-
The Wine Fairy on Substack
Some cool news: The Wine Fairy is now on Substack (@winefairymichelle). If you’d like, you can follow me there for the same articles and reviews you see on the blog, delivered via email or the Substack app. Or keep reading here, as always. (Or via the RSS feed–I know there are some of you who…
-
Texas Wine News Roundup: Spring 2026
Spring is here in Texas! That means it’s time for bluebonnets, barbecue, and rosé on the patio. As Texas wine superfans, we’re always on the lookout for new wines to taste and new places to visit. Here are the five Texas wine stories that broke through the noise in the first quarter of 2026. Story…
-
The 67 Pall Mall Global Wine Communicator Awards: Last call!
March 8 is the last day to submit your entries for the 67 Pall Mall Global Wine Communicator Awards! (I know this because…well, I also put it off until the last minute.) The third edition of the awards will recognize wine communicators across six categories, spanning written, audio, and video content. Being at the Wine…
-
Certified and bonafide! WSET Level 3 results are in.
My WSET Level 3 results just arrived by email! I’m excited (and more than a little relieved) to share that I passed both Tasting and Theory with Distinction. What does this green piece of paper mean? I’m now qualified to share wine opinions on the Internet, I guess! I can’t wait to start doing that.…
-
Texas Wine News Roundup: Winter 2025
It’s a scary time for the wine biz. Our thumbs are tired from scrolling past news about winery closures, sales slumps, and layoffs…and all the associated think pieces. (Why won’t the youngins put down their phones and drink some wine? Is it housing costs, social anxiety, vape pens, or wine snobbery that we should blame?…
-
Whoa! I’m a 2026 Wine Writers’ Symposium Fellow
Great news! I’m delighted to share that I (Michelle Gruben of The Wine Fairy) have been selected as a Fellow of the 2026 Wine Writers’ Symposium. It’s a huge honor, and I’m blissfully excited. This coming February, I will be joining some of the best writers in the biz for several days of mentorship and…
-
Texas Wine News Roundup: Fall 2025
Howdy, Texas wine fans! Our quarterly Texas Wine News Roundup digs up five stories that you might have missed in the third quarter of 2025. Check the bottom of this post for sources and links to the full articles. Since fall is harvest time, we’ll start with a report on this year’s crop of grapes:…
-
The 2025 Costco Wine Calendar: All 24 wines revealed!
It’s like Christmas came early this year, because the 2025 Costco Wine Advent-ure Calendar wines have been named! It’s almost enough to make me want to brave the weekend crowds at my local store to see if that pallet has been plopped down onto the wine aisle yet. (Update: It’s here!) The Costco Wine Advent-ure…
-
Texas Wine News Roundup: Summer 2025
Welcome to our seasonal wine news roundup, where we trot out all of our best water-cooler wine chat from the last few months. New wineries, million-dollar deals, and silly numbers, oh my! Here are five of the juiciest wine-related stories from the second quarter of 2025. Story #1: Grape stomp season…kicks off! In Texas, the…
-
Texas Wine News Roundup: Spring 2025
If you’re tired of doom-scrolling, have you tried wine-scrolling? That’s when you try not to consume any news unless it’s related to wine. I have been wine-scrolling most of this year. I set up my devices to take me directly to wine content, instead of regular economic and political news. Sure, I’m less informed–but much…
-
A big win for a Texas Cabernet (plus 5 other Texas Cabs to try)
Texas enjoyed our own little Judgment of Paris this week when a Hill Country winery won a top prize in The San Francisco Chronicle’s annual Wine Competition. Yessirree–that’s right, California. A Texas Cab beat out many storied Napa producers to achieve the “Best in Class” award for a Cabernet in the $90 to $99 price…
-
Llano Estacado acquired, plans expansions in Lubbock and Fredericksburg
Llano Estacado Winery is staking out new territory, according to a press release from January 14, 2025. Texas’s largest premium winery was recently purchased by a group of investors with big plans. Currently, Llano Estacado has just one public location: A tasting room in Lubbock, Texas that also includes a 200-person event center. The planned…