As 2018 comes to an end, many wine enthusiasts/geeks/bloggers put together their “Top Bottles I Drank this Year” lists. While I do enjoy reading these posts, when I personally think back to my year in wine what comes to mind first isn’t the bottles that I drank, but my wine experiences: the places I’ve traveled, people I’ve met, events I’ve attended. To me, these are more memorable then the wine I’ve consumed – and that includes the (purported) DRC. I suppose this train of thought is keeping in line with me attributing my wine “a-ha” moment to a person as opposed to a bottle. 🙂
So without further ado, and in no particular order, here are my top 10 wine experiences of 2018:
My First Sabrage. This “top moment” wasn’t so much about the actual sabering itself, but the fact that it occurred at my work goodbye party just before moving down to Southern California. I’d been an employee of Capri Cellars for almost four years – it was my first job in the wine industry and will always hold a special place in my heart. As a going away present, the owner and staff gave me a gorgeous saber and a bottle of Blanquette de Limoux (a sign perhaps?) to try it out on. For my first attempt – I think I did quite well!
Starting the WSET Diploma. Shortly after moving down to Southern California, I started my WSET Diploma studies at Neptune School of Wine. (Oddly enough, even if we hadn’t moved here I was still planning on taking my classes at Neptune since there wasn’t anywhere in the Pacific Northwest that taught Diploma). Over the past several months, I feel like I’ve become exponentially more well versed in Viticulture, Winemaking and Sparkling Wines having taken and passed Unit 2 (with distinction) and taken (and hopefully passed!) Unit 5. I’ve likely got a couple more years before completing the entire program, and after that . . . who knows?
Joining The Vintner Project. I discovered The Vintner Project (TVP) after seeing their post highlighting a winemaking couple in my hometown. It’s not too often that something crosses my Instagram feed with the hashtag #Richland, so needless to say I was intrigued. The goal of TVP is to focus on the stories and people behind the wine as opposed to scores or ubiquitous tasting notes. Since these are the types of stories that I’d like to focus on myself, in May I joined The Vintner Project as a contributing writer.
Meeting Online Wine Peeps – In Person. This was definitely a highlight of 2018 – and one I hope to add more names to in 2019! I met several online wine people face-to-face this year, but two in particular stand out for me:
I followed Winetravel on Instagram for quite awhile before realizing that she lived in Orange County (where I was moving to) and was originally from my beloved Washington state (where I was moving from). Since relocating, we’ve gotten together several times and have become fast friends – bonding over wine and travel (her online name obviously suits her). We live close enough to one another that I could probably walk to her house in an hour . . . less if I knew she was opening a bottle of wine from her recent trip to Italy.
I can’t recall the first time I came across Spitbucket – it might’ve been the “60 Second Wine Review” she did on one of my favorite Washington wines: Gramercy Cellars’ Picpoul. In any case, we discovered that we’d both been students at Northwest Wine Academy, and although we knew many of the same people, our paths hadn’t crossed yet. I finally met her at the Wine Bloggers Conference in October and immediately knew we were members of the same wine tribe – she is equally as passionate and geeky about wine as I am! Even though we’re not within walking distance, I’m hoping that our paths continue to cross – because she’s pretty damn awesome.
Auction of Washington Wines. You know that feeling when you come home for Christmas break after your first year away at college? That’s how I felt attending the Auction of Washington Wines this year four months after moving to California. I ran into so many familiar faces: my old neighbors, Capri Cellars customers, people Hubs used to work with, my favorite wine photographer, and a couple that I see annually at this event – where we usually end up competing for the same wines! This year was no different – we all fell in love with a new release from Buty Winery: Rockgarden Estate Grenache. I left the evening one of the winning bidders on a case of this lovely wine – as did my favorite competing couple. Who says you can’t go home again?
Trip to the Finger Lakes. I’d heard a lot about the Finger Lakes wine region (also known as FLX) over the past few years, so I was excited to visit this past summer. And who better to go with then my Best Galfriend with whom I could have fun in a cardboard box with. Now, I’m not equating FLX with a cardboard box – but it IS rural (and I’m FROM rural). So if you’re thinking you’ll catch an Uber to scoot out to dinner – learn from our mistake, and think again. Nonetheless, the region’s reputation for delicious Rieslings is well founded – FLX is absolutely knocking it out of the park with this variety. Hubs and I have already plowed through every bottle that I brought home.
Passing the Italian Wine Scholar Exam – Part 1. After months of studying, with some major time-outs for moving and WSET, I finally took and passed the first part of my Italian Wine Scholar exam. For Part 2 (Central & Southern Italy), I’m doing a weekend intensive class next month in Portland (taught by two of my favorite wine instructors!) and am scheduled to take the exam in early February. Although Italian wines will always be more challenging for me to wrap my brain and palate around than French wines, I’ve learned a ton through this program. And more importantly, I have a better appreciation for Italian wine.
Becoming a San Diego Chevalier. Shortly before we moved, I joined the Seattle chapter of La Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin. This was a fun bunch of Burgundy wine lovers and I was disappointed to be leaving them before I really had a chance to experience what the group had to offer. Fortunately, I connected with (and joined!) the San Diego Chevaliers chapter and attended a fantastic Paulée earlier this year with my 1998 Vosne-Romanée in tow. The next Chevaliers event is in a couple of months (it’s white tie – don’t tell Hubs or he’ll find an excuse not to come with me!) so I’ll be sure to post how that event goes. And maybe with pictures this time. 😉
Learning From a Master of Wine. It’s often said that in order to become better at something, you need to practice with, and learn from, someone who is much better at that “something” than you are. A few months ago, I signed up for a series of blind tasting classes with Lindsay Pomeroy – a Master of Wine in San Diego. In the short amount of time I’ve spent with her, I have learned so much more than I could have studying on my own with my nose in a book (or a glass). She’s easygoing and friendly, but challenging. After I told her I was studying for the Diploma, she had higher expectations of me in her classes and would put me on the spot more often. Which is good – because I usually don’t push myself outside of my comfort zone. She’s giving me a level of confidence that I didn’t have before.
Attending the Wine Bloggers Conference. I know I said above that my Top 10 were in no particular order, but the Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla was definitely my wine highlight this year. It was my first year attending and it was incredible to be surrounded by so many other wine writing enthusiasts – especially in a wine region located just an hour away from where I grew up. Bonus: Hubs attended the entire conference with me and provided our wine “quote of the year”.
Next year’s location isn’t quite as close – the conference will be held in Hunter Valley, Australia. However, it’s recently come to my attention (thanks Hubs!) that this can be my birthday present if I’d like it to be . . . and I think I might go for it. 🙂 And if I do, I have no doubt it will be at the top of my 2019 list!
Our first stop was to check in on progress of the winery’s future production facility and tasting room in Milton-Freewater – both of which will (hopefully!) be operational by mid-March, 2019. After this, we piled into several SUVs for a jaunt outside of town and up about 2,000 feet to see the site of Force Majeure’s future estate vineyard. Located in an area referred to as the “North Fork” – geologist, Washington wine champion and AVA aficionado Dr. Kevin Pogue described this area as a “sweet spot” because it checked so many of the right boxes for vineyard site selection: elevation, rain levels, soils and aspect (more detail on this in an upcoming post!) Plus, while I don’t believe this is a factor usually considered when deciding vineyard site, it’s absolutely fucking gorgeous.
immediately outside of the main conference hall. Don’t be fooled – no need to stand in line for ten minutes for the privilege of sharing the facilities with 200 of your closest friends. These conference halls (either in a hotel or a dedicated facility) are labyrinths that are designed to host multiple conferences at the same time. So just walk the hallway toward one of the other large conference rooms that isn’t currently in use and there you will find your very own restroom (just don’t tell anyone where it’s located). (Editor’s Note: spouses are exceptions to this “don’t tell anyone” rule).
Be a good conference neighbor. This should be self explanatory, but as with most things in life that fall into that category, it unfortunately is not. Generally clean up your area, if you get a phone call take it outside (we get it, you’re a very busy and important person who owns a cell phone and we are all duly impressed with your station in life), don’t eat a bag and a half of Doritos so loud that we can’t hear the speaker, etc. You know what, this goes beyond conference etiquette – just generally follow these simple rules in life. (Editor’s Note: another wine blogging conference specific: mind the spit buckets! Don’t go jostling the table too much or slamming your chair into the table behind you and putting your fellow conference goers at risk for dump bucket spillage. Nobody wants to be Miles.)
Rule #4: I can’t swear too much. Late entry inserted after she read Rule #3 above. Kindly disregard – won’t happen again (it totally will).
Outwines 