Wine Books & Authors

Allen Meadows, author of Burghound.com, a highly respected and critically acclaimed quarterly publication that reaches subscribers in more than 60 countries and nearly all 50 states. Burghound.com was the first of its kind to offer specialized, exhaustive coverage of a specific wine region and grape, he and pioneered the on-line format. There are reviews of the wines of Burgundy and U.S. Pinot Noir, as well as coverage of Champagne. Subscribers have access to a fully searchable database of nearly 60,000 of Meadows’ tasting notes with recommended drinking windows for present day vintages all the way back to 1845. Meadows spends four months every year in Burgundy and visits more than 300 domaines during that time. He is also the author of “The Pearl of the Côte – The Great Wines of Vosne-Romanée.”

Karen MacNeil, one of the foremost wine experts in the United States, has had a long and creative career in wine as an educator, consultant, television host, and writer. She is the author of the award-winning book, The Wine Bible, and host of Emmy-award winning Wine, Food & Friends with Karen MacNeil; the first television series on wine in the United States. Karen is the creator and Chairman of the Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies at the Culinary Institute of America in the Napa Valley. She conducts customized wine education seminars nationwide for individuals and corporations including American Express, Lexus, Merrill Lynch, General Electric, Time Inc., and NBC, among others. In 2008, the International Wine and Spirits Competition awarded Karen the “Oscar” of wine: Communicator of the Year. In a full page profile featured in Time Magazine, Karen was described as America’s “Missionary of the Vine.”

Jon Bonné is The San Francisco Chronicle’s wine editor, responsible for the paper’s wine and spirits coverage and the annual Top 100 Wines list. Before coming to The Chronicle, Bonné was lifestyle editor and wine columnist for MSNBC.com and lived in New York. His work has earned him two James Beard awards and multiple awards from the Association of Food Journalists. Previously Bonné was wine columnist for Seattle Magazine and has written about wine for Food & Wine, Decanter, Saveur, and the Art of Eating. He has also reported for The New York Times, Court TV, and National Public Radio, and is working on a book about California wine. What wine varieties would you like to see the public embrace more fully? So many Italian white varieties should be better known. Vermentino could be a star in California. Ribolla Gialla. Friulano. Grechetto. Timorasso. Ditto Portuguese varieties, but we’re much earlier on the curve. What else? Grenache. It’s everything that people claim to want in red wine, and it doesn’t have Syrah’s years of baggage. For that matter, let’s add Grenache Blanc to the list. It’s remarkably user-friendly.

Doug Frost is a Kansas City author who writes and lectures about wine, beer and spirits. He passed the rigorous Master Sommelier (MS) examination and two years later became America’s eighth Master of Wine (MW). He is one of only three people in the world to have achieved both these remarkable distinctions, and he’s sincerely a nice guy. Doug is also the author of three books on wine including “ Far From Ordinary: The Spanish Wine Guide.” He is a contributor to the Oxford Companion of Wine, and writes about wine and spirits for many publications including the San Francisco Chronicle, Underground Wine Journal, Drinks International, Practical Winery & Vineyard, Wines & Vines, Wines & Spirits, Cheers Magazine, Santé Magazine, and Epicurious.com, and he is the beverage columnist for the James Beard award-winning food section of the Kansas City Star .

Leslie Sbrocco is an award-winning author, speaker, wine consultant, and the author of two national wine books. As host of the PBS series Check Please! , she has won a coveted James Beard award, two Tasty Awards, and three Emmy awards. Sbrocco was also a featured judge on the PBS national series, The Winemakers , and she is a regular guest on NBC’s Today Show. She is also a wine educator for Crystal Cruises and Holland America Cruise Lines, and has started a new venture, Thirsty Girl, which aims to empower women in their wine and food choices.

Andrea Robinson one of the country’s leading wine educators, and is one of only 16 women in the world who have been appointed Master Sommelier by the prestigious Court of Master Sommeliers. She was the first woman ever chosen Best Sommelier in the United States by the Sommelier Society of America. In 2007 she was appointed Master Sommelier for Delta Air Lines, for whom she selects all of their in-flight wines as well as develops flight attendant wine training. Her production company JGR Productions produces informative food, wine and travel video content for Delta Air Lines, Borders Books, and broadcast media and she has worked with the Food Channel and PBS. She is the author of eight wine and food books including Andrea Robinson’s Wine Buying Guide for Everyone , and her articles have appeared in publications such as Health , Eating Well , Esquire , Real Simple , Money , and Bon Appétit . She has received a James Beard Award for Broadcast Journalism. Formerly this busy mother of three was the Wine Director at Windows on the World, and was Corporate Director of Beverage Programs for Starwood Hotels.

Adam Strum is the Founder and Chairman of Wine Enthusiast Companies and Editor and Publisher of Wine Enthusiast Magazine and heads up the largest group of wine commerce and media companies in the world. With more than 800,000 readers Wine Enthusiast Magazine and its Web site Winemag.com provide editorial content and authoritative reviews and ratings of tens of thousands of wines every year. The Wine Enthusiast Catalog/Web business is the world’s leading inventor and seller of wine accessories and wine storage. Strum, a second-generation, 35-year veteran of the wine business, is a pioneer whose multi-faceted wine-related businesses have had a major impact on increasing wine consumption and wine culture in America. Since 1979 Wine Enthusiast Companies has mailed and distributed more than 300 million wine-related publications in the United States and around the world. Not bad for a husband and wife team who started a mail-order business in their attic.