Jim Clarke

New York City, NY USA
Website: http://
Contact

Professional Experience

A trained sommelier and former wine director, as a writer I focus on wine, beer, and spirits, subjects which I approach with enthusiasm, a confident palate, and an insider's eye. I have also written about restaurants and food and am well-connected in the national restaurant scene. I am comfortable writing for the trade, connoisseurs, beginners, and anything in between. I speak about wine and beer regularly for a variety of events as a lecturer, panelist, and moderator. I am an engaging speaker and can present material for a wide range of audiences. Examples of past clients include: De Gustibus Cooking School Wine Festival of Colorado Springs International Culinary Center StarChefs’ Chefs’ Congress Kevin Zraly’s Windows on the World Wine Course Private Corporate Events

Expertise

Writer
10 Years
Editor
5 Years

Specialty

Food
10 Years
Other, Specify
10 Years

Industries


Magazine - Large Consumer/National magazines
5 Years
Magazine - Trade magazines/publications (B2B)
10 Years
Online/new media
10 Years

Total Media Industry Experience

10 Years

Media Client List (# assignments last 2 yrs)

Beverage Media (10+), Edible Manhattan/Brooklyn (6-10), Latitude News (3-5), Plate (3-5), Sommelier Journal (3-5), Wine Business International (3-5), Wine Enthusiast (3-5), World of Fine Wine (1-2), Saveur (1-2), All About Beer (1-2), Culture (1-2), Details (1-2)

Corporate Client List (# assignments last 2 yrs)

My Wines Direct (10+), American Sommelier Association (3-5), Grape Collective (3-5)

Other Work History

I was formerly a columnist for StarChefs.com (Wine & Spirits Editor), Forbes.com, and Vox Hamptons (now defunct). In addition, I served as a wine critic for Sante magazine for several years, and regularly appear as a judge at several wine competitions.

Foreign Language Skills

Comfortable German; reading French and Italian

Computer Skills

Windows XP, Word, Excel, OS 10

Awards

American Sommelier Association/Wines From Spain Rias Baixas Contest 2003

Showcase

Features

A look at how American craft beers are gaining respect in Europe
Brewers collaborating on new and creative beers
A look at the current state of Chenin Blanc in South Africa
A look at Vance Metals, a metalworking company outside Rochester, NY. The rise of Finger Lakes wine offered them the opportunity to supply tanks for the industry, so the piece looks at how the wine business creates opportunities for ancillary businesses.
Exploring dark sakes
New Zealand moves beyond Sauvignon Blanc to other white varieties like Riesling and Pinot Gris
A service piece for the trade on how to create and manage a restaurant wine by-the-glass program to maximize profits and minimize loss.
A look at cider's new popularity.
A profile of Peter Becraft, a Brooklynite who fell in love with wine and gave up city life to become a winemaker in the Finger Lakes

Essays

An Op-Ed on the Supreme Court case concerning interstate wine shipping
A long-form essay on the interaction between the social and manufacturing aspects of wine and beer that have for centuries placed the former as the drink of the upper class and the latter as a working man's drink, and how today's craft beer scene is changing that in some ways.
A service piece on choosing lesser-known alternatives to popular grapes
A service piece: how sommeliers think about wine, and you can use that yourself to navigate the wine list

FOB

A quick look at the increase in Petit Verdot plantings around the world
A look at amateur lambic blending in Belgium
A quick look at six up-and-coming South African wineries