Other
Matt Kramer
Wine authority
- Discipline
- Other
i. Biography
Matt Kramer has been a regular contributor to Wine Spectator since 1985. He is American.
The Path
A long criticism career in wine is built on repetition with purpose: the same subject revisited over decades, with language sharpened by use. Matt Kramer’s work fits that pattern. He trained at Fairfield University before moving into journalism, first as a columnist at the Los Angeles Times and later as a columnist at The New York Sun, where he remained until 2008. The through line is plain in the record: wine writer / wine critic since 1976, regular contributor to Wine Spectator since 1985, and columnist of The Oregonian. The timeline shows a writer who stayed with the category long enough to build judgment, vocabulary, and range. That continuity is part of the craft. Newspapers changed, platforms changed, but the subject remained the same: wine as agriculture, geography, culture, and memory, handled through criticism. Kramer’s career reads less like a series of pivots than like sustained practice, with each post adding another layer to the same discipline of looking closely and writing clearly.
The Work Today
His work includes being a regular contributor to Wine Spectator since 1985. That association has lasted long enough to become part of the craft record itself. Since 1985, Kramer’s contributions have been folded into Wine Spectator’s ongoing conversation about wine, year after year, as the field around it has changed. The value in that kind of work is steadiness: a critic returning to the page with the same tools, adjusting to the material, and keeping the language usable for readers who already know the stakes.
Signature
Matt's signature dishes include Somewhereness, Making Sense of Wine, Making Sense of Burgundy, Making Sense of California Wine, and Making Sense of Italian Wine. The titles point to the kind of criticism Kramer writes: interpretive rather than decorative, oriented toward structure and place. Making Sense of Wine, and its variants on Burgundy, California Wine, and Italian Wine, signal a critic interested in sorting through category, region, and style rather than merely describing them. Somewhereness adds a sharper note about location and identity, with place treated as something a wine claims, or fails to claim.
Acclaim
Kramer’s standing is associated with his long-running contribution to Wine Spectator. That standing comes from accumulation, not flash. A long run at Wine Spectator gives Kramer’s work its weight: sustained attention, repeated exposure to the same problems, and the credibility that comes from staying in the argument. For a wine writer, that kind of record is itself a form of recognition.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Matt
What is Matt Kramer's current role?
As of 2026, Matt Kramer is Regular contributor.
Where did Matt Kramer train or study?
Matt Kramer trained at Fairfield University.
