Lettie Teague is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 author and currently a wine

Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...

 columnist for The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....

. Teague was for several years with Food & Wine

Food & Wine

Food & Wine is a monthly magazine published by American Express Publishing. It was founded in 1978 by Ariane and Michael Batterberry. It features recipes, cooking tips, travel information, restaurant reviews, chefs, wine pairings and seasonal/holiday content and has been credited by The New York...

, as wine editor of the magazine since 1997 and executive wine editor since 2005, until 2009.

Biography

Lettie Teague was born in Indiana, and during her childhood lived in various places in Ohio and North Carolina. After studying English at Kenyon College

Kenyon College

Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio, founded in 1824 by Bishop Philander Chase of The Episcopal Church, in parallel with the Bexley Hall seminary. It is the oldest private college in Ohio...

, she held various wine-related jobs in retail, restaurants, wholesale sales, and marketing until becoming a public relations executive specializing in wine. In 1995 she became the food, wine, and books editor at the Hearst travel magazine Diversion, and in 1997 became the wine editor of Food & Wine. She remained with the magazine until American Express Publishing announced a reduction in staff in 2009, and Teague went on to write a blog for eRobertParker.com, online site of Robert Parker

Robert M. Parker, Jr.

Robert M. Parker, Jr. is a leading U.S. wine critic with an international influence. His wine ratings on a 100-point scale and his newsletter The Wine Advocate, with his particular stylistic preferences and notetaking vocabulary, have become very influential in American wine buying and are...

, for a brief period. In April 2010, three months after the departure of Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher

Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher

Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher are American journalists, authors and wine critics, wife and husband who jointly wrote a wine column in The Wall Street Journal titled "Tastings" between 1998-2009. They rated wines on a scale that ranges from "Yech", "OK", "Good", "Very Good", "Delicious" to...

, she was announced as a wine columnist of The Wall Street Journal, along with Jay McInerney

Jay McInerney

John Barrett McInerney Jr. is an American writer. His novels include Bright Lights, Big City; Ransom; Story of My Life; Brightness Falls; and The Last of the Savages...

 and previous Europe edition successor Will Lyons

Will Lyons

Will Lyons is a British business correspondent and wine columnist formerly writing for Scotland on Sunday. Since November 2009 he has a weekly wine column with The Wall Street Journal Europe, following the departure of Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher, and was in April 2010 joined by Lettie Teague...

.

Teague has speculated on a classification scheme

Classification of wine

The classification of wine can be done according to various methods including, but not limited to, place of origin or appellation, vinification methods and style, sweetness and vintage, or varietal used. Practices vary in different countries and regions of origin, and many practices have varied...

 of California wine

California wine

California wine has a long and continuing history, and in the late twentieth century became recognized as producing some of the world's finest wine. While wine is made in all fifty U.S. states, up to 90% of American wine is produced in the state...

, and launched a debate concerning Barolo

Barolo

Barolo is a red Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita wine produced in the northern Italian region of Piedmont. It is made from the Nebbiolo grape and is often described as one of Italy's greatest wines...

. She has won two James Beard Awards, including the MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award for the column "Secret Life of a Sommelier". She has been used as a wine authority by CNN

CNN

Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...

.

Teague has described engaging competitive "guess that wine" blind tasting games with then husband, GQ food critic Alan Richman.

Teague was illustrator of the 1995 book Fear of Wine: An Introductory Guide to the Grape by Leslie Brenner, and her book Educating Peter was published in 2007.

External links

• Lettie Teague official site
• "Over a Barrel" Lettie Teague blog discontinued
• "Wine Matters" Lettie Teague column archive Food & Wine