Patrick Comiskey is an American wine critic and a senior correspondent for Wine & Spirits , chief critic for non-California domestic wines, and writes about wines of California, Oregon and Washington. [1] Comiskey contributes regularly to Los Angeles Times and Zester Daily , and has been published in various periodicals such as San Francisco Chronicle , Food & Wine [2] and Bon Appétit . [1] [3]
Comiskey has bachelor's degrees in English and psychology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, [1] a master's degree from Brown University. He is a former sommelier. [3] In June 2010 it was reported he is writing a book about the American Rhône-movement. [4]
Comiskey's book, American Rhone: How Maverick Winemakers Changed the Way Americans Drink, was published in 2016 and received favorable reviews.
Oenology is the science and study of wine and winemaking. Oenology is distinct from viticulture, which is the science of the growing, cultivation, and harvesting of grapes. The English word oenology derives from the Greek word oinos "wine" and the suffix –logia the "study of". An oenologist is an expert in the science of wine and of the arts and techniques for making wine.
A sommelier, or wine steward, is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, normally working in fine restaurants, who specializes in all aspects of wine service as well as wine and food pairing. The role of the sommelier in fine dining today is much more specialized and informed than that of a wine waiter. Sommeliers Australia states that the role is strategically on par with that of the chef de cuisine.
Paul Beatty is an American author and an associate professor of writing at Columbia University. In 2016, he won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Booker Prize for his novel The Sellout. It was the first time a writer from the United States was honored with the Man Booker.
Andrea Robinson is an American sommelier, chef, television personality, and author. She is one of thirty-two women Master Sommeliers in the world and was the first woman to be named by the Sommelier Society of America as the best sommelier in the United States, which occurred in 1997. She has been the recipient of three James Beard Awards.
Cult wines are wines for which dedicated groups of committed enthusiasts will pay large sums of money.
Rajat ("Raj") Parr is an Indian-American sommelier turned winemaker who oversaw the Michael Mina restaurant group's wine program before launching his own wineries in Oregon and the Central Coast of California. Sandhi is his label of purchased grapes while Lompoc, Domaine de la Cote, and Evening Land are productions from his and Sashi Moorman's vineyards. He mainly produces Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, biodynamically and organically. His winemaking philosophy is based on little to no manipulation of the final product through never inoculating nor over-ripening. His latest project is an urban winemaking facility in DTLA that he shares with fellow winemaker Abe Schoener.
James Cameron Suckling is an American wine and cigar critic and former Senior Editor and European Bureau Chief of Wine Spectator as well as European Editor of Cigar Aficionado. Suckling is internationally regarded as one of the world's most influential wine critics, and one of the most experienced critics of vintage cigars.
Tom Stevenson is a British wine writer and critic.
The Oxford Companion to Wine (OCW) is a book in the series of Oxford Companions published by Oxford University Press. The book provides an alphabetically arranged reference to wine, compiled and edited by Jancis Robinson, with contributions by several wine writers including Hugh Johnson, Michael Broadbent, and James Halliday, and experts such as viticulturist Richard Smart and oenologist Pascal Ribéreau-Gayon.
Colman Robert Hardy Andrews is an American writer and editor on food and wine. He is best known for his association with Saveur magazine, which he founded with Dorothy Kalins, Michael Grossman, and Christopher Hirsheimer in 1994 and where he served as editor-in-chief from 2001 until 2006. After resigning from the magazine in 2006, he became the restaurant columnist for Gourmet. In 2010, he helped launch a food and drink website, The Daily Meal, and served as its editorial director until mid-2018. He is now a senior editor specializing in food and travel for 24/7 Tempo. He is considered one of the world's foremost experts on Spanish cuisine, particularly that of the Catalonia region.
The SOMM Journal is a subscription-based magazine publication, founded in 2008 for sommeliers and others in the restaurant and wine business. The magazine summarized consumer, restaurant, and wine trends and news for wine professionals.
Zester Daily was a food and wine online magazine, published by a team led by Corie Brown, a former writer and editor for the Los Angeles Times. The site, founded in August 2009, was launched with the statement, "In the face of the bleak news of Gourmet magazine's demise and newspapers' financial struggles, a collection of award-winning journalists has banded together to create Zester Daily, a pioneering news site covering all aspects of what we eat and drink." The magazine ceased in 2016.
Sean Haley Thackrey was an American winemaker based in the town of Bolinas in Marin County, California. Prior to winemaking, he was a director of an art gallery. Thackrey has been described as having been an unconventional winemaker who did pioneering work in promoting California Syrah.
Jean-Luc Colombo is a French wine producer and negociant in the Rhône Valley. While Colombo produces several Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) wines in the Rhône, such as Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Hermitage, he is most noted for being a pioneer in the revitalization of the Cornas wine region. In reference to a Remington Norman quote about the need for a "media star" to bring attention to the Cornas region, The New York Times wine writer Frank Prial noted that Jean-Luc Colombo has done much to fill that need.
Unionville Vineyard is a winery in the Unionville section of East Amwell in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. Originally part of the largest peach orchard in the United States, the vineyard was first planted in 1988, and opened to the public in 1993. Unionville has 41 acres of grapes under cultivation, and produces 4,500 cases of wine per year. The winery is named for a former village near where the farm is located.
Charles Blackstone is an American writer. His most recent novel is the semi-autobiographical Vintage Attraction (2013).
Peter Neptune is an American wine expert and educator as well as a former television and NY stage actor. He is one of only 147 Master Sommeliers in North America, as of June 2015, and is the founder of the Orange County, CA-based Neptune School of Wine. He appeared on and off Broadway in 1984 and 1985, appeared in numerous television movies and series from 1988 through 1990, and appeared as himself in the 2013 wine documentary SOMM.
Belinda Chang is a James Beard Award winning American sommelier, writer, and restaurateur. Chang has been the wine and service director for multiple critically acclaimed restaurants in Chicago, San Francisco, and New York City. She has authored wine notes for several cookbooks, including Charlie Trotter’s Meat and Game, and as a host on the Fine Living Network.
Fred Dame is an American wine professional.