I'll begin with this:
There is nothing I can say about wine that has not already been said by a bazillion other people. But stay with me and you will quickly understand my WHY in writing this blog. What's my WHY?
Quite frankly, I am little fed up. The intimidation around wine has got to stop. Seriously. Just stop it. Wine is fermented grape juice and we all need to simmer down. And if you are drinking wine with someone who sucks the joy out of it, then put that cork (or screw cap) back in the bottle and find another drinking buddy, STAT.
I am a Wine Educator, so I also have to tell you that wine is amongst the most beautiful things in the world. It is a snapshot, a postcard from a distinct time and place.
When you open a bottle of wine, it starts to breathe. If you don’t consume it in time, it dies. It’s easy to forget that wine is a living thing, an agricultural product, and if you are fortunate enough to stumble upon a vineyard, the winemaker is hopping off of his tractor, running towards you, asking you to taste his juice, his 365 day-a-year passion project. So, yeah, there’s that.
If you are still reading (thanks), then I think I can guess a thing or two about you:
You love wine but may not know much about it. And if you enjoy wine, you enjoy food. And if you enjoy food and wine, you enjoy travel, other cultures and experiences. And if you enjoy all of these things? GOOD. Because, I will never stop saying it: Wine is your passport to see the world. Where do you want to go? What hands were in that soil? Who harvested those grapes and in what year? What was happening in the world when that juice was bottled? Not to go into my nerdy rabbit hole, but wine is kind of a big deal, a miracle if you ask me.
My goal in this blog is to help you take off your wine blinders and give you a little information to not only empower you, but to spark your inner Dora The Explorer. There is so much wine out there, and just because you cannot pronounce the grape is no excuse. Your taste buds can’t spell anyway. You need to get traveling and wine is your vessel.
With that, I hope you will check in from time to time…to learn a little something, to laugh a bit, and to be inspired to drink outside the box.