Wes Marshall started collecting wine when he was 17 years old and the legal drinking age was 21. He later discovered the salutary effect taking girls to his college dormitory room to show them his ill-gotten wine collection (“You drink wine? How interesting!”). Since then, his writing career has centered more on music and film and the equipment to enjoy them with at home. But during the dot-com boom, his home town of Austin developed a thirst for fine wine, and he was able to wangle a job with a newspaper covering wine.

One day, his editor asked him to cover Texas wine. Wes was not very interested, but, under duress, went to a couple of wineries and was shocked to discover good wines! Shortly thereafter, he was at a wedding and found that he was standing next to a publisher. Wes said he might be interested in doing a book on Texas wines. The publisher asked for an outline. Wes sent him one, and a week later, a contract arrived. The book, titled “The Wine Roads of Texas,” went on to win the Wine Press Award from the Texas Wine and Grape Growers, and is currently in its fifth printing with a second edition due in 2007. Best of all, the local PBS affiliate is making a three-part documentary based on Wes’s book that will be distributed nationally to PBS stations.

Wes now has a column in the Austin Chronicle, he is a special contributor to the Dallas Morning News, and writes regularly for the San Francisco Chronicle, Wine Country International, Wines and Vines and Salud! He continues to write about home theater equipment, opera and classic films for SoundStage!

For AppellationAmerica, Wes brings his authoritative insiders perspective to our coverage of Texas and it’s collection of AVAs.