By Carl Giavanti
Tim Atkin, MW, is a UK wine journalist with an international following, whose work has been recognized by more than 40 awards, including seven Louis Roederers. He writes for Harpers and Decanter (where he is a contributing editor) and has his own widely read website, timatkin.com. He also has a second career as a photographer. Tim holds a bachelor’s degree from Durham University in modern languages and a masters (with distinction) from the London School of Economics in European Studies. In 1993, he was a European Union fellow on the Paris-based Journalists in Europe program. In 2001, he passed the notoriously difficult Master of Wine examination at the first attempt, winning the Robert Mondavi Award for the best set of theory papers. He is a Caballero del Vino, a Chevalier du Tastevin and a member of the Ordre du Bontemps in Bordeaux and the Cofradía de Rioja.
You’ve been at this for almost 40 years. How did you come to wine, and to wine writing?
Indeed. It will be exactly 40 years in August 2025. I wanted to be a journalist, like my father, when I left university. And, quite by chance, I got a job at a wine magazine called Wine & Spirit. I knew nothing about the subject, but the editor, Joanna Simon, liked what I’d written as a student, as well as the fact that I was a linguist, and took a chance on me. And I’ll be forever grateful for her decision.
Is it still possible to make a living as a wine writer today? What advice might you offer?
It’s much harder now than it was when I started, all those years ago. In those days, it was possible to get a job on a wine magazine and learn about the subject on the job, as it were. Nowadays, there are fewer paying editorial outlets. My advice to someone who wants to be a wine writer today is to specialize as early as possible. The days of generalists have pretty much disappeared. It’s probably easier to earn a living as an influencer, than as a wine writer right now. Rather than just writing, think about communication in general, including social media. I would also look at other ways of supplementing your income.
What are your primary palate preferences?
I chose the regions I write about because I like the wines that they produce. So, I drink lots of things from those places. I also buy a lot of wines from regions that I don’t cover, particularly Burgundy, Piemonte, Germany and Greece. Everyone says this — well, nearly everyone — but I like balanced wines as a rule. Overripe wines — what Brian Crosre once called “dead fruit” wines — are a pet hate.
Your wine region “Reports” launched about 10 years ago. Tell us how and why you initiated.
I wrote the first one in 2010, partly out of necessity. I’d penned a weekly column for a national newspaper for more than 20 years, and I could see the way the wind was blowing with less and less space given over to wine. So I resigned and decided to concentrate on my own website instead. Initially I focused on Bordeaux and Burgundy, but after a while, I realised that I didn’t enjoy a point of difference in those regions, despite my fluent French. So, over the years, I’ve switched the focus to South America, South Africa and Spain. I also employ other people who write reports about regions in which they specialize under my banner.
What would people be surprised to know about you?
I won a trophy for flower arranging when I was nine years old.
What haven’t you done that you’d like to do?
Go to Madagascar to spend some time with the photographer Pierrot Men (www.pierrotmen.com). I collect his work and he’s invited me to visit and take some photographs of the island with him. I just need to find a window in my schedule. I’d also like to cycle the Via de la Plata from Seville to Santiago de Compostella.
What is one thing you’d like your readers to learn from your writing about wine?
I’d like them to feel a sense of enthusiasm. I still enjoy what I do. I’d also like them to see me as someone who is open minded and interested in things apart from wine. As an informed friend telling them about wine.
What’s the best story you have written?
The piece I like most is one about climbing Mount Ararat in Turkey, and launching a wine from Armenia at the summit. It was a challenging as well as inspiring trip, and I hope I did the experience justice. https://issuu.com/sophie1970/docs/gourmet_traveller_
If you weren’t writing about wine for a living, what would you be doing?
I nearly went into the film industry after university, working as a runner on The Mission. There have also been times in my life when I’ve toyed with giving up wine and becoming an academic. I’m glad I didn’t.
Can you describe your approach to wine writing and doing wine reviews?
I think they are different things. Reviews are small pieces of criticism. They are also writing, of course, but “real” wine writing, for me, covers a broader spectrum of things. Writing reviews is part of what I do, but it’s not the most enjoyable part. What I like most is turning primary research into good journalism. A lot of that appears in the introductions to my special reports, which look at history, economics, politics and vintage differences as well as the aromas and flavors of wine.
Do you work on an editorial schedule and/or develop story ideas as they come up?
I have a very strict editorial schedule. I pretty much know which region I will be visiting and writing about at any given point in the year. But in my free weekly newsletter, now read by nearly 15,000 people, I have a free hand. They are not so much stories as vignettes, and they give me a chance to cover other topics.
How often do you write assigned and paid articles (not your site)? How often do you write for timatkin.com.
I still write for Decanter from time to time and also have a bi-monthly column in Harpers, a magazine that I edited 20 odd years ago. But the overwhelming majority of my work appears on my own site. I enjoy being my own boss as well as commissioning and editing other people.
How do you feel about social media in general, and specifically the decline of Twitter (X)?
I am a big fan of Instagram, as it allows me to express my love of photography, as well as words and wine. Twitter (X), sadly, is not what it was. I don’t have anything good to say about Elon Musk. I rarely post there anymore. Overall, I think social media has been a good thing for wine, allowing people to connect with one another.
What are your recommendations to wineries when interacting with journalists?
Remember that they are human beings, not just column inches or social media posts. It’s also worth bearing in mind that good journalists have a pretty efficient bullshit filter. We like good stories, but we know when we’re being sold to.
What advantages are there in working directly with winery publicists?
If they’re good, they make the journalist’s life easier. They also tend to know their brand well.
What frustrates you most about working on winery stories and/or wine reviews?
That’s easy! Boring and/or cynical wines. Too many wines are made without passion.
Which wine personalities would you most like to meet and taste with (living or dead)?
I suppose it depends what you mean by wine personalities. I’m lucky enough to have met most of the important wine figures of the last 40 years, apart from Angelina Jolie! I’d prefer to choose a couple of historical figures. The French poet Baudelaire would’ve been interesting. So would Louis Pasteur. And what about somebody from the ancient world? Columella perhaps or Pliny the Elder?
If you take days off, how do you spend them?
Reading, listening to music, eating and drinking with my friends and family, going to the gym and playing the odd round of golf.
What is your most memorable wine or wine tasting experience?
Interviewing Gérard Depardieu at his house in Paris, where I shared a bottle of Austrian wine and a roast chicken with someone whose films I grew up watching. Read the resulting piece here: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2005/sep/04/houseandgarden.books
What’s your favorite wine region in the world?
Can I have three? In terms of physical beauty, I would choose Stellenbosch in South Africa, Rioja in Spain and Salta in northern Argentina.
Do you have a favorite wine and food pairing? Favorite recipe/pairing?
Lamb cutlets and Ribera del Duero. Or clams and a Rías Baixas Albariño.
Carl Giavanti
Carl Giavanti is a Winery Publicist in his 16th year of consulting. Carl has been in business marketing and public relations for over 30 years; his background in tech, marketing and project management informs his role as a publicist and wine writer. Clients are or have been in Willamette Valley, Napa Valley, and Columbia Valley https://carlgiavanticonsulting.com/ He also writes for several wine and travel publications https://linktr.ee/carlgiavanti
