If you love fine wines and you’re looking for a truly independent wine review publication, this is it.
Whether you’re a professional buyer, a serious collector or a private connoisseur, TWI brings you reliable reviews of the wines you love, just when you need them. Our review section is led by Lisa, one of the industry’s top critics. The photos are taken by Johan, one of the industry’s best known visual storytellers.
Lisa, “I’m a hardcore wine critic. My aim is to bring wine to life, to tell stories about it and provide buyers with guidance. At TWI, we serve no other interests than those of our subscribers. We are free to do things just the way we want, so you’re in safe hands!”
Johan, “When I take photos of vineyards and the people who cultivate them, I’m creating a kind of historic documentation. Something I hope people will enjoy for many years to come. Wine producers, similarly, care about the legacy they leave behind.”
Our promise to subscribers
We will always be independent, completely unbiased, and 100% on your side. At TWI, there are no backroom deals and no premium subscriptions, just honest reviews that empower you to make the right choices at the right time. We also promise to entertain you with a steady stream of rich and uplifting content to bring you insights into the people and places behind the wines you love, their hardships, histories, struggles, and successes.
Prepare to be stimulated and surprised every time you visit TWI!
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW - FOUNDER
Born and raised in rural Maine, Lisa has spent over 25-years working in the wine industry, living in London, Tokyo, Singapore, and now Napa, California. In 2008, she became a Master of Wine and began working for Robert M. Parker, Jr. at The Wine Advocate. In 2013, she became Editor in Chief for Robert Parker Wine Advocate and RobertParker.com and was the publication’s critic for the wines of Bordeaux, Napa Valley, and Sonoma County. Her first book, Taste Like a Wine Critic: A Guide to Understanding Wine Quality, was published in 2015. In 2021, Lisa left Robert Parker Wine Advocate to become co-founder of The Wine Independent. As well as being the Editor in Chief of The Wine Independent, she covers the regions of California and Bordeaux.
Johan Berglund - FOUNDER
Johan trained as a documentary photographer at ICP in New York in the early 1990s after having spent much of his youth backpacking throughout Asia and Africa. On returning to Sweden, he received a series of photojournalism assignments from leading Scandinavian newspapers and travelled to conflict areas around the world. In 1999, he won Photographer of the Year and Picture of the Year. 2006 marked a turning point, when Johan visited Bordeaux during En Primeur for the first time. His maiden barrel sample was Chateau Latour 2005, and he has never looked back. He has attended every Bordeaux primeur since. The Wine Independent has been Johan’s dream for ten years and is now coming to fruition with co-founder Lisa Perrotti-Brown.
Sarah Mayo - Champagne Reviewer
Born in Oklahoma, USA, Sarah Mayo has worked (very) internationally in wine, food, and hospitality her entire life, living in France, Australia, Japan, and Singapore and with early forays in even more far-flung locales such as Peshawar, Pakistan, and Havana, Cuba. Sarah obtained her WSET Diploma in Hong Kong and then founded The Local Nose and Asia Wine Events in Singapore. She worked as Deputy Editor of Robert Parker Wine Advocate and managed North America for the Rathbone Wine Group (owner of Australian wineries including Yering Station and Mount Langi Ghiran) prior to her current role. Fluent in French, Sarah’s passion for Champagne stems from a deep knowledge of the region’s terroir, tradition, and craft. She lives by the belief that sharing fine wine and food with friends and family is one of life’s greatest joys. Currently based in New York City, Sarah is also the Global Sales and Marketing Director at Black River Caviar, a premium Oscietra caviar producer in Uruguay.
Susan Hulme MW - Italian Reviewer
After graduating with a degree in English and American Literature, Susan spent four years in Sicily, Bari and Naples working for the British Council and learning Italian. This inspired a love for Italian life and culture. On returning to the UK, Susan worked in the retail wine trade, winning a number of wine scholarships. She qualified as a Master of Wine in 2005, winning the Madame Bollinger Medal for excellence in tasting. Having worked as a wine educator for the Wine and Spirit Education Trust, Susan chaired the Association of Wine Educators (AWE) from 2005 to 2008 and edited the AWE News magazine for 15 years. In 2014 Susan became the Italian editor for Le Pan, a wine magazine based in Hong Kong, visiting Italian wine regions and meeting producers several times a year. Susan has judged in wine competitions around the world including the US and currently judges Italian wine for the Decanter World Wine Awards. She has been a Panel Chair at the International Wine Challenge in the UK for more than 15 years. Specializing in Italian wine and returning to her first love of writing, Susan has contributed to Club Oenologique magazine and is a regular contributor to Decanter magazine and Decanter Premium. Susan has now joined The Wine Independent.
R.H. Drexel - Feature Writer
R.H. Drexel is the pen name for a wine business insider who has worked in nearly every sector of the wine industry for over three decades. In 2012, Drexel published the first issue of Loam Baby, her wine culture zine, which garnered favorable reviews from Los Angeles Times, Punch Magazine, Imbibe, Wine & Spirits, Food & Wine, Wine Spectator, among others, for its irreverent cartoons, in-depth articles, and anachronistic approach to wine journalism. Drexel continues to publish Loam Baby, and is also a freelance writer.
Svante Örnberg - Photographer
Svante trained as a photographer at ICP in New York in the early 1990s after studying art at the University of Gothenburg. Ever since he has been working as a freelance photographer. He has mainly worked with reportage and portraits for magazines and in the world of culture, in Sweden and in other countries around the globe.
His personal work has been exhibited in Sweden, New York and Sarajevo and he just published the book GBG, a personal story about his hometown Gothenburg in Sweden.
Svante is quickly becoming addicted to the world of fine wine and has an affinity for California and Italy. Down the rabbit hole he goes...