Monica Larner (original) (raw)

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Italian wine critic and writer

Monica Larner
Born November 5, 1970 (1970-11-05) (age 54)Los Angeles, California
Education Boston UniversityNew York University
Parent Stevan Larner
Website erobertparker.com

Monica Larner is a wine critic and writer based in Rome. She is the Italian Reviewer for The Wine Advocate and eRobertParker.com, the bimonthly wine publication and website founded by wine critic, Robert Parker.[1] She was selected in 2013 by Parker to replace the departing Antonio Galloni.[2]

In 2003, Larner was selected to be the very first dedicated Italian wine editor for Wine Enthusiast.[2] She is also a two-time winner of the Best Young Journalist of the Year (2008, 2010), one of the top honors given out yearly at the VinItaly exposition.[3] In 2012, Larner won Best International Journalist also presented by the Comitato Grandi Cru d'Italia panel at VinItaly.[4] As of 2013, Larner is the only wine journalist to have won one of these top prizes in wine journalism three times.[5]

Through her work at The Wine Advocate, Larner's opinion on Italian wines is often cited by mainstream media publications like Forbes[6] and Newsweek.[7] She has been described by Robert Parker as "...one of the most comprehensive writers of Italian wines out there."[5]

A Los Angeles native, Larner's family moved to Rome when she was 11 years old for filming of the 1983 World War II television mini-series The Winds of War on which her father, Stevan Larner, worked as the director of photography.

After high school in both Italy and California, Larner earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees in journalism (an MA with a minor in Italian studies) from Boston University and New York University respectively.

Larner began her career working for the Italian daily La Repubblica, followed by four years as a reporter in the Rome bureau of BusinessWeek (her bylines include an in-depth look at the Antinori wine dynasty).[8] She spent two years as a staff writer covering news and Italian wine for Italy Daily, a joint venture with the International Herald Tribune and Corriere della Sera that has since folded.[9][10]

The next phase of her career was characterized by intense travel for four guidebooks she authored including Living, Studying and Working in Italy and In Love in Italy.[11][12]

In 1997, Larner's father retired and her parents purchased a 134-acre ranch in Ballard Canyon, Santa Barbara, California. Monica helped to establish the vineyard; selecting clones, setting cordons and pruning vines. Stevan Larner died in a vineyard accident in 2005.[13] Today, Monica's enologist brother Michael manages the family wine venture.[14]

In 2003, Larner was approached by Wine Enthusiast to be the magazine's first Italy-based correspondent and was formally trained to use the 100-point scoring system by Managing Editor Joe Czerwinski. She was among the first American wine writers to bring attention to Italian indigenous grapes and up-and-coming wine regions such as Sicily's Mount Etna.[15][16][17] Over the course of the next ten years, her tasting responsibilities grew to 3,000 wines per year (totaling 16,000 published reviews overall) and she was named the magazine's Italian Editor.[1] Before leaving Wine Enthusiast, she published a 185-page special collector's edition dedicated to the wines of Italy.[18]

In 2013, she joined The Wine Advocate team as the Italian reviewer.[1] One of Larner's first changes at the publication was the addition of new regions to The Wine Advocate's "Vintage Chart" that lists the world's most cellar-worthy wines. In addition to Barbaresco, Barolo, Bolgheri, Brunello di Montalcino and Chianti Classico, Larner added Etna, Friuli, Taurasi, Trentino-Alto Adige and Valpolicella to the chart. In August 2013, Larner sparked controversy for refusing to taste the wines of an Italian producer who had used racial slurs against Italy's first African-Italian Minister Cécile Kyenge.[19][20]

Larner is an active member of the Ordine dei Giornalisti and of Italy's Foreign Press Association community. She is a certified sommelier with the Italian Sommelier Association.

  1. ^ a b c "The Wine Advocate & eRobertParker.com Announce Expanded Wine Coverage With More Tasting Notes & In-Depth Reporting". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  2. ^ a b Lucy Shaw "Parker appoints three new critics" The Drinks Business, April 25, 2013.
  3. ^ Wine Enthusiast Magazine ''Video Story: Wine Enthusiast Magazine Wins Best Magazine at Grandi Cru Vinitaly Awards. Wine Enthusiast editor Monica Larner named best young journalist.", April 2010 issue, Accessed: December 4th, 2013
  4. ^ Claudia Ricci "Monica Larner Named Best International Journalist" Wine Enthusiast Magazine, Web 2012. Accessed: December 19th, 2013
  5. ^ a b Marketwired "The Wine Advocate & eRobertParker.com Unveil Two More Reviewers Joining Its World-Renowned Editorial Team Archived April 26, 2013, at the Wayback Machine" The Wall Street Journal, April 23, 2013. Accessed: December 19, 2013
  6. ^ Eric Arnold "Would You Buy A Wine Made By A Racist?" Forbes, September 5, 2013
  7. ^ Abigail Jones "Vino? No Thanks. We’re Italian" Newsweek, November 16, 2013
  8. ^ Larner, Monica (December 29, 1997). "Revolution in the Vineyard". Business Week: 18–19.
  9. ^ "Note to Readers: IHT Begins Printing A Joint-Venture Supplement in Italy". NY Times. June 16, 1998. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
  10. ^ Larner, Monica (September 12, 2001). "This Year's Wine Harvest: High Quality, Lower Quantity". Italy Daily.
  11. ^ a b Larner, Monica; Travis Neighbor Ward (2003). Living, Studying and Working in Italy. Holt Paperbacks. ISBN 9780805073065.
  12. ^ a b Larner, Monica (2007). In Love in Italy: A Traveller's Guide to the Most Romantic Destinations in the Country of Amore. RIZZOLI International. ISBN 978-0847829354.
  13. ^ Variety staff (November 15, 2005). "Stevan Larner". Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  14. ^ Kettmann, Matt. "The Little Vineyard That Does". Santa Barbara Independent. Archived from the original on December 28, 2013. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  15. ^ Larner, Monica (August 16, 2005). "10 Italian Varieties You Need to Know". Wine Enthusiast Magazine. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  16. ^ Larner, Monica. "21st-Century Sicily". Wine Enthusiast Magazine. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  17. ^ Larner, Monica (April 6, 2010). "Mt. Etna Gets Hot". Wine Enthusiast Magazine. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  18. ^ a b Larner, Monica (2011). Wine Enthusiast Magazine's Wines of Italy (Special Collector's ed.). Adam Strum.
  19. ^ Gibb, Rebecca. "Wine Advocate Boycotts Italian Producer After Racist Rant". wine-searcher. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  20. ^ Arnold, Eric (September 5, 2013). "Would You Buy A Wine Made By A Racist?". Forbes. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  21. ^ Ricci, Claudia (April 10, 2012). "Monica Larner Named Best International Journalist". Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  22. ^ Morosi, Mariella. "Sua eccellenza Italia 2012 Premiati i protagonisti del Made in Italy". Retrieved September 10, 2013.
  23. ^ Larner, Monica (2008). Working & Living France, 2nd (Working & Living – Cadogan). Cadogan Guides. ISBN 978-1860113697.
  24. ^ Larner, Monica (2002). Buying a Property: Italy (Buying a Property - Cadogan). Cadogan Guides. ISBN 1860118798.