Wine Books & Authors

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.”

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.  

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.

After ten years in the restaurant industry, six years in the wine industry, countless hours spent studying – including college level courses on the subject – I can honestly say that I still don’t “know” wine at all. It’s one of those subjects that one needs to stay on top of, like politics or the dishes piling up in the sink. The question is how do you make it from one end to the other? How do you master (or at least come to terms with) a growing world of wine knowledge?