Mark Squires was a lawyer in Philadelphia, class of '78, although he does not practice much any more. He began traveling extensively in France in 1981. At the time, the only wines he drank were things like Bolla Soave and Mouton Cadet, which he thought was the good stuff (as opposed to favorites like Mateus Rosé). French sommeliers were not satisfied with this state of affairs, needless to say, and insisted that he drink their good wines with their good food. He agreed. In no time at all, hobby turned to obsession.

Mark, formerly the forum leader on Prodigy's Wine Forum, has been teaching wine courses for over fifteen years, and published numerous articles in various magazines and papers, but his main output became electronic around 1995 when he began his own website. After a few years, he added a popular Bulletin Board, which is now housed on eRobertParker.com. His website attracted international attention, both among readers and other media outlets. Mark sometimes gives and organize wine seminars for local organizations and individuals, and has acted as an expert wine consultant in a variety of matters and circumstances. He has been reviewing wines professionally for approximately a decade, and his reviews have been cited in major publications.

In 2006, he was assigned to cover Portugual's dry wines by Robert Parker for the Wine Advocate. Mark says that it is still work, but a very different type of work. When he had the pleasure of spending a night in June, 2006 at the home of Jorge Moreira, the highly regarded Poeira winemaker, in order to faciliate wine visits in the Douro, the next morning, around 9:15 a.m., Jorge said, "Time to go to work," and brought out several bottles to taste. Mark replied, "This isn't work. The people who have to harvest wine in the Douro--THAT'S work."

 more info on wine advocate
go to wine guides overview