A four-time NBA Champion and six-time All-Star, few professional basketball players have succeeded on the court comparable to Tony Parker. However, professional basketball is only one of the areas in which this Belgian-born athlete has excelled. He has owned sports organizations (including stakes in French basketball clubs LDLC ASVEL and ASVEL Féminin and the National Women’s Soccer League’s OL Reign), been part of notable film and television projects (e.g. Netflix’s Call My Agent, the documentary Tony Parker: The Final Shot), recorded charting music (the 2007 album TP), served on executive and advisory boards (including leadership of the sports, artists and entertainment division of NorthRock Partners), and worked extensively as a philanthropist.
Tony Parker has found a new industry to conquer—wine. Parker has partnered with Michel Reybier, an entrepreneur and visionary, for the past 40 years. Founder of Aoste—which many consider to be the first fine European charcuterie—Reybier is the founder and owner of La Réserve hotels in Paris, Geneva, Zurich and Ramatuelle, as well as Domaines Reybier, which includes the Cos d’Estournel, Domaine Impérial Tokaj-Hétszölö, Champagne Michel Reybier, Champagne Jeeper, Château La Mascaronne, and La Lauzade wineries in Provence.
FROM THE GRAPEVINE
Parker is now directly involved with Reybier’s wineries in Champagne and Château La Mascaronne, an iconic estate in Le Luc in Provence. Convinced by the potential, Reybier purchased Château La Mascaronne in 2020. With terroir and conditions ideal for producing an outstanding rosé wine, Château La Mascaronne is known to craft expressive and balanced wines solely from the estate’s grapes. Certified Agriculture Biologique since 2016, the estate’s 60-hectare vineyard is a single, continuous plot of land surrounded by oak and olive trees.
In an interview with New York Lifestyles Magazine, Parker mentioned that he and Reybier had first connected via a similar interest within the sports world. “We met through mutual friends. In the early 2000s, he used to own the basketball team that I own now,” began Parker. “He knew that I wanted to invest in wine. After talking for a year, we just agreed to become partners together. Then I became the ambassador for La Mascaron and Jeeper.”
So, was Tony Parker, a renowned athlete who maintained intense conditioning throughout his teens, 20s, and 30s, always a fan of wine? “I’m French; it’s in my culture. I was lucky enough to play for a coach who loved wine. Coach Gregg Popovich is a big wine lover with a huge collection.”
PLAYING THE KNICKS
Parker has fond memories of New York. Having played for the San Antonio Spurs most of his basketball career, he and his teammates sometimes head straight to the airport after playing the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. “We always enjoyed dinners,” he said. “We were famous for our dinners, the Spurs. We were the frontrunners to have wine in the NBA.” New York sports fans, of course, could be harsh on game days. “They’re tough, for sure, because they know their basketball.”
Nowadays, Parker feels it is common for professional athletes to be public with their appreciation for wine. “When I arrived in ’01, it was more hard alcohol. Maybe when the NBA changed the dress code, and we had to dress up and be classy, people were drinking more wine. Now you see it all over the NBA with Dwyane Wade, Steph Curry, Carmelo Anthony—everybody’s got their vineyards, or you can see LeBron posting a great vintage that he drank from one of the great castles of wine.” And which is Parker’s favorite wine to enjoy these days? “I love all three colors and dessert wines, too.”
For more information on Tony Parker and his wines,
visit chateau-lamascaronne.com; Instagram.com/tonyparker09