ROBERT PARKER: "I WAS NOT SURPRISED AT ANTONIO GALLONI’S CHOICE. HE HAS DONE AN OUTSTANDING JOB AND HAS A BRILLIANT FUTURE. I WISH HIM ALL THE LUCK IN THE WORLD. "THE WINE ADVOCATE" WILL CONTINUE TO CREATE EXCELLENT ARTICLES

"I’m not surprised Antonio Galloni has chosen not to become a simple employee in the new structure of “The Wine Advocate”, as he was offered, since he was with us as an independent contractor. I fully understand his decision and, as I said, he has done a great job over the last six years and has a brilliant future, in my opinion. We will miss him, but we want everyone to know, however, that we will continue to create great content and excellent reviews”.

So said Robert Parker Jr. in a statement, commenting Antonio Galloni’s departure from the famous magazine. “He told me about his decision a few hours before the news broke. We support Antonio, his work ethic, his integrity and his commitment in wanting to make known new wine regions. I am sorry to see Anthony go in a different direction from ours, but I’m happy for him and his family and wish him all the luck he deserves”.

As for the future of the magazine, as we have already mentioned, Asian investors (a majority) have come in and soon will move headquarters to Singapore, Parker explained: "We are at a stage where we want to make the most out of the experience of our existing team, but we are also looking for new signature talents. We expect to have information to share with the public as soon as possible in this regard.” Meanwhile, “the show must go on”, and the February issue of "The Wine Advocate", Parker announced, will have his reviews on the wines of Bordeaux 2010 (bottled), “as well as in-depth regional articles signed by Neal Martin, David Schildknect, Mark Squires, Lisa Perrotti-Brown and Antonio Galloni”.