痛、一次鈦合金關節替換手術，我意識到我老了。”
2015年，在《葡萄酒倡導家》于倫敦舉行的新聞發布會上，帕克再次宣布將波爾多期酒品評的工作轉交給團隊成員Neal Martin負責，自己將不再繼續參與波爾多期酒品鑒。（編者注：后Neal Martin離職，加入了由帕克前員工Antonio Galloni創建的酒評機構Vinous）
自帕克離任后，《葡萄酒倡導者》的酒評團隊人才流失和變動頻繁，頗受爭議。2016年，該雜志陷入日本清酒評分丑聞，被指涉嫌勾結酒商，曾在日本某葡萄酒公司工作過的主編Lisa成為眾矢之至。而帕克曾經造成的“帕克影響”也受到不少業內人士的抨擊，即有些酒莊為了得到高分，特意迎合帕克對橡木桶和果味的偏好而打造的酒款。
但不可否認的是，從來沒有一個酒評家可以像帕克這樣在葡萄酒行業在長達30年內擁有如此大的影響力，可謂呼風喚雨，被媒體稱之為“葡萄酒皇帝”。
除卻帕克開創先河的100分評分體系和令其名聲大振的波爾多1982年份，他的成功離不開自身的勤奮和天分。帕克的封筆代表著一個時代的終結，更代表著酒評家權傾朝野興盛時代的終結。
隨著全球化、信息化的不斷加深，人們對世界各地葡萄酒的認知也在迅速提升。后帕克時代誰能成為酒評界新偶像？或許真正的問題可能是，這個時代已經不再需要第二個帕克了，不再需要偶像來指引自己要喝什么酒，在自媒體百花齊放百家爭鳴的時代，人人可能都是酒評家。
以下為Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW英文全文，以饗讀者。
The father of modern wine criticism, our publication’s founder and namesake, my greatest mentor and a dear friend, it is with mixed feelings that I announce that Robert M. Parker Jr. will, as of today, be formally hanging up his wine criticism boots and retiring from Robert Parker Wine Advocate. I say “mixed,” because if anyone deserves a rest from our frenetic world of wine reviews, it is Bob. And yet, his contribution to significantly raising the bar of critical, unbiased wine writing and wine quality cannot be overestimated. His unrivaled tasting experience and expert, straight-talking opinions will be sorely missed by consumers and trade alike.
Last year, I wrote about The Big Parkerization Lie, debunking this myth of the perceived phenomenon of a global wine production trend that sought to achieve an “international style” of wines that would garner high scores from Parker. I’d like to take the opportunity now to remind readers about Parker’s journey and some of his greatest achievements, notably: The Wine Advocate.
The origins of The Wine Advocate can be traced back to as far as 1967, when Robert Parker took a brief break from American college life to make his first trip to France on the heels of a young lady who was studying in Alsace. That lady was soon to become Mrs. Patricia Parker and remains so to this day. Apart from getting the girl, Parker discovered wine during this first trip to France and developed a taste for it. In the mid to late 1960s, the seedling concept of The Wine Advocate took root in Robert Parker’s mind, but his friends and family, bent on him becoming a lawyer, discouraged this as fanciful. He graduated from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1973 and joined a firm as a practicing lawyer near where he and his young wife had grown up, in Baltimore, Maryland. But his professional heart was already lost to wine, and in 1978 Parker decided to put his money where his mouth was and began publishing his own wine guide, The Baltimore-Washington Wine Advocate.
In the early 1970s, when Parker was conceiving of writing his own wine guide, he was taken with the work of Ralph Nader, an American political activist who sought to “out” corporate and political corruption by challenging compromised propaganda. Parker recognized that much of what was then being written about wine was compromised by the financial agendas of many of the famous wine writers of the day. He dreamt of a publication that could be free of financial ties to wineries and merchants, a guide that would produce wholly unbiased views on wines and that served only the interests of wine consumers. This would be a magazine that would be funded purely by subscribers—the people who buy, read and use it. And thus, The Wine Advocatestarted and remains true to this day.
In 1979 the name of Robert Parker’s magazine was changed to The Wine Advocate. In 1983, Parker’s controversial glowing reviews of the 1982 Bordeaux vintage, tasted from barrels in the wineries, created a stir among most other major wine writers who felt the vintage was too ripe and the wines wouldn’t age. When Parker turned out to be right about the greatness of this vintage, his reputation and subscriber base soared. By 1984 he was able to leave his law career to focus on The Wine Advocate and wine full-time.
Robert Parker created our original 100-point wine rating system with the first issue of The Wine Advocate, and it remains as the industry standard to this day. Today, Robert Parker Wine Advocate has subscribers in every state in America and in more than 40 countries throughout the wine world.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown making remarks at Robert M. Parker, Jr's 40th anniversary salon dinner at two-MICHELIN-starred Daniel restaurant in New York City. (Photo by Aaron Hutcherson.)
Robert M. Parker, Jr. is the only wine writer/critic in history to be given the highest Presidential Honors by two French presidents and an Italian President. On March 29, 1999, President Jacques Chirac signed a decree authorizing Robert M. Parker, Jr. to be a Chevalier dans l’Ordre de la Légion d’Honneur. In 1993, the late President Fran?ois Mitterrand made Parker a Chevalier dans l’Ordre National du Mérite. In 2002, Parker was made a Commendatore (Commander) in Italy’s National Order of Merit.
“As I retire from The Wine Advocate,” remarks Robert Parker, “I have the honor of passing the baton to our wonderful team. The time has come for myself to relinquish all editorial and board responsibilities with immediate effect. I raise my glass to all of you for being part of this journey and hope all will continue to share the enthusiasm for discovering wines with our dedicated reviewers.”
Robert Parker fully relinquished the reviewing of wines for Robert Parker Wine Advocate to his 10-strong review team more than two years ago now. Joe Czerwinski, Luis Gutiérrez, Monica Larner, William Kelley, Stephan Reinhardt, Mark Squires, Erin Brooks, Anthony Mueller, Liwen Hao and I have all had big shoes to fill, but we learned from the best. We couldn’t be more grateful to Bob for his guidance.
I hope that all of our readers and wine friends far and wide will raise a toast in honor of Robert Parker’s contribution to the wine world tonight.
Bob, here’s to wishing you a well-earned rest in your retirement. Savor each day with the pleasure of enjoying your greatest wine discoveries, as you have brought such joy to your readership. Cheers!
