I’m Charlie Geoghegan DipWSET. I’m a wine writer and content marketer from Dublin, Ireland. I write about wine and the people that make it, and I work on marketing campaigns that help bring all of that to life. I live in London, where I’m a Senior Copywriter for Berry Bros. & Rudd, Britain’s oldest wine merchant.
My work as a wine writer
The short version: I write about wine all day. For the slightly longer version, read on.
My work varies. On a good day, I might interview a winemaker for a feature article. On a perfect day, I might do that at their winery. For days or weeks at a time, I might be researching and writing long-form articles for a print publication. I work on big annual campaigns like Bordeaux and Burgundy En Primeur. I’m a regular contributor to Berry Bros. & Rudd’s No.3 magazine, and my writing has been published in Decanter magazine.
I also write and edit a lot of short copy: wine tasting notes and product descriptions; wine label text; blog articles; website copy of all shapes and sizes; email marketing; social media copy; and more besides.
As an editor, I work with a lot of talented subject-matter experts including Masters of Wine and specialist wine buyers. Commissioning these people to write about wine is a pleasure. Editing what they write is a privilege. It’s invariably a learning experience, too.
My background
Working in wine came about entirely by accident, in 2012. It’s been an interesting journey so far, taking me from Dublin to Bordeaux to London. And I’ve worked closely with wine companies in countries including Canada, the USA, South Korea, China and Singapore.
I’ve sold wine by the bottle, by the pallet and occasionally by the container. I’ve stocked supermarket shelves and sold to trade buyers in many of the world’s major wine markets. I’ve spoken on panels and hosted tastings, masterclasses and wine dinners. I’ve worked for and with wine producers in France, Australia, Italy and England. And I’ve poured a lot of wine at trade shows and consumer wine tastings, from Manchester to Vancouver and Guangzhou to Düsseldorf.
These various experiences have made me a better wine marketer and writer. Formal education and training have helped, too. I hold an MBA in wine marketing from INSEEC Wine & Spirits Institute in Bordeaux and a postgraduate diploma in marketing and management from Technological University Dublin.
I’ve also got some wine qualifications, including Italian Wine Scholar and Bordeaux Master-Level certificates from the Wine Scholar Guild and the Level 4 Diploma Award in Wines from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET).