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Dewey Markham Jr.
James Beard Award winner
- Discipline
- Other
i. Biography
Started with a degree in wine tasting from the School of Oenology at Bordeaux University. That training pointed him toward precision: tasting as a technical discipline, wine as a language to be read, and the table as a place where those readings matter. The route that followed moved from kitchens to wine retail to Bordeaux itself, with formal study at the Culinary Institute of America and New York University extending the base before the work widened into teaching, merchant roles, and writing.
The Path
Dewey Markham Jr. Trained at New York University and Culinary Institute of America before moving into work shaped by Paris and New York, two cities that set a serious tempo for culinary trade. From 1986–1989, he served as director of the French cooking school L'Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne in Paris, a position rooted in instruction, technique, and the maintenance of classic standards. The role placed him inside the practical work of teaching and the discipline that comes with it, with Paris as the setting for that exchange. He later moved into retail wine work as an employee at Morrell and Company in New York and as an employee at Sherry-Lehmann Wines and Spirits in New York. Those roles sit in the everyday mechanics of wine commerce, where knowledge has to be exact, usable, and backed by trust. Across these stages, the pattern is clear: kitchen work, formal study, teaching, merchant experience, and then a more concentrated engagement with Bordeaux. The phrasing may be awkward, but the focus is not: Bordeaux became his central subject, and his work settled there as writing and lecturing rather than service or sales. Over time, the region itself became the core of his professional practice.
The Work Today
His work has centered on the Bordeaux region and its wines. The line through his career runs from formal training to kitchen work, from teaching to wine retail, and then into sustained writing and lecturing on a single region. Dewey Markham Jr.’s practice is built on that accumulation, where each stage adds another layer to the same body of knowledge.
Signature
Dewey's signature dishes include 1855: A History of the Bordeaux Classification, Wine Basics, and The New Professional Chef. Taken together, those titles show the range of his work: the structure of Bordeaux Classification, the basics that support wine literacy, and the demands of professional cooking. They also mark a career that moves between scholarship and kitchen practice without treating either as separate from the other.
Acclaim
Dewey's honors include James Beard Award for wine book of the year. The award sits in line with a career built around Bordeaux, wine study, and the craft of explanation, with recognition following the same subject that has defined his work for years.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Dewey
What is Dewey Markham Jr.'s current role?
As of 2026, Dewey Markham Jr.
Where did Dewey Markham Jr. Train or study?
Dewey Markham Jr. Trained at New York University and New York University.
What recognition has Dewey Markham Jr. Received?
James Beard Award for wine book of the year (1997).
