Thomas Matthews

Thomas Matthews began writing for Wine Spectator in 1987, when he was a freelancer living in Bordeaux. Hired full-time in 1988, he was based in London for a year before joining the New York office. He became Wine Spectator’s executive editor in 1999 and was also the long-time lead taster for Spain. He stepped down from those roles in 2021, and became an Editorial Advisor to M. Shanken Communications.

Matthews has lived in Spain, France and England, and has degrees from Bennington College and Yale University. His passion for wine was sparked when he worked the 1979 harvest in Bordeaux, and matured while working as a wine buyer for New York restaurants Odeon and Café Luxembourg in the 1980s. In 1993, he published A Village in the Vineyards, an account of his experiences in France. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Sara, a photographer who specializes in wine.