Wine critic Esther Mobley joined the San Francisco Chronicle in 2015 to cover California wine, beer and spirits. Previously she was an assistant editor at Wine Spectator magazine in New York, and has worked harvests at wineries in Napa Valley and Argentina.

In 2018, the California Newspaper Publishers Association awarded Mobley first place in Feature Writing for her story on a winery born from a California cult, and first place in Agricultural Reporting for her examination of Napa Valley's future. The Association of Food Journalists recognized Esther's work as the Best Writing on Beer, Wine or Spirits in 2017 for her profile of farmer Chuy Ordaz. Her work on the 2017 wine country wildfires was vital to the Chronicle earning the Scripps Howard award.

Mobley has twice been a finalist in the Louis Roederer International Wine Writers' Awards. She studied English literature at Smith College.