Robin Shreeves, Freelance Journalist - Barrington

“I am a Jersey Girl through and through” says wine writer Robin Shreeves, “and when I say that, it is the only time a refer to myself as a girl.” Shreeves lives in the town she grew up in, eight blocks from her parents’ house in Barrington. She chose to stay in the state to give her children the same kind of small-town upbringing she had and began some freelance writing to supplement the mom-time nearly two decades ago. An early gig at the Mother Nature Network led to writing about food and wine, and the realization that New Jersey wines—and East Coast wines in general—can be wonderful. “I will drink a New Jersey or a Virginia Cab Franc any day over one from California,” Shreeves says.

In her current wide-ranging journalism, Shreeves does everything she can to promote New Jersey wines to the audiences of Wine Enthusiast, Wine Industry Advisor, VinePair, and The Vintner Project (as well as Edible publications), to name a few. “I love the community; everyone is genuine,” she says. “I love the fact that vineyards are saving open land. That’s really important in this tiny little stuffed state.” She also adds that vineyards are good stewards of the land because they tend to use sustainable practices. “If your soil isn’t good, you aren’t getting a good product.” Shreeves, who earned her Global Intermediate Sommelier Certification at the Wine School of Philadelphia, writes about New Jersey specifically when she can, but notes that she’s often able to put a New Jersey example into national trend stories. She says, “They’re in there like they belong to be in there, because they do.”

Instagram @rshreeves