Continuing a 40-year friendship and collaboration, Jim joins James Suckling as executive editor to lead content planning while reviewing wines daily. Based in Napa Valley since 2001, Jim has extensively covered wine and winemaking for American publications. He was a senior editor at Wine Enthusiast, chief editor of Wines & Vines and executive director of the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers. Gaining a hands-on understanding of grape and wine production, Jim has planted multiple micro-vineyards and crafted non-commercial wine since 1990. The former managing editor of Wine Spectator, he co-created Wine Country Living TV and created the books Opus Vino and 1000 Greate Everyday Wines. Jim holds a degree from Denison University and began his careers as a daily newspaper reporter.
Our Tasters
Zekun joined JamesSuckling.com in 2019. With a background in international journalism, he developed a taste for wine during university. His passion in wine led him to gain experience through extensive tastings and wine writing, especially during his three years in Mexico. This has also led him to the pursuit of a diploma of the English WSET and a Wine Business degree in Burgundy. When not drinking wine, Zekun enjoys savoring pour-over coffee, pu’er tea and occasionally, a shot of mezcal. He also spends his free time sharpening his Ping Pong skills.
Stuart’s moment of wine revelation came when he was working as a barman in the Tate Gallery Restaurant in 1981, when a bottle of Château Cheval Blanc 1971 was opened. Despite an MA in cultural history, Stuart realized the only way he could earn a living was to write about wine. After meeting James Suckling at a wine auction in Germany he has been based in the Mosel, Berlin and New York City, traveling extensively through Planet Wine. He now lives in the little town of Eppstein in the Taunus Hills of Germany. Although his name is most closely associated with riesling and German wine, he has undertaken in-depth research in wine regions as contrasting as Bordeaux, Thailand and Arizona. In 2008-9, Stuart was a guest student at the famous wine university of Geisenheim in Germany. In 2020 he became the first winner of the Professor Müller-Thurgau Award.
Aldo Fiordelli was born in Florence, Italy, in 1977 and has worked as a professional journalist and food and wine critic for a number of organizations. He was the Italian correspondent for Decanter, for which he was also a judge at the Decanter World Wine Awards, and also worked for almost 20 years at the Guida de L’Espresso. He writes for the Florentine edition of the Corriere della Sera and for Civiltà del bere. He is a corresponding member of the Italian Academy of Vine and Wine and a knight of the Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne. In 2022, he received the Casato Prime Donne international award. He has had seven books published: the first one on Macchiaioli, the others about food and wine. In his spare time he enjoys cycling and sailing.
English-born, but resident in Italy for 30 years, Jo’s introduction to wine was as a bottle opener for James Suckling in the Wine Spectator office in Tuscany, rising through the ranks to become Tasting Coordinator and the magazine’s taster of a number of regions in Italy. Jo left the magazine in 2009 to pursue avenues in education, but recently returned to the fold and now works full-time for JamesSuckling.com, preparing tasting notes for publication and providing ingenious Filemaker solutions. When not staring at the computer screen, Jo will probably be found walking his dog on the beach or annoying his neighbors with bad bass-guitar playing.
Jacobo García Andrade, a Spaniard, previously worked for JamesSuckling.com covering Argentina and Chile, but he now reports on Spain and Portugal. He was born in Madrid but moved to Cuba at a young age with his family before ending up in Canada, where he studied philosophy and anthropology at university. He then worked in the film industry in Spain and the U.K. and helped James make a documentary on Cuban cigars before eventually taking his first job with JamesSuckling.com. Jacobo has also worked in Spain for a renowned wine importer, Alma Vinos Unicos, and has participated in wine harvests in Spain as well as in Burgundy for Domaine Marquis d’Angerville. Jacobo says he has a soft spot for the wines of Northern Rhone, Bordeaux and the northeastern Spain axis of Bierzo, Ribeiro, Ribeira Sacra and Rias Baixas.
Claire Nesbitt is an Oxford-educated chemist and McKinsey & Co. alumnus who later decided to pursue her love of wine after studying at Le Cordon Bleu in London. Now based in Hong Kong, she is part of the JamesSuckling.com tasting team as well as helping James manage the wine program at James Suckling Wine Central. She also speaks numerous languages, including conversational Cantonese, French, Italian and Spanish. A competitive trail runner, Claire can be spotted outdoors and is always up for a hilly challenge.
Kevin Davy is a French-born sommelier who has studied in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Suzhou, China, and holds an MSc in International Business. But he learned about wine in Paris, and it was during his studies there that he decided to pursue this career in the business. He has been based in Hong Kong since 2013, when he started his own company as a wine educator and private sommelier, sharing his love of wine with private and corporate customers. Kevin started working for JamesSuckling.com in 2014 as a freelancer, working events in Beijing, Bangkok and Seoul, among other places. He is now a permanent part of the team as Tasting Manager.
Ryan Montgomery graduated from the University or Adelaide with a bachelor's degree in viticulture and oenology, finishing his studies at the University of California, Davis. Ryan’s passion for wine started in Victoria, Australia, where he grew up on a small family vineyard. After managing a fine-dining restaurant with and completing his WSET level 3 in 2009, he went on to travel the world of wine, working 17 harvests in Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, France and the United States. Most recently, before joining the James Suckling team, he worked two harvests in Burgundy under Dominque Lafon and two harvests for the Smith Haut Lafitte project in Napa, Cathiard Vineyard. Now based in Napa, Ryan covers the West Coast of the United States as well as Australia and New Zealand. When not tasting, he can be found hiking up Mount Saint Helena or surfing the California coastline.
A career sommelier and wine lover, Andrii ran the wine operations of various hospitality venues in Europe, and at Oceania Cruises in Miami, before joining the JamesSuckling.com team. Certified by the Court of Master Sommeliers, Andrii is now an integral part of the tasting team, helping to rate thousands of wines each year.
