Winter is a season of reflection for me. The cold, windy days keep me indoors more than usual. The past few months have been strangely emotional. Typically, I stay in control, but not so recently. Quadruple bypass open heart surgery…scary words, right? This past “holiday” season, from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, was overshadowed by those very words. My mother underwent the surgery, not because of having a heart attack, but because she was being proactive! She wanted to know what her stroke risk was…tests found blockage, and voilà…heart surgery. Focusing on website posts slipped to the back recesses of my mind. Time to regroup, get organized, and get back to business.

I have been studying for my upcoming French Wine Scholar exam, trying to boost my wine tasting business by getting involved in outside realms…charities( Casa Chicago and Spark Venture are the 1st two I am working with),  and meet more people through the NAPW- a professional women’s group.

I also started a wine study group- “Wine Wednesday Women into Wine” is our group name. We are all at different levels in our wine knowledge, but we share the passion for wine. We meet bi-weekly and blind taste 3 wines using the Court of Master Sommelier tasting grid.  Our goal is to become more proficient in identifying the aroma and flavor profiles of each varietal we select.  Our first meeting we sampled Cabernet Sauvignon- and the winner was an amazing Cabernet from Virginia!! Our next meeting will feature Zinfandels.

I head out to California for a business retreat. I am looking forward to checking out a few more AVA’s – Anderson Valley and Russian River Valley are first on my “must go to” list.  I will share my tasting results when I get back.