About Grape Juice News

Grape Juice News was created with a simple idea: wine coverage should be engaging, informed, and approachable — without feeling exclusive or overly serious.

Grape Juice News brings together writers, editors, and wine professionals who believe that good wine writing should inform and inspire, not intimidate. The goal is to provide thoughtful, well-researched stories on what's happening in the wine world, alongside useful guides to grapes, regions, and producers worth knowing.

There’s no shortage of wine content online. Grape Juice News aims to take wine news one step further by being more useful, more approachable, and more enjoyable. This isn’t about chasing trends or recycling press releases. The focus is on stories and guides that offer real value, whether you're deep into wine or just starting to get curious.

Grape Juice News is updated (almost) daily, supported by its readers, and built on the belief that wine is for everyone who’s interested, not just those already on the inside.

Thanks for reading. There's a lot more to come.

— The Grape Juice News Team

Meet Our Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jessi Blanarik

Jessi is the founder and editorial force behind Grape Juice News, where her mission is simple: make wine writing more informed, inclusive, and genuinely fun. She is a certified sommelier and has a master's in Wine Tourism from the WINTOUR Erasmus Mundus program. With a background that blends journalism, hospitality, and a stubborn obsession with getting tasting notes just right, she brings a critical eye and a clear voice to every story published. Jessi believes good wine writing should feel like a great conversation, not a lecture, and she’s here to keep the industry accessible and curious.

Writer: Sof Amarylis

Sof is a former bartender turned self-professed wine snob who aims to share stories that are anything but snobbish. Her go-to wine is a skin-contact Vermentino or basically anything weird that makes traditionalists raise an eyebrow. She’s interested in the messy, human side of wine — the centuries of history in a glass, who makes it, and why it matters.

Writer: David Ilsner

David writes about wine the way he drinks it: curiously, critically, and with an open mind. He’s particularly drawn to offbeat regions, forgotten grapes, and producers pushing boundaries. When he’s not writing, he’s wandering to wine shops in New York City, where he was born and raised, looking for something he’s never tasted before.

Social Media Director: Riley Ternie

Riley grew up on a small family winery in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, where they learned the ins and outs of winemaking early on. That background shaped how they think about wine, causing them to prioritize hands-on, unpretentious, and rooted in real stories. At Grape Juice News, Riley runs the social channels with one goal: make wine fun and easy to understand.