Lenn Thompson, Publisher and Editor 

Formerly the editor of the Long Island Wine Gazette and a contributor to Edible Brooklyn, Lenn contributes to Edible East End, and is the wine columnist for Hamptons.com and Dan's Papers in the Hamptons. He is also a regional editor for Appellation America covering the Long Island and Hudson River Valley regions. 

A finalist in the American Wine Blog Awards several times, LENNDEVOURS won the "Best Single-Subject Wine Blog" in 2009 for its comprehensive coverage of New York wines.

Lenn lives in Sound Beach, NY with his wife Nena, son Jackson and trusty beagle, Ben Roethlisbeagle.

Ned Towle is founder and Director of the Westchester Wine School located in Westchester County, NY with classes held at the Hilton Rye Town in Rye Brook. He has worked in all aspects of wine growing and wine making at Chateau de Mayragues in southwestern France. He has also worked in the Manhattan wine retail business. He is certified as a Specialist of Wine and Wine Educator by the Society of Wine Educators and as a Wine Judge by the American Wine Society. He teaches about wine varieties, regions, styles, techniques and vintages in a non-intimidating, fun, and professional manner

In three short years she has earned the Christine Ansbacher Wine Educator Award from Les Dames d’Escoffier, a grant from the International Association of Culinary Professionals and the La Toque Scholarship in Wine Studies from the James Beard Foundation.

Most recently, she was the Tasting Coordinator for Food & Wine Magazine’s Wine Guide

Bill Miller, a native born New Yorker, spent years honing his knowledge and expertise about wines.  He spent a harvest in Napa, California where he worked for Acacia Winery.  Since then, Bill has created award winning wine lists and developed and implemented extensive wine training programs for two world class restaurants.  Over the last ten years, Bill has become a certified Level 1 Sommelier with The Court of Master Sommeliers, attended Vin Italy in Verona, The Vin Expo in New York City, The Taste of Vail, The Taste of Washington and has been featured in multiple newspaper articles.  Bill has over ten years experience in the restaurant business beginning as a server at The Wildflower at The Lodge at Vail, beverage director of La Tour in Vail, Colorado and partner/sommelier of The New York Restaurant, Harbor Springs, Michigan.  Bill was also honored to be a judge at The Michigan Wine and Spirits Competition in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

W. R. Tish, known to many simply as Tish, has been writing and speaking about wine and food for more than 15 years. He spent much of that time as the editor of Wine Enthusiast, positioning it as a spunkier, funnier alternative to other wine magazines. Since 1998, Tish has written for magazines including In Style, Details, Private Clubs, Better Homes & Gardens, Wine & Spirits, and Westchester.

As founder and owner of Wine For All (wineforall.com – “pairing wine and fun since the 20^th century”), Tish has developed and led events for a variety of Fortune 500 corporations and law firms—not to mention private parties that would make Bacchus envious. He has also led specialized seminars for the wine trade; taught at the Institute of Culinary Education; served as an auctioneer for charity wine auctions; and in July 2006 became a certified instructor of Bordeaux wines.

Tish’s approach to wine events veers naturally toward comedy; he cut his humor teeth at The Harvard Lampoon, and does standup in Manhattan as a “recovering wine critic.” His unique and entertaining approach to gastronomy is captured in his motto, “I drink, therefore I am; I eat, therefore I am more.” 

Bill Rattner - has been involved professionally in wine and food as a Sommelier/Restaurant Manager, a wine writer, and a wine educator for quite a few vintages now. In his long-time role as Wine Director for the Xaviar’s Restaurant Group, Billy educates the staff and directs wine service for each property in the group and is currently developing the wine program for Peter Kelly’s much-anticipated Xaviar’s-on-the-Hudson in Yonkers, NY. The Xaviar’s Restaurant Group is comprised of some of the most renowned and acclaimed wine-destination restaurants in New York State: Xaviar's at Piermont, The Freelance Cafe & Wine Bar and Restaurant X & Bully Boy Bar have all received popular praise and the industry's most coveted awards and accolades which include The New York Times’ highest rating (Extraordinary), The Mobil Travel Guide Four Star Award, The DiRoNA Award, Wine Spectator's "Best of Award of Excellence", Zagat's Survey (29 out of 30). Billy designs and manages these wine programs with an eye towards making the grape accessible and yum-inspiringly enjoyable for every level of wine drinker - from the “white zinfandel convert” to the diehard collector. He has been known to say, “Wine can be serious, wine can be fun – but it should always be seriously fun.”

Liz Johnson is the food editor of the Journal News and LoHud.com, where she covers the Lower Hudson Valley food and restaurant scene. She has contributed to the pages of Food & Wine magazine and Fodor's travel guides, and is the primary food writer for Arrive, the seatback magazine for Amtrak Acela. She has also been a television correspondent reporting on food and restaurants, and currently stars in and produces webcasts on food for LoHud.com. Liz is the co-founder, with her husband, of SourCherryFarm.com, a web site that chronicles what they eat, drink and grow on their tiny plot of land in Nyack, N.Y.

Christopher Matthews, a Manhattan-based media, communications and public affairs specialist, is also an independent wine writer, consultant and educator.  Matthews is the wine and spirits columnist for New York Law Journal Magazine. From wine and spirits, to beer, sake and cider, his “In Good Spirits” column, which he has penned since 2004, covers a range of libations. He has also written about food + drink for epicurious.com and Kitchen and Cook, a monthly magazine published by the Culinary Institute of America until 2006.  From 2000 to 2006, Matthews worked as a consultant, advising on wine selection, marketing strategy and education, for is-wine, a boutique wine shop (then) located in Manhattan's East Village (now in the West Village), featuring affordable, quality wines. In wine education venues, he has conducted tastings for corporate and private clients.  Matthews studied wine at the International Wine Center in New York, where he received the Wine and Spirit Education Trust’s Advanced Certificate with Distinction in December 1998. He is also a member of the Wine Media Guild of New York.At his day job, Matthews is a press and public affairs officer for the European Commission's Delegation to the UN in New York. Previously, he worked as a European editor for The Economist Magazine Group, as an Adjunct Professor in International Business at Pace University’s Lubin School of Business and for the Chief Economist of Adam Opel AG in Ruesselsheim, Germany. He speaks fluent German and basic French.