Margaret Rand took over Pocket Wine after Hugh Johnson's retirement, having worked on the book with him for a couple of decades. Her career in wine has embraced writing, tasting, editing, commenting and a certain amount of stirring up; she is known for her independence and for the breadth and depth of her knowledge. Her books include Grapes & Wines and 101 Wines to Try Before You Die; she writes regularly for World of Fine Wine, timatkin.com and winesearcher.com. She is fascinated by way wine connects with history, geography, geology, economics, politics, food and - of course - wit.