Thank you, Corie Brown

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Wine in California is more than a beverage, it’s an industry (one that’s had a huge impact on vital parts of the state’s economy, including tourism, real estate and retail) and it’s also, some would say, potentially an art form — with recognized masters, talented upstarts, celebrity scandals and plenty of entertainment value.

Corie Brown, until last week the Food section’s wine writer, found her stories at this nexus of agriculture, money, consumer interest, evolving culture mores, personality, glamour and hard news. Her articles touched upon such wide-ranging topics as the then-mysterious discount wine from Charles Shaw (‘Two Buck Chuck’), the eco-friendly biodynamic techniques of modern winemaking, emerging wine regions around the world, the confident leading edge of L.A.’s new generation of wine lovers, the growth of the role of sommeliers, the significance of federal label regulation changes — and even how the price of a glass of Champagne may not always be what it seems to be.

A terrific reporter, she has often been the first to document significant trends in the field, and she has focused on serious issues in a category where style/entertainment type coverage is the norm. We will miss what she brought to the section and we will miss her newspaperwoman’s enthusiasm for finding and telling the story.

Readers who’d like to contact Corie (left in the photo, with writer Jenn Garbee) can send an e-mail to food@latimes.com and we will forward it.

— Susan LaTempa