Good Morning!

Happy New Year! It’s 2012 and every single year I have the same resolutions: lose weight, work out more, save more money, spend more time with family and friends and volunteer more. These have honestly been my same goals for years. Some years, I make it happen and some years I do not.

When I do not keep my resolutions, I feel guilty and feel like I failed and I hate that feeling. This year I decided to just focus on something I could and should do besides the list above….instead of having to give up something like beer and red meat and extra tv time…I am going to drink more wine. I know it sounds SO hard to accomplish….but I want to learn more about wine. I want to really feel powerful when I discuss my thoughts on wine and how I “judge” what I taste wine if I think it is awesome or just OK. I want to read more about the real chemistry and the biological aspects of what happens when you yeast, what happens or does not happen when I blend two varietals and why is enhances the “nose” of the wine.

As my good friend Jon Swain always says, I yearn for knowledge! I want to be more of a student and if I had the time and discipline, I would march into UC Davis and finish my degree and feel as smart as some of my other wine making counterparts. Some of these folks are so brilliant and know things I probably will think about. But I am self taught and I have no shame in saying, I don’t know something. I think you have to be stronger to admit when you do not understand something, than stand there are act like you know something and you don’t have a clue. (be honest, we have all done that from time to time).

I have 6 new “technical” wine books laid out ready for me to start reading, I have 6 more wine books written by experts on other wine related topics, like law and pairings and I have my three magazine subscriptions pelting me with the greatest info ever about running a successful winery and wine brand. I am signed up to 2 more conversational Spanish classes at the jr college here in my town. I have joined two private wine clubs where we gather monthly and geek out on the wine of the month. I am also planning to travel all over and work at wineries who need a hand and just slam the winemakers with questions and ideas so I can know more.

This will be an awesome year, I dream that I will have the same goal next year and all the years that follow. I love to learn and I am tired of having New Year’s resolutions that did not feed my true loves…losing weight and saving money are great, but studying wine speaks to my soul, so I feel pretty powerful about 2012.

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi