Jim Gordon has been an editor and reporter in the wine industry for more than 25 years. He became editor of Wines & Vines in 2006. Gordon credits his job as editor of the St. Helena Star newspaper in Napa Valley in the 1980s with introducing him to the wine business and many of its modern-day pioneers. He was managing editor of Wine Spectator for 12 years and editor-in-chief of Appellation/Wine Country Living magazine for four, during which time he helped create "Wine Country Living TV" for NBC station KNTV in San Jose. Gordon has attended the UC Davis Wine Executive Program, participated in numerous extension classes in viticulture and enology through UC Davis, planted a small vineyard of his own and made wine since 1989 without bothering to sell any.