Andrew Jefford grew up in Norfolk and, after studies at the Universities of Reading and East Anglia, worked first in publishing and (since 1988) mainly as a wine writer, based successively in the UK, Australia and France (where he has lived since 2010). He is the author of the influential The New France (2002) and the much-praised Whisky Island (2004, reissued 2019) about the Scottish island of Islay, as well as Andrew Jefford's Wine Course (2008, reissued 2016).

In reviewing Drinking with the Valkyries, Karen MacNeil (author of The Wine Bible) has described Jefford as "the greatest living wine writer in my opinion ... more than a writer, Jefford may well be the most profound wine thinker", while Tamlyn Currin, writing on [...] calls the book a "tumble of short stories" which "reveals the kaleidoscope landscape of a staggeringly beautiful, complex mind, reflecting a staggeringly beautiful, complex world". For Henry Jeffreys, writing in The Critic, Jefford is "the wine writer's wine writer" and "that rare thing in the wine world, a genuine intellectual. ... There are more ideas in each of these short essays than in most books."

Wine creator Randall Grahm has called Jefford "the most thoughtful person we have writing about wine" and says of the "brilliant writing" collected in Drinking with the Valkyries that "No one does it better". "If you're ever feeling tired of wine," says Oz Clarke, "open this wonderful book - at any page - and read, for one minute, for 10, for an hour. The inimitable Andrew Jefford will restore your belief in its ability to intrigue, to challenge, to enchant and to amaze."

"It's not wine writing," concludes novelist Jay McInerney, in the Foreword to Drinking with the Valkyries. "It's writing." Fellow novelist Michèle Roberts calls the book "An entrancing companion for wine lovers. Celebratory, discerning writing with all the variety and unexpectedness of the wines explored."

Jefford writes regular columns for Decanter magazine and for The World of Fine Wine. He also publishes short texts on Twitter (@andrewcjefford).