Dereck Foster was born in Buenos Aires in 1931 and except for the period 1953-1959 spent in Spain, South Africa and other countries outside of Argentina, has lived there all of his life. While in Spain, he visited his first winery and his passion for food and wine was born. He has always been a journalist specializing in gastronomy and travel, which has allowed him to visit 36 countries on five continents. He has been the Buenos Aires Herald's Food and Wine columnist since 1967 and lately its Food and Wine editor. Dereck lectures widely and for eleven years lectured on food and drink at the Salvador university in Buenos Aires.
Richard Tripp, or Dick as he is more commonly called, was born in North Carolina in 1940. As an active duty officer in the US Navy, he traveled extensively and continued to do so after his retirement in 1988 when he moved to Brussels with his wife, a member of the US Foreign Service, and other posts in Madrid and Buenos Aires. Dick became interested in food and cooking when he was young and his interest in wine started to develop in 1967 during four years of duty in Northern California, close to the California wine centers.