Writer, author, wine lover

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About Joelle...

All about wine and all things related

Wine writing, tasting, advisory work and education occupies my time in Martinborough, Wellington city and beyond. I trained to be a journalist on an old fashioned typewriter at Wellington Polytechnic in 1989 and havesince written about design, gardens, nudist camps, sperm donors and a raft of other weird and wonderful topics for a vast number of newspapers and magazines. I am the published author of 15 books about wine and hold the Wine & Spirit Education Trust’s highest qualification, the Level 4 Diploma.

Music, food, cooking, travelling and being outside are my passions.

My turangawaewae is the South Island of New Zealand.

Like all published authors, I am working on the next book…

If you’d like to get in touch, email...     mailme@joellethomson.com

Libraries and wine

April 16, 2024
Wine of the week2014 Folding Hill Cellar Release Pinot Noir Libraries are always fascinating places, even more so when they contain wines that have been aging in bottle (or barrel) for a decade or more. The 2014 Folding Hill Pinot Noir is a small volume edition from one of the driest, warmest a...
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My Bio

I trained in journalism on an old fashioned typwriter at Wellington Polytechnic in 1989.

  • I currently work as a wine writer and update this website every Friday.
  • I work as a wine advisor at Regional Wines & Spirits; writing and tasting wines from around the world on an (almost) daily basis.
  • I am on the judging panel at the 2019 Marlborough Wine Show.
  • I have judged at wine shows regularly since 1995; mostly in New Zealand and also in Australia and South Africa.
  • I hold the Wine & Spirit Education Trust’s highest qualification, the Level 4 Diploma.



  • I write for Good magazine, NZ Winegrower, Drinksbiz, Capital magazine and www.joellethomson.com
  • I wrote my first wine column in 1994 and am the author of 16 wine books (published by New Holland and HarperCollins), including 10 annual wine guides.
  • I regularly host wine tastings for private and corporate groups.
  • My teaching spans many years at the New Zealand School of Food & Wine in Auckland where I taught certificate wine courses (both New Zealand and the WSET – Wine & Spirit Education Trust).

I remember the first moment I fell in love with wine on a dark and stormy night, literally, when I was bitten by the big buttery Chardonnay bug at a cafe in Wellington, New Zealand, in the late 1980s.