David Schildknecht is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 wine

Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...

 critic

Critic

A critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...

, a full time member of The Wine Advocate

The Wine Advocate

The Wine Advocate, informally abbreviated TWA or WA, is a U.S. bimonthly wine publication featuring the consumer advice of wine critic Robert M. Parker, Jr....

tasting team since 2006, and contributor to recent editions of Robert Parker

Robert M. Parker, Jr.

Robert M. Parker, Jr. is a leading U.S. wine critic with an international influence. His wine ratings on a 100-point scale and his newsletter The Wine Advocate, with his particular stylistic preferences and notetaking vocabulary, have become very influential in American wine buying and are...

's Wine Buyer’s Guide. An authority on the wine of Germany

German wine

German wine is primarily produced in the west of Germany, along the river Rhine and its tributaries, with the oldest plantations going back to the Roman era. Approximately 60 percent of the German wine production is situated in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, where 6 of the 13 regions ...

 and Austria

Austrian wine

Austrian wines are mostly dry white wines with some luscious dessert wines made around the Neusiedler See. About 30% of the wines are red, made from Blaufränkisch , Pinot Noir and locally bred varieties such as Zweigelt...

, he also considers the Loire Valley a specialty, a wine region he has described as "the bargain garden of France". He currently covers the French

French wine

French wine is produced in several regions throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France has the world's second-largest total vineyard area, behind Spain, and is in the position of being the world's largest wine producer...

 regions of the Loire Valley, Alsace

Alsace wine

Alsace wine or Alsatian wine is produced in the Alsace region in France and is primarily white. These wines, which for historical reasons have a strong Germanic influence, are produced under three different Appellations d'Origine Contrôlées : Alsace AOC for white, rosé and red wines, Alsace Grand...

, Beaujolais

Beaujolais

Beaujolais is a French Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée wine generally made of the Gamay grape which has a thin skin and is low in tannins. Like most AOC wines they are not labeled varietally. Whites from the region, which make up only 1% of its production, are made mostly with Chardonnay grapes...

, Burgundy

Burgundy wine

Burgundy wine is wine made in the Burgundy region in eastern France, in the valleys and slopes west of the Saône River, a tributary of the Rhône. The most famous wines produced here - those commonly referred to as "Burgundies" - are red wines made from Pinot Noir grapes or white wines made from...

, Champagne, and Languedoc-Roussillon

Languedoc-Roussillon

Languedoc-Roussillon is one of the 27 regions of France. It comprises five departments, and borders the other French regions of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Rhône-Alpes, Auvergne, Midi-Pyrénées on the one side, and Spain, Andorra and the Mediterranean sea on the other side.-Geography:The region is...

, as well as Austria, Germany and other central Europe wine producing regions, and additionally the American

American wine

American wine has been produced for over 300 years. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 89 percent of all US wine...

 East Coast and Midwest wines.

Schildknecht worked with Rex Wine & Spirits from 1982, with Mayflower Wine and Spirits, and with Pearson’s. regularly assembled and presented wines from German growers for Parker's reports in The Wine Advocate from 1990 through 1996. From 1997 to 2002, Schildknecht reported from Austria, Germany and Hungary for Wine & Spirits

Wine & Spirits

Wine & Spirits is an American wine magazine. With offices in New York and San Francisco, the magazine publishes eight issues annually.In addition to publisher and editor-in-chief Joshua Greene, among the contributors are Tara Q. Thomas, Patrick Comiskey, Patricio Tapia, Peter Liem, with additional...

and Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

Stephen Tanzer

Stephen Tanzer is an American wine critic, editor and publisher of thebimonthly International Wine Cellar since 1985, with particular expertise on the wines of Burgundy, Piemonte, California, Washington State, South Africa and Bordeaux....

, and imported wines of France for Ohio-based wine importer and distributor Vintner Select.

Schildknecht has authored the material on German wines in the third edition of The Oxford Companion to Wine

The Oxford Companion to Wine

The Oxford Companion to Wine is a book in the series of Oxford Companions published by Oxford University Press. The book provides an alphabetically arranged reference to wine, compiled and edited by Jancis Robinson, with contributions by several wine writers including Hugh Johnson, Michael...

, and has contributed to The World of Fine Wine

The World of Fine Wine

The World of Fine Wine, abbreviated WFW, is a British quarterly publication for wine enthusiasts and collectors. Published by Quarto Magazines Ltd, the first issue was released in June 2004. It has been described as "an up-market Decanter, with longer, more in-depth features, more credible tastings...

. On the subject of TCA taint

Cork taint

Cork taint is a broad term referring to a wine fault characterized by a set of undesirable smells or tastes found in a bottle of wine, especially spoilage that can only be detected after bottling, aging and opening...

, Schildknecht has presented his views on stoppers on the website of Jancis Robinson

Jancis Robinson

Jancis Mary Robinson OBE, MW is a British wine critic, journalist and editor of wine literature. She currently writes a weekly column for the Financial Times, and writes for her website jancisrobinson.com...

.

Eric Asimov

Eric Asimov

Eric Asimov is an American wine critic for The New York Times, with articles subsequently published in the International Herald Tribune.-Biography:...

has described Schildknecht as "one of the most learned and thoughtful wine writers around".