For several years I wrote for NewsBreak, the US local news app with 45 million monthly readers that was the most-installed news app in American app stores in 2020. I started in 2021 with a California wine column, drawing on my WSET Diploma to write about Duckhorn’s $100 million stock market debut, how the 2020 vintage fared after the Glass Fire, and the rise of New York State wine.
From there I moved into consumer and retail news, and that’s where my readership grew fastest: across nearly 500 stories my articles were read more than 10 million times and earned 57 million impressions. I wrote about the chains at the centre of American daily life, like Walmart, McDonald’s, Target and Starbucks, through the eyes of the shoppers and staff who know them best, and readers responded. They shared my stories more than 45,000 times, left over 25,000 comments, and more than 70,000 of them followed me for more.
Thirty-one of my articles passed 100,000 views each, twenty passed a million impressions, and my most-read piece was read more than 535,000 times. In my peak quarter my articles were read more than 7 million times, and in a single month ten of my articles each passed a million impressions. In just six months I grew my average article reach seventeenfold, and at my peak I was performing at the level NewsBreak describes for its most successful creators. That taught me how to find the stories a national audience wants to read, talk about and act on.
NewsBreak has since closed its creator programme, so I’ve brought the wine pieces I kept back to Wine Woman & Song, each with a note saying where it first appeared.
February 2021: Duckhorn goes public
Napa Valley’s Duckhorn, best known for its Merlot, filed to list on the New York Stock Exchange, and the piece follows how a winery that made 1,600 cases in 1978 grew into a business ready for a public offering.
Read: Napa Valley’s Duckhorn to Raise $100 Million in First Public Offer
March 2021: Four in five American wines
The column’s opening piece, a short introduction to California wine that runs from the mission vineyards and the Gold Rush to the regions of the North Coast and Temecula Valley.
Read: Four in Five American Wines Come from California
March 2021: New York State wine
An international tasting panel with three Finger Lakes winemakers, asking what makes New York wine taste of New York and how the state can stand next to California.
Read: New York State Wine Is on the Rise
April 2021: The 2020 vintage after the fires
California’s smallest harvest in years, the Glass Fire in Napa’s mountain vineyards, and what smoke taint means for anyone choosing a 2020 wine.
Read: California’s 2020 Vintage After the Fires
April 2021: Trinchero
How a happy accident with White Zinfandel helped an Italian immigrant family build a Napa Valley business, with a tasting of four Napa Cellars and Trinchero wines.
Read: Trinchero and the American Dream in a Glass
For the rest of my writing outside the blog, see the About page.
