Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen, also known as the World Wine Guys, are wine, spirits, food, and travel writers. When not traversing the globe, they divide their time between their homes in NYC and southern Spain. Mike and Jeff are the Entertaining and Lifestyle Contributing Editors for Wine Enthusiast Magazine. Their articles and photographs have appeared in Wine Enthusiast, Wine Spectator, Saveur.com, Sherman’s Travel, International Living, and The European. They have hosted numerous wine tastings including those at the Spanish Ambassador’s residence in Washington, D.C. and have spoken at Kevin Zraly’s Windows On The World Wine Course. The duo has judged the prestigious wine competition, Concours des Vins in Chablis, France and cooking competitions at the French Culinary Institute in NYC. They were inducted into the Confrerie des Piliers Chablisiens in 2010.
There is nothing more exciting to us than “drinking the wine in the land where the grape is grown”—then sharing that wine and the accompanying memories with our friends back home. We believe that wine is just as important to everyday living as it is to special occasions. The French have a phrase, Bon Vin, Bon Prix, or Good Wine, Good Price, that pretty much sums up what we think wine should be all about. Wine should taste good, it should make you feel good, and you should never put down that bottle feeling that you have overpaid for it.
We have tasted some of the best – and worst—wines in the world, and the most important aspect for us is the feeling of conviviality that surrounds the opening of a bottle of wine. Wine brings people together: Conversations foster mutual understanding, barriers are dropped, friendships are formed, and people of all cultures realize how similar our lives are on this planet we call home.
The World Wine Guys are all about visiting the places grapes are grown and wine is made, eating the food that goes along with that wine, and letting you know what we have found. In a phrase…WE UNCORK YOUR WORLD.
They have visited most of the world’s wine regions, including Spain’s La Rioja, Ribera del Duero, Penedes, Castilla y Leon, La Mancha, Rueda, Jerez, D.O. Malaga, Toro, and Cigales. In France, they have toured Burgundy, Chablis, Provence, Bordeaux, Sud-Ouest, Alsace, Loire Valley, and Champagne. Among the regions visited in Italy are Tuscany, Chianti, Sicily and Friuli. Their travels have also brought them to Tokaj and Eger in Hungary, as well as wine-growing areas in Argentina, Chile, Australia, Brazil, Slovenia, Croatia, Austria, Germany, Turkey, Greece, South Africa, Morocco, New Zealand and lesser-known wine regions in South America, Oceania, Africa, North America, Europe and Asia. Having visited six continents, they will be the first journalists to board an icebreaking boat as soon as ice wine is produced in Antarctica. Closer to home, they have been to Long Island’s North Fork, NY’s Hudson Valley, Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, Paso Robles, and Napa and Sonoma Valleys in California. Mike and Jeff have visited many of the rum, whiskey, grappa, tequila, brandy and vodka producing regions of the world. Their hobbies include chasing the harvest wherever grapes are grown and dinners with chefs, family and friends, and winemakers.
