Hi. I'm James.

Hi. I’m James  … a multi-discipline designer,  brand strategist, facilitator, illustrator, and photographer and founding partner + creative director at Hersick + Webster Creative Partners–a brand marketing agency … as well as sometimes writer…

How does that make me qualified to write about wine?

Aside from designing a label or two and branding a bunch of restaurants around the world… It doesn’t.

I’m not qualified or certified to any degree to be a professional wine critic, writer or otherwise. I’m just passionate about stories and the history of wine is overflowing with them … past and present. Doesn’t hurt that it’s pretty damn delicious too!

Did I mention my passion for American history too? Conveniently, I live where the foundations of our country and the Northern VA AVA overlap. Lucky me! George Washington and his brothers pretty much owned everything around here.

Travelling, exploring and going outside to play in nature are also passions of mine. I’ve lived most of my life surrounded by the mountains where the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers collide. It’s beautiful (don’t trust me, trust in Thomas Jefferson) so naturally, its great for growing wine grapes.

All of these passions and randomly collected stories of our history come in really handy when I play tour guide when my wife’s family visits from California.

I hope they entertain you too.