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Karen MacNeil | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1954 (age 71–72) United States |
| Occupations | speaker, author, wine expert, consultant |
| Awards | James Beard Award;Emmy Award |
Karen MacNeil (born 1954) is an American speaker, author, wine expert, and consultant.
After moving to New York City at the age of 19 to become a writer, MacNeil published her first article, on the subject of the best artisanal butter on offer in New York, inThe Village Voice.[1] She transitioned to writing about wine as well as food in the mid-1970s, when she was commissioned byElle magazine,Mirabella,Travel & Leisure, and other magazines to write about wine.[2] She became the first wine and food editor ofUSA Today in the early 1980s.[3] She also began appearing regularly on NBC’sThe Today Show where she did segments on food and wine. And she hosted her own radio talk show calledLiving Well in New York onWMCA Radio. In 1991, Peter Workman ofWorkman Publishing Company read a food article she had published inThe New York Times Magazine section and commissioned her to write a book,The Wine Bible, which was released in 2001.[1][2][4] The second edition ofThe Wine Bible came out in 2015[5] and the third edition in 2022.[6][7] As of 2023,The Wine Bible had sold close to one million copies worldwide.The Wall Street Journal,[8]The Washington Post, andThe New York Times have all praisedThe Wine Bible as one of the best wine books. The Wine Bible was also featured in the Netflix seriesUncorked and the Starz seriesSweetbitter in Season 1 Episode 4, titled “Simone’s.”[9] Her second book wasWine, Food & Friends (2006),[1][2] and she was the host of a 13-episodePBS series titledWine, Food and Friends with Karen MacNeil (in tandem with the book), for which she won an Emmy.[10]
MacNeil was the creator of and is now Chairman Emerita of the Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies atthe Culinary Institute of America at Greystone inSt. Helena, California.[11][1][12] She also writes an online wine newsletter calledWineSpeed.[13] During the COVID-19 pandemic, she began a series of virtual wine tastings via Zoom sessions[7] for her clients.
MacNeil has won numerous wine awards, including theJames Beard award forWine and Spirits Professional of the Year, theLouis Roederer award forBest Consumer Wine Writing, and theInternational Wine and Spirits award as theGlobal Wine Communicator of the Year.[14] In a full-page profile on her,TIME Magazine called MacNeil “America’s Missionary of the Vine.”[15]
MacNeil conducts private wine events for companies around the world, including law firms, private equity firms, insurance companies, and luxury goods companies.[16] In 2024, MacNeil created the international campaignCome Over October, devoted to telling the story of wine’s positive role in society and culture. By 2025,Come Over October and its sister campaignShare & Pair Sundays had reached 2 billion UVMs.[17]
MacNeil is based inNapa Valley.
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| National | |
