Happy New Year!

This is a wine blog, but I don’t consider myself a “wine blogger”. I don’t receive “free samples” to write about (mostly because our laws pretty much prohibit that), I have to rely on importers/distributors to bring in the latest, greatest exciting wines, and if they’re made with Italian native grapes, well that’s even better! I certainly don’t post regularly (or as much as I should). Life keeps moving on, and then I find a month gone by without a new post!

Anyway, I’ve been thinking a lot about 2019. Mostly because it’s the year where I have a rather significant birthday approaching in just six short months. I always thought I was ok with it, but lately I’ve been thinking about it with mixed emotions. When I turned 40, I embraced it wholeheartedly. My whole attitude was “bring it on”. To be fair, I’ve accomplished a lot in 10 years… (and there it is…you know how old I will be!) I finished my WSET diploma, became a manager and buyer of a boutique wine store, traveled to Italy several times and obtained an expert designation in Italian grapes/wine, a harvest internship in South Africa, other family trips with my husband &/or daughters, watched both my daughters graduate from high school and enter University, visit with my extended family several times, and much, much more!

Life is too short to drink bad wine…so this year, I’m going to be a lot more discerning about what I drink; ie what I actually swallow! January is a I’m-limiting-my-wine-intake-month…time to detox from the Christmas season of events, get-togethers, and just a lot of wine consumed, typically on a daily basis. This will not be easy for me, but I will be taking the time to look at the wines I DO have in my wine rack and in my save-for-much-later wine fridge. No bubbly…of ANY kind, no Italian reds and no Aperol spritz’s. *Sigh* Tea will become my new best friend! More time to write about wine without actually tasting it! Perhaps from a terroir, or location perspective?

It’s all good though, because January will be my month to study Italian, and I mean deeply study it. Podcasts, television shows (you can learn a lot from other language soap operas!), radio, reading, book work, reviewing verbs, and most importantly…speaking, until I get to the point where my face doesn’t turn beet red or I don’t get a blockage in my throat because I’m too afraid to say anything, lest I make a mistake!  But as they say…how you learn is by making mistakes. So 2019 will be a year of mistakes! Haha!

So learning Italian will be a big thing for 2019. Another big thing will be getting stuff paid off…good grief, this is the time of life where things are supposed to be easier! Kids are staying home longer (not like back in the day when WE left home at 18…), things are more expensive and there’s always “just one more thing”. You know how it goes. Along with a I’m-limiting-my-wine-intake-month in January comes a moratorium on wine. That’s right! No buying wine either! That will actually be easier than not consuming it!

When it does get to the big day, I’ll look forward to drinking this Montepulciano

d’Abruzzo, (a magnum with a stunning leather label) along with other gems I might find along the way! So, in six months, I’ll write another post after the big day and write an update to feature some of the outstanding wine that I was able to taste! (But I WILL post others before that!) Buon Anno e Salute!