Valerie Kathawala

About

About Valerie

Valerie Kathawala lives and works in New York City. A lifelong student of German language and culture, she specializes in the wines of Germany and Austria. // Her work appears in the pages of Noble Rot, SevenFifty Daily, Full Pour, The Art of Eating, Meiningerโ€™s Wine Business International, and Pellicle, among other publications. // She is the co-founder and co-editor of the wine magazine TRINK. // She is the lead researcher and author of the German Wine Scholarยฎ (launching September 2025). // Valerie is a proud member of Circle of Wine Writers and Society of Environmental Journalists and holds the WSET Level 3 Advanced certification.

Photo: Rosie Cohe Photography

 

E X P L O R A T I O N S

Thrillingly, Germany has no template for what its Pinot Noir was or must be. As an extraordinary #Spätburgunderstudy revealed last night, German growers are writing out their individualistic definitions with sharpening precision and perspective.
What is a ๐˜š๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ doing in Vermont?โฃ โฃ That was my first question when a post from @alice.feiring 's late-summer book tour alerted me to the existence of this unlikely outpost for low-intervention German, Austrian, and other Alpine
The Austro-Hipsterian Empire* Takes NYC. Huge thanks to @markokovac + @wearekarakterre for bringing together so many electrifying humans and wines from Central/Eastern Europe and beyond in the most magical setting! *All credit to @palinkerie for
You know I'd be perfectly happy to drink nothing but “German-speaking wines” every day of the year. But there are a few things that can pull me out of that orbit and into other universes. Like this Riesling. Grown at 650 masl, organical
If I disappear for a few weeks this autumn, you’ll know exactly what happened to me. I will have wriggled out of all responsibilities and re-apperated in Switzerland — and this glorious book will be entirely to blame.โฃ โฃ Who can resist an
Auf wiedersehen, mein beliebtes Deutschland! This was a strange trip, of saying final goodbyes to one family member while celebrating the extraordinary long life of another, of balancing the needs and wants of several generations piled together in
Into every family vacation, a little wine research must fall. How could I be just a few winding roads and one Autobahn stretch away from Holger Koch's dazzling Pinots and Chards and not make the detour? To my delight, he packed our impromptu visit
Baden + Württemberg After several days adrift in wine no-man's land, what a pleasure to find and drink these two beauties of the German south side by side tonight. Spätburgunder of expansive warmth, suppleness, and engaging complexity juxt
It took longer than I’d expected to encounter English wine on London restaurant lists. But this one from @offbeatwine — on my radar thanks to @wideworldofwine.co 's tireless sleuthing — was totally worth the wait. Semi-carbonic Pino
Absolutely phenomenal Sri Lankan meal @paradisesoho last night. Stunning flavors from ethically sourced produce, terrific service and vibe. Best part for me was finding @martinannaarndorfer 's Grüner Veltliner on tap from reusable mini-kegs spec
Hike, eat, drink. It's what we do. These days in Cairngorms National Park ๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ are reigniting our fervor for all three. The unexpectedly off-the-charts brilliant @killiecrankiehouse paired with stunning trails up + down #schiehallion #benvr
Helmut Dolde is single-handedly saving the rare Black Pear — a variety that grows solely at his edge of the Swabian Alb — from extinction by creating a perfect reason for the ancient fruit to live on. More in Issue 110 @artofeating avail