One-Year Blog Anniversary

A year ago today my weekend plans came crashing down around my ears and I had no contingency.  I sat on the couch in the living room watching TV and quickly discovered that I did not want to do that.  I had been considering writing a wine blog for some time but had put it off as I pondered questions such as "where are you going to find the time to do this (I was working full time while pursuing a Masters in Archaeology)?" and "what exactly are you going to be writing about?" and "what makes you think that anyone would want to read your crappy writing?" And such like.  But I was sitting on the couch and the weekend stretched interminably before me. So I decided to write a wine blog.  And thus started my one-year journey.

My initial concept was a blog with daily posts focused on the metro-Orlando wine scene and associated events (MOWSE -- intended to be a cutesy play on the Disney character but invariably got lost in the translation) with especial focus on the activities of my regular Friday wine tasting group and contributing posts from members of said group.  The first post was an announcement of the upcoming @thewinebarn Clash of the Spanish Titans wine tasting event.  I was able to convince @hlyterroir and Robert Goulet to contribute posts to the blog.

Very early in the year I realized that there were subjects that I would like to write about that fell outside the stated scope of the blog so, rather than be boxed in by my initial shortsightedness, I decided to expand the scope of the blog.  Rather than focus on the metro-Orlando wine scene, the blog would cover wine-related issues and events as seen by someone(s) operating from an Orlando base.

A second evolutionary thrust was a search for an anchoring feature for the blog.  I had initially thought that our Friday afternoon tastings would serve that function but quickly realized that that would not work.  I next latched on to tasting the wines of the decade as identified by Master Sommelier Andrew McNamara  but that is a lengthy quest with infrequent, high-intensity activity along the way.  A trip to New York to the launch of the Wines of Greece marketing initiative provided the inspiration for the current and, hopefully, enduring focus of the blog -- sharing wine-related experiences with an underlying educational thrust.

The year has had many notable highlights: encouraging a number of retailers in the Orlando area to participate in #Cabernet Day; playing a key role in the 12-vintage Shafer Hillside Select vertical tasting put on by @wineontheway to celebrate #Cabernet Day; exploring Frank Husic's (Husic Vineyards) massive cellar; traveling to Decanter HQ in London to attend Steven Spurrier's Mastering the Medoc and Graves class; attending the IMW Austro-Hungarian tasting held at the residence of the Austrian Ambassador to the UK; the Chef's table at Victoria and Alberts with Ron and Adam among others; and dinner at Chateau d'Yquem with GM Pierre Lurton as host.

I have made many new friends over the course of the year and consolidated my relations with old ones.

I have consistently sought to increase my wine knowledge both to add to the credibility of the blog and to provide a more informed basis for my musings.

I look forward to an equally exciting second year.