Christina Pickard, Writer at Large, covering and reviewing New York State wines, Wine Enthusiast

Christina Pickard is a professional wine writer and reviewer. In her current role as Writer for Large at Wine Enthusiast magazine, Christina covers and reviews wines (nearly 1500 annually) from New York, Australia, New Zealand and England.  

A native central New Yorker—and Ithaca College alum—Christina has been telling wine tales for the past 15 years, first from her former home in London, England where she lived for over a decade, then from her second former home in Perth, Australia, and now from her current home in New York's Hudson Valley. Christina was an active television and live presenter in the UK; She owned and operated her own wine school in Australia; She co-hosted one of the wine world’s earliest wine podcasts; And she has written for publications around the globe including Decanter, Gourmet Traveller Wine, James Halliday's Wine Companion, Afar and Food & Wine, to name a few. 

While Christina has waded waist deep in Aussie and Kiwi wines for Wine Enthusiast for the past 6 years, she is overjoyed to now be covering her home state, and the many wonderful cool climate wines on her doorstep. 

David Gluzman, CEO, Wine Folly

David Gluzman is the CEO of Wine Folly, which is one of the most popular websites for people to learn about wine. Gluzman has been a wine enthusiast since his earlier career as a competitive cyclist brought him to the wine regions of Italy. In an effort to encourage education and accessibility, he founded WineCollective.ca (in 2009): a wine club that started as a local project in Calgary. In a matter of years it would become the largest wine club in Canada.

The creator of several tech startups, Gluzman specializes in data-based user experience and design, and has worked with brands as prominent as Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Dell, Ikea, and Rolex. These experiences have led to his reputation as a passionate advocate for startups and technology in Canada. In 2014, he was recognized as one of Avenue Magazine’s Top 40 Under 40.

In 2019, Gluzman’s Global Wine Database merged with the educational site WineFolly.com to create Folly Enterprises. Its objective: to create a standard for wine data through engaging, informative, and accurate wine information for the world.

Jamie Goode, Journalist, wineanorak.com 

Jamie began his career by obtaining a PhD in plant biology and ended up becoming an internationally acknowledged wine writer, speaker and lecturer. He has been wine columnist for UK national newspaper The Sunday Express since 2005 and has published award winning books including Wine Science, Authentic Wine, I Taste Red and Flawless. He’s also a co-chair of the International Wine Challenge. He can be found on Instagram (@drjamiegoode) and Twitter (@jamiegoode) and since 1999 has been publishing wineanorak.com. 

Elaine Chukan Brown, Global Wine Educator, Wine Writer

Elaine Chukan Brown serves as a global wine educator, and writer specializing in wine, personal empowerment, and social justice. In 2022, Brown was nominated for a James Beard Award in Journalism, and became an advisor to the Women in Wine and Spirits Awards of China. In 2021, Brown gave the keynote address, “Risk and Self-Doubt as Opportunity,” for the Femmes du Vin event sponsored by the US State Department through the Paris Embassy. The Hue Society also awarded them the Legend Award in Wine Education, and the Women in Wine and Spirits Awards (WINWSA) in China named them one of the world’s 50 Most Influential Women in Wine and Spirits. In 2020, Brown was awarded Wine Communicator of the Year in the world by IWSC and VinItaly, and was named a Wine Industry Leader in the North American wine industry by Wine Business Monthly. In 2019, the Wine Industry Network named Brown one of the Most Inspiring People in Wine, and they were shortlisted for the IWSC Wine Communicator of the Year award.

Kelby James Russell, Winemaker, Red Newt Cellars

Kelby Russell is the head winemaker of Red Newt Cellars, where he has brought a passion for music and cooking to his wines since joining in 2012.  With a desire to push the boundaries of what could be done in the Finger Lakes, Kelby has established Red Newt's reputation for world class, powerful Rieslings; crunchy, joyful red wines; and an experimental wine program that stretches from Sekts to Sherries.  Embracing spontaneous fermentations, lees contact, cold soaking, and basket pressing, Red Newt’s wines are designed to open up in bottle for years to come.  

A native of the Finger Lakes, Kelby was convinced he would never return home after graduating from Harvard with a focus on Orchestra Management.   He now proudly calls Geneva, New York home, is a Board Member and Board Chair of the Smith Opera House and has launched his own eponymous label with song pairings listed for each release.  The proudest moment of his career came in co-chairing the “FLXcursion” International Riesling Conferences that showcased this region to the world in July 2019 and July 2021.  More dubiously, Kelby also helped organize - and was a model for - the fundraising pin-up calendar of Finger Lakes winemakers 'FLXposure 2021.'  He has also been described as the “Willy Wonka of the Finger Lakes,” an honorific which he can only hope to aspire for.