Cindy Rynning, creator of Grape Experiences
A firm believer in life long learning, Cindy Rynning has completed the Wine and Spirit Education Trust Level 3 certification program and hold the WSET Level 3 Advanced Certificate with Merit. As of November 2023, my online wine course, Discover the Essentials of Wine (and choose it like a pro!) is published on Teachable.
I was listed as one of Exel Wines’ Top 100 Most Influential Wine Bloggers of 2015 and received the awards, Best Wine Blog 2016 – United States, Best Wine Blog 2017 – United States, and Best Wine Blog 2018 – United States from Lux Life International Magazine. In both 2017 and 2018, one of my articles was a Finalist in the Millesima Blog Awards in the Wine Travel category. An email in January 2018 informed me that Grape Experiences was awarded Best Wine Blog 2017 by Drizly.
Currently, I’m on the panel of judges at Chicago’s Beverage Tasting Institute and in June 2022, 2023 and 2024, helped judge over 500 wines submitted in the Central Coast Wine Competition held in Paso Robles, California. In 2023, I was accepted into membership of the prestigious Circle of Wine Writers, the world’s leading international association of wine and spirits authors, writers, journalists, bloggers, broadcasters, photographers and educators.
My work has been published in Wine Enthusiast, The Tasting Panel Magazine, SOMM Journal and The Somm TV Online Magazine. I’ve been featured on Good Day Chicago Fox 32, WGN-TV Channel 9, The Jam on Chicago’s WCIU TV, Good Day Sacramento (The CW31), The Rhode Show WPRI Channel 12, Colorado’s Best Fox 31 Denver, Good Day Philadelphia Fox 29, NBC Miami Six in the Mix and Yahoo Finance. I’m also co-founder of YouTube’s wine video series Crush On This since 2020.
Currently, Grape Experiences is ranked in Feedspot’s 100 Best Wine Blogs You Must Follow in 2025 and I’m among the Top 101 Wine Writers of 2020 chosen by Corking Wines. I’m honored to be recognized alongside a group of incredible wine writers and professionals.