Sydney born Chrissie fell in love with the French Riviera at the age of 17, when she embarked on six months of French lessons (and table dancing at the Vieux Nice institution Chez Waynes).

Almost ten years after her first Nice experience, Chrissie returned to Nice for a summer and somewhat fortuitously landed a role with a local company selling fine wine to the superyachts along the coast, which cemented her passion for the fermented grape.

In late 2012 Chrissie started her blog, The Riviera Grapevine, to chronicle the wonderful and little-known local wines and indigenous grapes found along the French and Italian Riviera. Chrissie still works in wine and can often be found enjoying a sneaky Provence rosé at one of the al fresco bars on Nice's Place Garibaldi, or with her nose in her ever-expanding collection of wine literature.