Resource Overview
Wine writer + expert Elaine Chukan Brown speaks with Esther Mobley, wine critic at San Francisco Chronicle and Kelli White, director of education at Pacific Union Company.
Elaine, Esther and Kelli will discuss the rapid evolution of California wines in recent years, offering their unique perspectives of producers pushing the envelope when it comes to new sites and new grape varieties. They will also project how they believe this evolution will continue to move forward in years to come.
Featured wines:
2019 J. Lohr Estates Wildflower Valdiguié, Monterey
2016 White Rock Claret, Napa Valley
2018 Mountain Tides Petite Sirah, California
Esther Mobley has been the wine critic at the San Francisco Chronicle since 2015. Previously, she was an assistant editor at Wine Spectator in New York. She has worked harvest seasons at wineries in Napa Valley and Mendoza. Mobley was the 2019 Feature Writer of the Year in the Louis Roederer International Wine Writers’ Awards and has twice earned first place for wine writing in the Association of Food Journalists Awards.
Before joining Pacific Union Co., Kelli A. White was the senior staff writer for the educational nonprofit GuildSomm, where her work earned her two of the coveted Louis Roederer International Wine Writing Awards. Prior to that, Kelli worked as a sommelier for nearly a decade between New York City and Napa Valley. In 2015, she published her first book, the acclaimed Napa Valley, Then & Now, and she recently contributed to the latest edition of Jancis Robinson and Hugh Johnson’s World Atlas of Wine. She is a sought-after speaker and has lectured on wine all over the world.