Late last month, JebDunnuck.com announced that Virginie Boone had joined the team as senior editor. Boone will be the site’s new reviewer for Washington and will also cover a number of other regions for the publication.

In part one of a two-part interview, I talked with Virginie about her background and how she got involved in the wine industry. Here, we discuss her time at Wine Enthusiast, her new responsibilities at JebDunnuck.com, her thoughts on Washington, and her approach to wine reviewing. Responses have been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

How did you get connected with Wine Enthusiast?

Around that time (when I decided to leave the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat), I had briefly met Susan Kostrzewa (at the time executive editor at Wine Enthusiast). So I reached out and said, ‘If you’re ever looking for coverage, I’m here. I really want to write for anybody I can about wine.’

I got a couple of small assignments here and there. At the time, they had one reviewer doing all of California. So I think they thought they needed more than one person to really get into some of the regions that weren’t getting as much attention. So I became a full-time reviewer for Wine Enthusiast. That was in 2010.

What regions did you start out covering for Wine Enthusiast?

Northwest Wine Report is wholly subscriber funded and is my primary source of income. Please subscribe to support continued independent content and reviews on this site.

To receive articles via email, click here.