Gwendolyn Alley #36
USA
Gwendolyn Alley is a published poet, adventure traveler, college teacher, and wine writer who won the 2022 Jancis Robinson Wine Writing Contest on Regenerative Agriculture.Nominations 2023-2024/
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Journey through Words and Vines: The Multifaceted Life of Gwendolyn Alley
Gwendolyn Alley is a published poet, adventure traveler, college teacher, and wine writer who won the 2022 Jancis Robinson Wine Writing Contest on Regenerative Agriculture. Gwendolyn studied print, radio, tv, and photo journalism in high school and college, and she found her start in wine via coffee: she was trained by Alfred Peet, founder of Peets Coffee, and while working there, she was recruited by the owners of Ridge Vineyards to pour in their tasting room. Gwendolyn left Ridge Vineyards to backpack the 2800 mile Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada, and to complete her college degrees in Environmental Studies and Literature/Creative Writing. She earned a Masters degree in English, and as a college teacher, she continued writing, performing poetry, and traveling by VW van and backpack in the western United States. Gwendolyn also has a Masters Degree in Depth Psychology with an emphasis in ecopsychology. As a published poet, Gwendolyn has had spoken word commissions in Santa Barbara, CA and Pasadena, CA, and served as a Literary Fellow for the City of Ventura, CA twice.
Savoring Life's Palette: Gwendolyn Alley's Artful Exploration of Wine
For many years, Gwendolyn had a newspaper column “Art Predator” where she wrote about wine, food, travel, music, poetry, and visual arts. This transitioned into her eclectic “Art Predator” blog and then her “Wine Predator” blog which focuses on sustainably grown wine paired with regional cuisine including seafood and game. Based in Ventura between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, Gwendolyn frequently attends wine events and tastings in the greater southern and central California area.
Wine, Wanderlust, and Worldly Wisdom
In 2021 and 2022, Gwendolyn wrote for the Slow Wine Guide about these regions plus the Sierra Foothills and Southern Oregon. As a wine writer, Gwendolyn loves to learn and to travel to where the grapes are grown and the wine is made to better understand the land and the culture, and the relationship between them. She loves listening to winemakers, hiking in vineyards, and experiencing the cuisine of a region. Gwendolyn has traveled on press trips to France twice, Portugal twice, and Italy twice, as well as to Baja California, and throughout California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. A gifted, charismatic, and entertaining public speaker, Gwendolyn has given presentations and led panels at five Wine Media Conferences and two International Food Blogger Conferences. Gwendolyn has also traveled to Peru where she hiked the Inca Trail, and to Egypt where she taught a writing workshop while cruising on the Nile. She also teaches workshops at Lucidity Festivals, and she has participated in Burning Man 21 times. In August 2019, Gwendolyn traveled via Amsterdam to Tanzania where she climbed Kilimanjaro, and later that year Gwendolyn traveled to France to compete for Team USA in the World Wine Tasting Championship. When she’s not traveling and writing about wine, Gwendolyn can be found skiing, hiking, camping, or walking her foster dog at the beach near her home.
