Welcome to Outwines, a labor of love dedicated to the formal – and often informal – pursuit of wine knowledge.  I’m Noelle, and if Outwines were a bottle of wine, then that would make me the grape grower, winemaker and distributor all in one. My husband (“Hubs”) of 20+ years refers to me as a “wine academic”, which I really appreciate, but I think he’s just trying not to say that his wife drinks wine professionally.  Oh yeah, if we’re sticking with the wine bottle analogy, Hubs is definitely the cellar rat of this operation, doing all of the dirty work while I go to tastings.

On the formal side of this site you’ll find the Outlines page, a collection of academic outlines created by me covering wine producing regions of the world and grape varieties.  These outlines dive deep into the weeds, er, vines, and are designed primarily for students, although you may find some cocktail conversation nuggets in there as well.  The outlining format that I use was developed in law school a lifetime ago and remains to this day the very best way that I learn any new topic (admittedly, it’s way more fun to study Burgundy than Evidence, but I digress).  If you’re curious about outlining or have any questions, feel free to look here or here.

The less formal side of Outwines – which is always another way of saying the more fun side – is my Blog.  The blog has been designed to provide real-time commentary and reviews based on my personal experiences in the world of wine, be they as student, wine industry professional, customer or consumer.  Since you’re just as likely to run across wine book reviews as you are tasting notes or updates on my WSET Diploma pursuit, I recommend using the tags and categories filters on the sidebar to narrow down your search.

Whether you’re pursuing a formal education, currently working in the wine industry, or are simply looking for independent thoughts on all things wine, I hope that you enjoy Outwines half as much as I have in creating it.  Please feel free to interact throughout the site, provide comments and likes, or recommend us to a friend.  And finally, please forgive me in advance for the occasional terrible puns and jokes throughout – I simply can’t help myself!

Thanks for stopping by! 😊

Noelle