About Ray

I have been writing full-time about wine since 2000, when I was offered a job as a senior editor at Wine & Spirits magazine. In 2005, I moved to Food & Wine, where I now oversee wine coverage for one of the world’s most far-reaching culinary brands. I write the monthly “What to Drink Next” column as well as regular feature articles for F&W’s print issues, and I’m also the wine editor for Travel + Leisure, where I publish regular feature articles as well.

My writing on wine, spirits, travel and other topics has appeared in Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, Departures, Wine & Spirits, Time, Martha Stewart Living, The Washington Post, and many other national publications. I’ve won the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) award for narrative beverage writing three times, the American Food Journalists award for beverage writing, and the North American Travel Journalists Association gold award, and have been nominated three times for the James Beard Award in beverage writing. My stories have also appeared in the Best American Food Writing series. My book, The World in a Wineglass, was published in November 2023 by Scribner.

I appear regularly on national and local media, speaking on wine and beverage topics. I’ve been a frequent guest on NBC Today and Weekend Today, and have also appeared on CNBC’s On the Money and Squawkbox, ABC’s The View, CBS’s This Morning, NPR’s The Splendid Table and All Things Considered, and many other national and local media outlets. I’m also a frequent speaker at national and international wine and food events, such as the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, and also at corporate and business events.

I was born in Houston, Texas, and earned a B.A. in English from Rice University. I also hold an M.A. in creative writing from Boston University, and have been a Stegner Fellow and Jones Lecturer in creative writing at Stanford University. My short stories have appeared in a variety of literary publications including Triquarterly, Agni, The Utne Reader, The Carolina Quarterly, and others. I live in Brooklyn, NY, with my wife and daughter, a ridiculous cat, and a whole lot of wine.