Assistant Editor, WineSpectator.com
As an archaeology student in Italy and Greece, Ben O'Donnell was first introduced to the pleasures of vino di tavola. After graduating from Dartmouth College, he pursued a journalism career and was hired to write a blog accompanying a new educational line of wines from Francis Ford Coppola Presents, so in 2008 he and two colleagues toured the major regions of France, Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain, filing winemaker interviews, videos, photos and more.
Ben joined Wine Spectator as an editorial assistant in 2009. As a news reporter, he has covered the past three Bordeaux futures campaigns, the resurgence of Italian-style sparkling wines and developments in direct shipping, corkage and supermarket sales laws, among other stories. As a features writer, he has profiled grower Champagne houses, visited a lately revived ancient Spanish region, added to the Wine 101 educational features and started the website’s Wine in History series. He also contributes to the biweekly online Wine Challenge quiz, the Unfiltered column and the Wine Spectator social media presence.
Recent blog posts by Ben O'Donnell
- The World's Most Exclusive $20 Wines: Classified Sauternes (Jan 22, 2013)
- How Do They Do It, Part 2: Meet the People Who Make $500 Wines, $10 Wines—And Everything in Between (Dec 27, 2012)
- How Do They Do It? Meet the People Who Make $500 Wines, $10 Wines, and Everything in Between (Dec 20, 2012)
- Wine in Your Whiskey, Whiskey in Your Wine (Nov 20, 2012)
- New Order, Part 2: How Can Wine Producers Win the Millennial Market? (Oct 25, 2012)
- The Next China for Wine (Oct 4, 2012)
- Pairing Politics (Sep 20, 2012)
- New Order: Millennials Reach for Wine, But What Do They Want? (Sep 11, 2012)
- The Big Grapple: Can Long Island Wines Get Some Respect? (Aug 23, 2012)
- The World's Most Exclusive $20 Wines: Champagne and Châteauneuf (Aug 14, 2012)
