Lisa Perrotti-Brown

The Path

At the start of a wine career in 1992, Lisa Perrotti-Brown worked as manager of a wine bar in Pimlico, London, UK. The role sat at the meeting point of hospitality, conversation, and tasting, and it set the terms for a practice grounded in direct contact with wine and the people who drink and sell it. She then moved through wine sales and marketing roles in the UK wine trade until 2002, building familiarity with the commercial side of the business and the practical knowledge that would later support her criticism. A more international phase began in 2002, when Lisa Perrotti-Brown took on dual posts as wine buyer at a fine wine importer in Tokyo, Japan and wine educator at Tokyo's Academie du Vin in Tokyo, Japan. Buying required selection and judgment; teaching required language and clarity. Working in both roles at once widened the frame of her expertise and sharpened the way she would later write about wine for a broader readership. Further reach came with her work as a columnist at Robert Parker's website (eRobertParker.com) in Singapore from 2008–2012, which placed her criticism in front of an international audience. That was followed by a long stretch as editor-in-chief at Robert Parker Wine Advocate and RobertParker.com from 2012–2021, a period that established her name in serious, detail-led wine criticism. Today, Lisa Perrotti-Brown is co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Wine Independent, where the same editorial discipline continues to shape her work.

The Work Today

Today, Lisa Perrotti-Brown is co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Wine Independent, a role that reflects both accumulated trade experience and a commitment to independent judgment. Her criticism focuses on detail and feeling, with attention not only to structure and composition but also to the less quantifiable qualities that define a wine's character. As she has said, "And, especially for the truly great wines, I think it is important to capture such aspects as the wine’s unique signature, personality and the emotional response it can evoke." That line shows the center of her method: wine is not only assessed, but read and described in a way that gives the reader a usable sense of what sets it apart. The work moves between technical evaluation and the atmosphere of the glass, holding precision and response in the same frame.

In Their Words “And, especially for the truly great wines, I think it is important to capture such aspects as the wine’s unique signature, personality and the emotional response it can evoke.”

Acclaim

Lisa Perrotti-Brown has received Master of Wine (2008). Lisa Perrotti-Brown's honors include Masters of Wine Madame Bollinger Foundation Award and Masters of Wine Tim Derouet Foundation Award. Those awards sit alongside a career that has moved through education, trade, criticism, and editorial leadership, marking the breadth of her contribution to wine and the weight her work has carried over time.