Chris Widnell has been involved in wine since the early '60s, when he wrote the first Food and Wine column in Varsity, the Cambridge (UK) University student newspaper. After graduating, he chose a career in biomedical research over one with a major UK wine importer, but retained his wine contacts, assembled a wine collection, and wrote the occasional wine article.

Since retiring to Hilton Head in 2007, he has written on wine for Hilton Head Monthly and Grand Strand Magazines and become a member of the Society of Wine Educators.