An expatriate American, Joel B. Payne has lived in Europe since 1979, first in France and Italy, now in Germany, where he was thrice Germany's best sommelier. Beyond a long career as wine buyer, consultant and managing director of two large importing companies and a négociant business in Bordeaux, he has been active as a wine journalist for over 40 years, including a three year stint as editor-in-chief of Meininger's Wine Business International. He was long a regular contributor to Germany's leading wine magazines, Falstaff, Vinum and Weinwelt. In English, he has penned numerous articles over the years in the World of Fine Wine, Decanter, Steve Tanzer's International Wine Cellar and Vinous. In addition, he has often written for various publications in France, Italy, China, India, Korea and Japan. However, he is best known for his German Wine Guide, which has appeared annually since 1992, first as Gault Millau and now as Vinum. A founding member of the Grand Jury Européen, he was also the president of the international circle of wine writers, FIJEV, from 2007 to 2010. Having launched Vinocultura in 2009, he lives today along the Rhine in the Pfalz near the Alsatian border.