Hello loyal Vinopanions! A brief update is probably in store: the Lady, Piper Roja and I are doing quite well here in Yountville. I just finished my first IRONMAN 70.3 (Santa Rosa) and I’m coming up on my second sabbatical at work. There…update done. 😛 In all seriousness, a lot of things have happened this year...
Tag: Napa Valley Wine Academy
D.O. Montsant: Decade 2 of a Spanish #wine region & #DrinkMontsant!
First off, welcome to the new Vinopanion. A massive thank you to HoustonWino (Another Wine Blog) for the clean facelift and major troubleshooting. The second bit of big news is that I am headed back to Spain, woot! The good folks at D.O. Montsant, a somewhat younger wine appellation centered around the town of Falset, southwest...
#Vinopanion's new wardkadel.com is live!
Well…the long wait is over! If not for my fellow #Vinopanions, at least for my own incessant #wine cravings and the need to blast out my ramblings de vinos. WardKadel.com is finally live, as we are in the process of shutting down the long-running WineLog.net. With this relaunch, you will find more content combining my two...
#Vinopanion #wine Bits & Pieces
#Vinopanion has been a wild ride these past 8+ years (so hard to believe!). Towards the end of last year, as life got exceedingly busy and I was unable to put my best efforts to my love of #wine writing and education, I pondered what step this blog would next take. I have always treated my wine life as a privilege and have felt grateful for every turn that it has taken. Each little or big step was only partially planned/hoped for...most things like paid wine consulting, wine judging, being flown around the world for media trips, all have been joyous surprises, though they didn't come without hard work (on the side).
I have missed my wine world these past ~4 months, but the introspection has been useful. I've come up with new plans, reapplied old ones and have concocted new post formats, such as this new one: Bits & Pieces will cover multiple topics in short, 1-2 paragraph bites. Prepare for more news in a more concise format. And so... ¡Vámonos mis Vinopanions! Taking my #wine kung fu to the next level: #WSET II & Napa Valley Wine Academy
I have been immersing myself in the study of #wine in a semi-systematic manner for much of the last 8 years. Indeed, #Vinopanion's 8 year anniversary with @WineLog is approaching in the middle of this month. Yet I have slowly realized that something is lacking in my devotion to the knowledge of the vinous delights: focus, structure and external credibility. You'd think that a trained scientist would have recognized this long ago and I did notice these thoughts in the back of my mind a few years back. But they were always battered back by "where's the time?" and "I'm still receiving plenty of media travel & event invites," along with "my wine consulting services continue to expand." Then I reached last year and I started to recognize some clear patterns in my wine work. While I had plenty of media opportunities and my fellow wine colleagues were continuing to get work, I could see that the pace of my own trade offers beginning to slow down. It was then that I noticed that most of my colleagues began to sport letters after their names on their business cards: they were taking certified educational courses to formalize their wine training. I needed to set up my wine game. It was then that I contacted the good people at Napa Valley Wine Academy (FB, Tw): "help!"
