Robert Joseph developed a interest in wine while growing up in his parent's hotel in Sussex, in the south of England. A fascination with the different labels and the flavours of customers' unfinished bottles led him to books such as Hugh Johnson's - then recently published - Wine and Wine Atlas, and then to move to Burgundy for six months to learn about its wines. Six months turned into nearly six years, during which Joseph survived by teaching English, translating, and, finally and most usefully, working with American-born broker Becky Wasserman. 

Among the essential lessons Joseph learned there were that wine, even from a small area, can be infinitely complicated; and that people involved in wine - from the producer to the drinker - ask too few questions about it. On returning to the UK in 1983, Joseph launched a magazine inelegantly called What? Wine, which later became Wine International. The following year, he set up a wine competition called the International Wine Challenge, became wine writer for the London Sunday Telegraph, and wrote his first book, The Wine Lists, now long out of print.

A number (27) of other books followed, including the Ultimate Encyclopedia of Wine, the K.I.S.S. Guide to Wine, the annual Robert Joseph Good Wine Guide, French Wines, Bordeaux and its Wines and the Wine Travel Guide to the World. Many of these are now available in translation into languages including Chinese, Russian and Japanese, and French Wines is a best seller in French. He is now working on a study of the future of wine, and an introductory book on wine. Robert Joseph's blog is The Joseph Report. 

Robert Joseph has chaired over 50 wine competitions across the globe. Foremost among these is the International Wine Challenge, in London, Hong Kong, Russia, Singapore, Bangkok, Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo, Vietnam, Poland and India. Others have included the Tri Nations in Sydney and the Swiss International Wine Awards

Awards
Robert Joseph was winner of the inaugural Jacob's Creek "Golden Vine", at the World Food Media Awards, for his efforts in increasing the appreciation of wine throughout the world. Other awards include  "the Best Wine Guide in the World" (in the 2002 Cointreau Gourmand Book awards for the Robert Joseph Good Wine Guide) , the Glenfiddich (twice), The Wine Guild of the United Kingdom Premier Award and the Marques de Caceres. He is a Chevalier de Tastevin; and a member of the Commanderie du Bontemps du Médoc et des Graves in Bordeaux.

Robert Joseph regularly appears on television and radio in the UK and overseas. He was keynote speaker at the Australian Wine Industry 2000 Global Marketing Conference and the first Viognier and Shiraz Symposiums, and has addressed meetings of the Wine Institute of California, in France by INAO and ONIVINS. In January 2006, he was one of the major speakers at the Wine Evolution conference in Paris. Audiences at other events have included customers and/or staff of companies such as the Royal Bank of Canada and Starbucks. He is a regular speaker at events run by Taste-In. He will be a major presenter at the Wine Show in London in October 2009 and a speaker, along with Robert Parker, Jancis Robinson and Steven Spurrier at Wine Future in November 2009.