I’ve just finished prepping the judges’ bios for the annual Critics Challenge International Wine Competition, May 23-24 in San Diego.
Results of that competition, along with excerpts from the judges’ tasting notes, will be published here at Wine Review Online. A drum roll please for this year’s cast of critics:
Chief Judges
Mary Ewing-Mulligan is a Master of Wine (MW) and President of the International Wine Center in New York. She co-authored the best-selling Wine for Dummies and seven other books, and has contributed wine articles to Wine Spectator, Gourmet, The New York Times, Food & Wine and Newsday. She is a WRO columnist.
Robert Whitley, yours truly, writes the nationally syndicated Wine Talk column for Creators Syndicate and is Publisher of WRO. Robert has been a writer and/or editor at numerous major print publications, including Newsday, The Washington Post, Charlotte Observer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the San Diego Union-Tribune. Robert currently hosts two weekly radio shows, Whitley On Wine and San Diego Gourmet.
Judges
Michael Apstein is a WRO columnist and a frequent contributor to the wine section of the San Francisco Chronicle. Michael has written numerous wine articles and columns for the Boston Globe, Wine News and Boston Magazine. In 2001 Michael won the prestigious James Beard Award for his work at the Boston Globe.
Jon Bonne is Wine Editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, responsible for each Friday’s Wine section as well as the annual Top 100 Wines. Previously Bonné was Lifestyle Editor and wine columnist for MSNBC.com and wine columnist for Seattle Magazine. He also writes regularly for Food & Wine, and has reported for The New York Times, Newsweek, National Public Radio and Wines & Vines.
Gerald Boyd’s career in wine journalism is longer and deeper than just about any other wine journalist in America. He has been Editor of Wine Spectator and Wine Editor of the San Francisco Chronicle in a remarkable journey over the past 30 years. Gerald has written wine articles for Decanter, Wine News, Quarterly Review of Wines and Vineyard & Winery Management, and he also writes a column for WRO.
Patrick Comiskey writes about wine for the Los Angeles Times. He also holds a position as Senior Editor of Wine & Spirits Magazine and is a WRO columnist. Patrick also has written wine articles for the San Francisco Chronicle, Bon Appetit and the Robb Report.
Michael Franz is Editor of WRO. He was wine columnist for the Washington Post between 1994 and 2005 before taking the reins at WRO. Michael is a regular contributor to France Magazine, and does a bi-weekly wine segment on National Public Radio station WAMU in Washington, D.C.
Paul Lukacs writes wine columns for Saveur, the Washington Times and Washingtonian Magazine. He also has written for Wine & Spirits and Food Arts, and in 2001 won a prestigious James Beard Award for his book American Vintage: The Rise of American Wine. Paul is a WRO columnist..
Ed McCarthy is among the world’s leading authorities on Champagne. He authored the book Champagne for Dummies and co-authored the other best-selling books in the Wine for Dummies series. Ed is a WRO columnist and has written for Decanter, Quarterly Review of Wines and Nation’s Restaurant News.
Elin McCoy is wine columnist for Bloomberg News and author of the definitive work on wine critic Robert Parker, the 2007 book Emperor of Wine. Elin is a contributing editor to Food & Wine Magazine, gourmet editor for Smoke, and has written about wine for Forbes, Money, New York, House & Garden, House Beautiful and Drink.
Linda Murphy writes a column on California and other West Coast wines for Decanter, and she was Wine Editor of the San Francisco Chronicle. Linda also writes a column for WRO and reviews California wines for JancisRobinson.com. Linda is Chief Judge of the Monterey Wine Competition.
Rebecca Murphy writes a wine column for the Dallas Morning News and is a regular contributor to Appellation America. Rebecca is the founding Director of the prestigious Dallas Morning News Wine Competition and has judged at major international wine competitions around the world.
Leslie Sbrocco wrote the book Wine for Women as well as numerous other books, and hosts a weekly PBS television show dedicated to food and wine in the San Francisco Bay Area. Leslie has written about wine for the San Francisco Chronicle, Epicurious and WRO.
Nick Passmore writes a wine column for Business Week and authors the popular Nick on Wine website. Nick has written about wine for Forbes, WRO and numerous other national and international publications.
Marguerite Thomas is a regular contributor to Wine News and writes a wine column for the Los Angeles Times International Syndicate. Marguerite is a columnist for WRO and has written about wine and spirits for Gourmet, Saveur, Wine & Spirits, Wine Enthusiast, Sante and numerous other national publications.
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