About Us

2675a Broadway
New York, NY 10025
(212) 222 3640

620 Valley Rd.
Montclair, NJ 07043
(973) 746 7337

Our Story

"A good wine gets better the more you know about it"

Telling the stories behind the bottles is at the core of Grape Collective’s mission, but we also want to bridge the gap between reading about a wine and drinking it. We’re ending the wild goose chases: You can buy the wines we write about right here on our site.

Yes, this will be a for profit undertaking — mixing journalism with commerce. Writers are given the latitude to write about the wines they enjoy, subject only to the following restriction: the wines covered need to be available for purchase. In some cases Grape Collective will purchase the wines and make them available for sale and in other cases we will link to retailer who has the wines available for sale.

Our firm belief is that a good wine becomes better the more you know about it. So we will cover as wide a swath as possible, from obscure, eclectic subjects such as Californian Ribolla, to the more tried-and-true offerings, like Brunello. We will offer a platform for emerging talent within the wine world, with innovative tools and experimental approaches to telling their stories.

We look forward to learning and drinking with you.

Christopher Barnes, Founder, Grape Collective --

Masthead

Christopher Barnes

Editor, Publisher

A frustrated wine drinker who couldn't figure out where to buy all the great wines written about in his favorite wine columns. Prior to Grape Collective Christopher served as President of The New York Observer Media Group where he oversaw the launch of multiple successful print and digital media properties. In addition,

Dorothy J. Gaiter & John Brecher

Senior Editors

Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher conceived and wrote The Wall Street Journal's wine column, "Tastings," from 1998 to 2010. Dorothy and John have been tasting and studying wine since 1973. In 2020, the University of California at Davis added their papers to the Warren Winiarski Wine Writers Collection in its library,

Michael Woodsmall

Contributing Editor

Michael Woodsmall is a Tokyo-born, Kansas-raised writer and editor based out of Santa Monica, California. Cutting his teeth through consulting on a number of editorial startups and a handful of apps, he previously served as Managing Editor of The New York Observer and Co-Creator of men's lifestyle site Supercompressor.

William Paul

CTO

The IT manager of Grape Collective, Website developer, server and hosting administrator, the Senior Magento/Shopify Developer with over 10 years of great experience.

Contributing Writers

Jameson Fink

Jameson Fink has been working in the wine industry and blogging about wine since 2004. Saveur Magazine nominated his site, jamesonfink.com, for a 2013 Best Food Blog Award in the Wine/Beer Category. He is a tireless advocate for year-round rosé consumption and enjoys a glass of Champagne alongside a bowl of popcorn.

Dorothy J. Gaiter & John Brecher

Dorothy J. Gaiter

Dorothy J. Gaiter conceived and wrote The Wall Street Journal's wine column, "Tastings," from 1998 to 2010 with her husband, John Brecher. She has been tasting and studying wine since 1973. She has had a distinguished career in journalism as a reporter, editor, columnist and editorial writer at The Miami Herald and

Ethan Millspaugh

Ethan Millspaugh is a writer, filmmaker, and artist from Dallas, Texas. In 2012, his art book #UNTITLED2012 was published by MoMA artist Edgar Endress and the Provisions Library in Washington, D.C., and - in 2013 - his first short film NOVEMBER premiered at The Johns Hopkins Film Festival in Baltimore, Maryland and

Lisa Denning

Lisa’s love of food and wine has led her on the path to many culinary adventures. Leaving her position in advertising at The New York Times to attend the French Culinary Institute was the first step in this journey. After years in food styling, recipe development, catering and restaurant work, she landed

Rachael Doob

Contributor

Rachael Doob is a contributing writer and editor based in New York City.

David White

David White is the founder and editor of Terroirist. The author of a nationally syndicated wine column that's hosted by Grape Collective, David's wine writing has appeared in dozens of publications, including The World of Fine Wine, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post. He has his

Michael Woodsmall

Marco Salerno

Marco grew up watching his father make wine and visiting his grandparents’ farms in Sicily and Calabria, which led to his fascination with traditional winemaking. He is now pursuing a career as a professional winemaker. Marco explores his deep love for Southern Italian culture by leading tastings in NYC and NJ, collaborating

Monty Waldin

Monty Waldin was the first wine writer to specialize in green issues. He is the author of multiple books, including The Organic Wine Guide (Thorsons, 1999); Biodynamic Wines (Mitchell Beazley, 2004); Wines of South America (Mitchell Beazley, 2003), winner of America’s prestigious James Beard Book Award; Discovering Wine Country: Bordeaux (2005) and

Valerie Kathawala

Valerie Kathawala is an NYC-based student of wine and a wine writer. She is WSET Level 3 and most recently completed Vinitaly's "Native Wine Grapes of Italy" seminar, taught by Ian D'Agata. Her wine journey began 20 years ago, with a shared bottle of Saint-Émilion. It has since taken her - and

Nickolaus Hines

Nickolaus Hines is from Lompoc, Calif. He graduated with a degree in journalism from Auburn University in Auburn, Ala., in 2015, and moved to New York shortly after to chase a writing career. Follow him on Twitter @nickolaushines, where he tweets about wine, food and culture.

Alia Akkam

Alia Akkam is fascinated by the intersection of food, spirits & wine, travel, design, and culture, all of which she writes about from her home of New York City. She is the editor of Edible Queens magazine, a frequent contributor to Paper and Liquor.com, and has written for outlets from the Paris

Joyce Lin

Joyce Lin, born and raised in Taiwan, is a certified sommelier based in New York City. Her passion for wine has led her to pursue her career in the wine business by receiving her certification with the Court of Master Sommelier in 2015. Since then, Joyce has been working as a wine

Lee Pai

Contributor

Based in New York, Lee has found a plausible excuse to justify his wine drinking habit through writing about wine. A hobby he fell into during the pandemic, wine quickly became his passion, and he now loves sharing his opinion to customers walking into Grape Collective.

Lucia Albino Gilbert John C. Gilbert

Lucia Albino Gilbert, PhD, and John C. (Jack) Gilbert, PhD, both professors, have had long and distinguished careers at The University of Texas at Austin and Santa Clara University and are widely published in their fields. Their research on facilitating women’s career success in male-dominated scientific fields such as winemaking combines Lucia’s

Edward Marchese

Edward Marchese is a writer and wine lover based in New York City.

Barbara Fairchild

With more than three decades at Bon Appetit Magazine—including over ten years as editor-in-chief—Barbara Fairchild is a nationally recognized expert in the areas of food, restaurants, and travel. These days she is enjoying a second career as a freelance writer, editor, public speaker, radio personality, and journalism professor. She has appeared on

Amy Bess Cook

Amy Bess Cook has been a working writer for more than 16 years. For half that time, she managed a boutique winery in Sonoma. With a zeal for creative entrepreneurship and a passion for the vine, Amy Bess now works as a writer and brand consultant within the wine industry.

Emily Spillmann

Born and raised in Kentucky bourbon country, Emily Spillmann moved to France for love of a different barrel-aged drink (and a man with an alluring accent). She studied literature and French in college, and in 2013 she earned a master’s degree in international wine commerce. Emily specializes in anti-marketing and exports in

Kristen Bieler

Kristen Bieler has been writing about wine, spirits and food for 15 years. Her work has appeared in a variety of consumer and trade publications. She was the editor of Food & Wine’s annual Wine Guide for seven years. For the past 12 years she has served as senior editor at the

Peter Zusman

Peter "Blue" Zusman is an artist and wine & spirits enthusiast living in Manhattan's Lower East Side. He places equal importance to both a finely-aged single malt, as well as a medium bodied, earthy red. Examples of his artwork can be seen on Instagram/@pzblue.

Stuart Pigott

Stuart Pigott is a British wine journalist living in Berlin. He has published a number of other wine books, including Touring in Wine Country, the Wine Atlas of Germany, Planet Wine, and Life Beyond Liebfraumilch.

Jackson Mattek

Jackson is a freelancer: Wine junkie, mixologist, writer, actor, singer, dancer, musician-- to name a few occupations and passions. He yearns to continue exploring how wine affects culture and vice versa. He finds it no coincidence that the Greek god of wine was also a patron god of art and theatre. Jackson’s

Courtney Humiston

Courtney Humiston is a professional writer who moved from New York City to Napa Valley in 2010 to nurture a burgeoning passion for wine. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone and a Certified Sommelier, she has spent time in vineyards and wineries and cellars around the world. She

Richard Duval

Photographer, writer, musician, Richard Duval travels the Northwest capturing its unique blend of wine, scenic and landscape images. His photographs can be found on note cards, galleries, and bookstores as well as in various art fairs and shows, and several stock sites. He lives near Mill Creek, WA, with Leslee, who creates

Amanda Barnes

Amanda Barnes is a British wine journalist who has been eating, drinking and rolling her Rs around South America's wine regions for the last five years. With WSET3 under her belt and a diploma on its way, she is a happy hostage in the world of wine writing freelance for wine and

David Rogers

David is a British expatriate in Hong Kong. Educated as an engineer but ending up in the financial industry, his 20-year love affair with wine led him to travel the WSET road and, having spotted a lack of quality, impartial and commercial-free wine writing in his chaotic city, started his own blog,

Brittney Abell

Wine Director

Jason Borrows

Writer

Jason Borrows is an artist, editor, essayist, cultural curator, social Read More

Elliott Eglash

Elliott Eglash is a writer and editor currently working on his MFA in nonfiction writing at Columbia. His work has appeared in Musée Magazine, The Believer Logger, the Nassau Literary Review, and elsewhere. New to wine writing, he’s been drinking wine since at least age 21. His work can be found at

Zachary Sussman

Zachary Sussman is a Brooklyn-based wine writer and consultant. He is the New York City wine columnist for PUNCH, and his writing appears in The Wall Street Journal Magazine, Wine & Spirits, Bon Appétit, and Wine-Searcher.com, among many other publications. While not typing or sipping, he works in the Creative Writing Program

Jim Clarke

Jim Clarke is a wine and beer writer and sommelier based in New York City; most recently he was the wine director of Armani Ristorante. He writes for a number of trade and consumer magazines including the World of Fine Wine, Sommelier Journal, and Wine Enthusiast. Jim spends his spare time trying

Emily Kate

Emily Kate is Intermediate and Advanced Level Certified with Honors from the Wine and Spirit Education Trust, International Wine Center in New York City. She gained experience as a harvest intern and cellarhand in wineries in the United States and Australia. She is currently exploring the retail side of the industry in

Anthony Giglio

Anthony Giglio is a writer, educator and raconteur who motivates countless wine drinkers to trust their own tastes and relax the rules. Giglio has written ten books, including three editions Food & Wine’s annual Wine Guide review of 1,000-plus wines. Giglio is currently a wine reporter for CBS News Radio, as well

Megan J. Stocker Headley

Megan Stocker Headley ate and drank her way through the food and wine worlds of New York, San Francisco, and Florence, Italy before being lured by the slower-paced charms of Charlottesville, Virginia, where she worked as an accidental restaurateur (twice), the food and wine editor for an alternative weekly, a local editor

Edward Lewine

Edward Lewine is a journalist, book author and wine importer in Brooklyn, NY. For more than 15 years he has contributed to The New York Times, where he currently has a column, Workspace, in the Sunday Business section. Lewine has written two nonfiction books and his writing has appeared everywhere from Details

Marc Supsic

Marc Supsic used to play guitar in a heavy metal band and drink cheap beer. But after his first sip of wine, he began to exhibit strange, adventurous behaviors, like wanting to try Foie Gras and visit the vineyards of Europe. He blacked out for about ten years, and when he came

Stefanie Harris

Stefanie views wine as the intersection of art and agriculture. Her career in the wine industry feeds the deep curiosity she has about our relationship with the earth and its natural resources, as well as her passion for earnest craftsmanship. Formerly a sommelier at Del Posto in New York, much of her

Michael Longshore

Writer

Mary Orlin

Mary Orlin is the WineFashionista, writing about wine, food and perfume. She is the James Beard Award and Emmy Award-winning Executive Producer of Orlin Media, where she is a multimedia wine TV and video producer and writer, telling stories behind the label. Mary is currently a producer on the new CBS TV

Peter Feld

Peter Feld is a writer with Grape Collective and an editorial strategy consultant. He was editor in chief of Scooter, the New York Observer's parenting magazine, and his writing on everything from dining to politics has appeared in publications such as Gawker, Radar, Conde Nast Portfolio, Ad Age and Gourmet Live. Earlier

Piers Parlett

Piers Parlett is a photographer, videographer, designer and journalist. His work has appeared in many magazines including London Monthly, London Magazine, amNewYork and many others. He has a great passion for wines of Le Marche.

Amy Zavatto

Amy Zavatto writes about wine, spirits, and food for Imbibe, Details, Foxnews.com and many others. Her work has also appeared in More, Everyday with Rachael Ray, Food & Wine, and Martha Stewart Weddings. She is Deputy Editor for both Edible Manhattan and Edible Brooklyn, and the author of several books. She lives,

Katherine Cole

Katherine Cole is the author of the innovative new wine guide, Complete Wine Selector: How to Choose the Right Wine Every Time. Her first book, Voodoo Vintners: Oregon’s Astonishing Biodynamic Winemakers, was a Louis Roederer Award finalist. Katherine has been wine columnist at The Oregonian newspaper since 2002 and is author of

Christopher Watkins

Christopher Watkins has been writing professionally for over two decades. He is a recognized veteran blogging and social media voice courtesy of his award-winning work in the wine industry, a published author of poetry with a debut volume released and additional poems appearing in multiple literary journals, and a Gold Record recipient

Josh Zimmerman

Classically trained chef-turned-oenophile, Josh is a Wine and Food Writer based in Brooklyn. A sturdy advocate of wine/spirits education, and fed up with the term 'wine snob', he pushes to report in favor of craftsmanship, history and downright substance in craft beverage rather than just their price tag or 'point' accumulation. Has

Andrew Chalk

Writer

Andrew Chalk writes about wine, spirits, beer, food, restaurants, wineries and destinations all over the world. His articles have appeared in Wine Business, Wines & Vines, Go-Wine, The Daily Meal, John Mariani’s Virtual Gourmet, Somm Journal, Wine-Searcher.com. He recently started his own blog, TheChalkReport. He is the author of the book Top

Jonathan G Bomberg

After spending almost ten years in the California wine industry, Jonathan G Bomberg (they/them) moved to New York City to study philosophy focusing on aesthetics and sexuality. They remain passionate about wine and continue to advocate for the interesting projects coming out of California.

Tim Moriarty

Timothy Moriarty is a freelance writer, specializing in wine, spirits and chocolate. He is the former managing editor of Wine Enthusiast and features editor of Chocolatier and Pastry Art & Design magazines. He is the co-author of the Wine Enthusiast Wine and Food Pairings Cookbook, Chocolate Passion and the Grand Finales series

Yossie Horwitz

Yossie Horwitz has been tasting, drinking and learning about wine for over 20 years and has been writing a weekly newsletter – Yossie’s Wine Recommendations – on kosher wines, wineries and other wine-related topics for nearly seven years. You can follow Yossie on Twitter @yossieuncorked for daily wine recommendations and tips as

Alan Goldfarb

Alan Goldfarb has been a wine journalist for more than 25 years. He was the wine editor at the St. Helena Star where covering wine in Napa Valley was akin to covering Catholicism at the Vatican. He was the senior editor of AppellationAmerica.com; and his work has appeared in the Wine Enthusiast,

RH Drexel

R.H. Drexel is the pen name for a wine business insider who has worked in nearly every sector of the wine industry for the last 30 years. In 2012, Drexel published the first issue of Loam Baby, her wine culture zine, which garnered favorable reviews from Los Angeles Times, Punch Magazine, Imbibe,

Eric Petrucci

Eric Petrucci has enjoyed writing about wine for about six years. He first discovered his passion for drinking the stuff while living in Bologna, Italy during college. He has learned different aspects of the industry, including retail, buying, and sales repping. When not moonlighting at Grape Collective, he is a church music

Ashwin Muthiah

Ashwin owns and manages a DC-based wine education business, Personal Sommelier DC, where he leads tastings for both private and corporate clients. He has lived in Georgia (the country) and Italy studying wine as well as the U.K. studying whisky. Ashwin enjoys the path-less-trodden when it comes to wine and spends time

John Hopkins

From 1993 to 2010, Hopkins was The London Times’s golf correspondent writing for the newspaper and, latterly, for its internet version where his on line writing resulted in his being named “Sports Internet Reporter 2008” by the Sports Journalists’ Association. He is also the recipient of the 2013 PGA Lifetime Achievement Award

Katie Kelly Bell

Katie has been writing about food, wine and travel for over 10 years. Her experiences have taken her from the vineyards of Argentina to the press houses of Champagne. In between she has co-authored a travel guide to Ireland, The Everything Guide to Ireland (Adams Media), written a city guide for Atlanta

Kristine Hansen

Kristine Hansen reviews wines for the weekly “Wine Notes” column on Milwaukee Magazine’s web site. For Wine Enthusiast, American Way (American Airlines’ inflight) and Fodors.com she regularly cover wine, cocktail and culinary-travel trends.

Fredric Koeppel

Fredric Koeppel was born, of course, and went to school in several places, as most people do, and after teaching English in various universities and colleges for 17 years became a journalist and wrote a weekly national print column about wine for 20 years before leaping onto the Internet. KoeppelonWine was launched

Joe Campanale

Joe Campanale has been on several 30 Under 30 lists including Forbes, Restaurant Hospitality and Zagat, and most recently named as one of the Top Sommeliers of 2013 by Food & Wine. Joe hosts “In the Drink” on Heritage Radio Network, his weekly radio program discussing all things beverage. He grew up

Elaine Chukan Brown

Blessed with travel, and a wealth of in-depth time with wine producers and food specialists, Elaine Chukan Brown uses WakawakaWineReviews.com to share more of the story. Her writing on wine, food, and travel also appears in Wine and Spirits, World of Fine Wine, Men’s Health, San Francisco Magazine, and Serious Eats. As

Christy Canterbury MW

A Master of Wine, journalist, speaker, judge and educator who lives between Manhattan and the vineyards of the world, primarily those of Europe. Follow her at @canterburywine.

Alexandra Kuderski

Alexandra Kuderski has been fascinated with wine, ever since a fossilized mesosaur unexpectedly emerged from the glass of her favorite beverage. This incident has led her to work in a wine shop in Paris, harvest grapes in Beaujolais, serve wine in fancy restaurants and judge fermented grape juice at competitions. Alexandra is

Sam Radford

Sam Radford is an artist, freelance writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. He resides in Cleveland Ohio writing for various global publications and unsuccessfully growing grape vines in his spare time.

Stephen Taylor

A dyed-in-the-finest-super-wool man about town, Stephen Taylor is a venture capitalist, oeno-entreprenuer and cult writer in British underground wine and food media. A “real” British working-class hero if you will.

Judy Berman

Judy Berman is a writer and editor in Brooklyn. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Baffler and Pitchfork.

Rachel Seville Tashjian

Rachel Seville Tashjian is a writer living in Soho. Balthazar is her second favorite restaurant in New York.

Quinlan Corbett

Quinlan currently works in the cellar at Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyards, in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. He will be departing for New Zealand in March to work harvest at Saint Clair in Marlborough. He was the 2017 Shaulis Scholar, working at Cornell's Agricultural Experiment Station with renowned plant

Barbara Vyden

Barbara Vyden is a writer based in New York City.

Joon Park

Joon Park is from South Korea. He is a wine youtuber(J's Wine Story) and currently works in Grape Collective, NYC. He is relatively new to the wine industry with a background in organizational psychology. While he studied and worked in the Netherlands, he found the hidden but glaring passion in wine, and

Rachael Roth

Based in Brooklyn, Rachael is a writer, editor, and photographer with over a decade of experience in print and digital media. She is currently a book editor for Fodor’s Travel and a content marketer for Dashlane. She’s written for publications such as Martha Stewart, Modern Farmer, Ladygunn, and more. She has toured

Tom Acitelli

Tom Acitelli is co-deputy editor @commobserver; author of PILSNER, Audacity of Hops, American Wine, and Whiskey Business.

Hannah Staab

Writer

Sam Zukin

Writer

Sam Zukin is a New York based writer.

Matthew Horkey

Contributor

Matthew is a location-independent wine communicator and co-author of three wine books “Uncorking the Caucasus”, “Sipping Santa Barbara”, and “Cracking Croatian Wine”. He’s been on the road full-time for more than seven years visiting more than 100 wine regions in Armenia, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Mexico, Montenegro,

Karen Lubeck

Contributor

Karen Lubeck is a journalist, editor, soprano, and francophile. She was a longtime editor at Town & Country, where she specialized in research, wine, and culture. Her work has appeared in Town & County, Glamour, and other publications. Her fascination with the creative process informs her passion for wine.