Welcome to joellethomson.com

Wine and words have been close to my heart for almost as long as I can remember (the words part) and for all of my adult life when it comes to wine. This website is dedicated to both.

I carved a career as a journalist, wine writer and author in mainstream news stand magazines, newspapers and online publications and have written 15 books about wine, all published by New Holland NZ and HarperCollins NZ. 

I've always wanted to make wine as interesting to read about as it is to drink, revealing accessibly priced bargains and the great wines of the world, as well as some of the personalities who make the wines, sharing their stories of inspiration and the hard graft they put into the wines they create. 

These stories are supported by independent analysis and reviews of their wines, which comes from 30 years of writing about, tasting, judging, analysing and studying wine, most significantly via the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET), which I have the Level 4 Diploma in. 

I host tastings and wine tours by private arrangement.

I have judged extensively at wine competitions and trained wine retail staff with in-depth wine knowledge.

My first wine column was written for Capital Times arts weekly in 1994, swiftly progressing into writing for a long list of magazines and newspapers. My writing awards include winning the Gourmand World Cookbook Award for her book Joelle Thomson’s Under $20 Wine Guide and being shortlisted for the Montana Book Awards Best Lifestyle in 2005 for Celebrating New Zealand Wine, among other writing awards for books and feature stories in magazines. .