Local wine writer begins a new adventure
By Virginie Boone
NAPA VALLEY, Calif. — Getting to write about such a beautiful, historic and important place as the Napa Valley is something I will never take for granted. Driving along Highway 29 or the Silverado Trail, taking the curvy routes through the mountain appellations, visiting a winery I’ve never been to before, meeting with producers, keeping up with the restaurant scene. Being a writer here is one of the best jobs in the world.
I have been lucky enough to say this since 2004. That’s the year I started out as a features writer for The Press Democrat and its then-magazine, Savor Wine Country. Owned by The New York Times at that time, their goal was to focus not only on Sonoma County but also cover the Napa Valley, and I did.
Some of the early stories I wrote were about Joel and Sarah Gott, married winemakers and restaurateurs who were just starting a family. Early on I also met Jayson Woodbridge, one of the grand characters of wine who launched his cult cabernet brand, Hundred Acre, in 2000. Anyone who names an expensive wine for Winnie the Pooh’s home was going to pique my interest.
For the next several years I met such legendary people as Robin Lail, Robert and Margrit Mondavi, Mike Martini, Zelma Long, Fritz Maytag, Jamie Davies, Warren Winiarski, Mike Grgich, Jim and Bo Barrett, Karen MacNeil and so many more.
And I learned so much from them. I learned to ask questions, to listen, to put context to conversations.
In 2011 I moved on to a bigger role at Wine Enthusiast, where I would eventually focus on the wines of Napa Valley and Sonoma County both as a writer and reviewer. Critiquing wines is never easy, but I tried to always be fair and accessible, answer my emails and meet with producers in person if it would put them more at ease.
Last summer I was ready to try something else, to do more writing and less reviewing, so I signed on to help build a digital-only wine publication called The New Wine Review. Last week we finally launched, with full-length features, wine and whisky reviews, fun insights into what and where people drink in towns such as St. Helena, great wine books to read and more.
The team of us behind New Wine Review are trying to do something different — a little more fun, a little more intelligent, more adventurous, useful, hopefully better. I feel lucky I have a place to continue to talk about California wines, where I get to write in-depth stories and some reviews.
That I get to continue my focus on the Napa Valley is truly a dream come true. I see the Napa Valley as dynamic. Innovative. Resilient. It is full of people who dream big yet care about the small stuff, who give back, who pass on their knowledge, who open doors to welcome strangers from near and far. As storytellers it is important to remember that and to guard against this magical place being lazily painted as one monolithic thing.
There is much more to come. But for now, I look forward to digging into Napa Valley’s stories, its wines and its people. It will never get old.
Here are a few Napa Valley stories I’m happy to have written for The New Wine Review:
A look at the outstanding 2019 vintage for Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
A profile of winemaker Cathy Corison and the cyclical nature of wine styles
How Sofia Coppola was the original wine influencer with SOFIA mini sparkling cans
Ten great books about the Napa Valley
A peek into St. Helena’s drinking culture
I hope you’ll check it out. The website has free content and will be partially subscription-based, but there’s plenty to read right now. Let me know what you think!
Virginie Boone is senior editor and California critic for The New Wine Review and has written about and reviewed the wines of Napa and Sonoma for more than a decade. A resident of Sonoma County, she was previously the Napa and Sonoma wine critic for Wine Enthusiast Media. Follow her Instagram @virginieboone or visit virginieboone.com