tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16579934.post1944383217426141336..comments2024-03-18T21:16:20.987+08:00Comments on Think Positive: Robert Parker’s newsletter moving to SingaporeGuanyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03622336318754833240noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16579934.post-74816012904385974822012-12-31T20:49:56.506+08:002012-12-31T20:49:56.506+08:00Robert Parker’s newsletter moving to Singapore
AF...Robert Parker’s newsletter moving to Singapore<br /><br />AFP<br />12 December 2012<br /><br />Influential US wine critic Robert Parker is moving the headquarters of his newsletter to Singapore after selling a major stake to investors based in the city-state, a report said yesterday.<br /> <br />Mr. Parker told The Wall Street Journal he intends to step down as editor-in-chief of The Wine Advocate and phase out its print edition, giving oversight to his Singapore-based Asia correspondent, Lisa Perrotti-Brown.<br /> <br />“The Asian market has come of age in the last decade or so, and it would be unrealistic not to expect to be part of it,” he said.<br /> <br />He declined to name his new investors but described them as “young visionaries” in financial services and information technology based in Singapore who presented him with a plan he could not refuse, according to the report.<br /> <br />“They love wine, but they also saw a great business opportunity,” said Mr. Parker, who said he will become chairman of the new company and continue to review the wines of Bordeaux and the Rhone for the newsletter.<br /> <br />Despite having only 50,000 subscribers paying US$75 a year for six issues, most of them living in the United States, The Wine Advocate can make or break a winemaker with reviews based on a 50-100 point quality grading system.<br /> <br />Mr. Parker said The Wine Advocate’s print version might disappear before the end of 2013, and he would offer incentives to print subscribers to make the change to an online-only format.<br /> <br />“Maybe we will offer them Kindles,” he said.<br /> <br />The company’s current office is next to Mr. Parker’s home in Maryland farm country.<br /> <br />The new investors are planning an abbreviated South-east Asian edition aimed at corporate clients such as airlines and luxury hotels, the report said, and the main newsletter will also put more emphasis on Asia’s nascent wine industry.<br /> <br />Ms. Perrotti-Brown, who also writes for an online Wine Advocate offshoot called erobertparker.com, plans to hire a new correspondent likely to be based in China.<br /> <br />“The correspondent will cover wines produced in China, Thailand and other Asian countries,” she was quoted as saying.<br /> <br />“We envisage eventually allowing some advertising, but only from sponsors where there is absolutely no conflict of interest,” added Ms. Perrotti-Brown.<br /> <br />No winery or wine-related business would be allowed to advertise but luxury watches or credit card brands would be acceptable, the report said.<br /> <br />Organisers of Asia’s biggest wine and spirits fair Vinexpo Asia-Pacific, held in Hong Kong in May, said China leapt to fifth place among top wine-consuming nations last year, overtaking Britain.<br /> <br />Asia is expected to account for more than half of worldwide growth in consumption over the next three years, they added. <br />Guanyuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03622336318754833240noreply@blogger.com