Complaining With Purpose

I have decided not to post the recent blog I wrote while sitting in yet another airport bar on my way to yet another wine competition because I sound like a whinny little bi*ch. I mean I know you guys already expect me to be whining about something, but I found myself whining about flying off to another cool place to be treated like royalty and to do what I love most... taste wine. This time it wasn't the nerves that had me in the dumps since I've been to this competition before and know what to expect, but rather it was about leaving my husband and daughter for 4 days. I know most couples and or parents relish the opportunity to escape and have solo time, but my family has had so much intense crap happen over the last few years that in the current time, we are happy and enjoying each other and I don't want to miss a second of this quite, luxuriously simple time. 

Anyway, we are going to skip ahead and do a 'what I have learned' blog moment. As I spent the past week with some of my favorite people in my new wine family, all certified insane level vino geeks. What I started to notice was that we are all in the world in the same way. Here are some sample conversations, lets see if you can find the theme...

Convo 1:
P1 "Hey, are you cold in here?"
P2 "I'm a little chilled, but it doesn't bother me, however if it were any colder, I would definitely have a problem with it"
P3 "I'm cold. I think it is too cold to be tolerated"
P1 "Interesting, so I guess it's passable, but not stellar temperature."
P2 "Yes, this place is great!"
everyone nods in agreement.

Convo 2:
P1 "Do you think the turkey salad has been properly refrigerated? Seems like it's been out. Taste it and see if the mayo has turned too tangy"
P2 "This coffee is lukewarm"
P1 "That's a good thing, we don't want to destroy our palates"
P2 "Well yes, but a touch warmer would be nice"
P3 "I don't see any tea, I only do tea when I'm judging"
P1 "I guess I'll just eat the bread and cheese"
P3 "What a wonderful lunch!
everyone nods in agreement.

Convo 3:
P1 "Finally done judging and we can get a drink to actually drink!"
P2 "Yes! These are some interesting wines they have out for us."
P3 "Let's all start with a glass of _____"
P4 "Ahhhh I needed this."
P3 "Hmmm... are you getting hints of VA?"
P1 "Yes, and it's killing the fruit"
P2 "Dump that out and lets see about this other one."
P3 "This is better."
P4 "I feel like the fruit is tired."
P1 "It is an older vintage, that is totally within range"
everyone switches to enjoyment mode and sips the wine with smiles.

Complain much?!? Yes, all the time! Only we don't see it as complaining and we don't see a gripe with something as the end all of what we think. We want to address every single flaw in the environment, idea, concept, trip, food or experience and then filter back in positives and weigh them out for the end score. We are people with heightened sensitivities and awareness that results in excellent wine judges and maybe slightly annoying people to the rest of the world. I know for a fact that I can drive my loved ones crazy with my natural inclination to do this. 

I have to say it was an ah-ha moment and sharing this with my husband shed new light on how I am in the world for him. And maybe if I share this with all of you, you guys will understand that those of us that are hyper aware are not being critical, but are assessing everything in order to categorize it. One thing I know for sure is that these trips do give me perspective on my relationships and life and that I currently have a Double Gold in both.

*This wine was brought to you by an adequate white wine that has nice fruit, good acid and pretty aromas, but has gotten too warm in my glass. 

Remember, no matter what you do, Wine First!

I Left My Spoiled Heart in San Francisco

It is a bright and sunny day in Cloverdale, CA. The air is crisp and bitterly cold, but I am snug as a bug in my new San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition Judge's jacket. I have found a charming place called "Sawmill Saloon" that looks like it should be on movie set; complete with beautiful intricate metal tile ceiling and carved wood bar. The woman tending bar is the redheaded version of Dolly Parten which has made this, officially, my favorite bar EVER. It's completely empty, but the big sun filled windows make it bright and cheery in here...also makes me feel like less of a loser for sitting in a bar at noon on a Friday.

I have just spent 4 days at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. The largest North American Wine Competition with 6,800 entries from Mexico, USA and Canada. It is notoriously difficult to get a seat as a judge at this competition so I'm honored to have been included. Having now judged at some of the most prestigious competitions across the globe, I submitted my resume...with the hand delivery of a new found friend who happens to know the president of the competition and crossed my fingers. I got the response that they'd welcome me in 2021, but this being the 20th anniversary, they were re-inviting many big names back. I was thrilled at the possibility for next year, like I said, it is notoriously difficult to get into, pretty much someone has to die to get a place to open up. Then, suddenly I got an email welcoming me to THIS year! I read the email in dismay to my husband, surely they meant NEXT year and this was a mistake, but no, they had a spot for me and asked I book my flight ASAP. My eyes were the size of silver dollars. 

The way these competitions work is that most of them lavish judges, they pay for travel, room and board,  take you to fancy dinners and give you gifts. Berliner Wein Trophy actually encourages you to explore the city with reimbursement for sightseeing. I assumed SFCWC would be similar. 1st note of change was that Scott, the founder's son and VP for the competition, called me personal on the phone to see if I had questions or needed anything. Uhhhhh COOL move! I landed in Oakland and rented a car (yes paid for by them) and drove to Sonoma... that part could be an entire blog about the horrors of driving highways in CA, but I'll tackle that some other time. We were put up in a charming hotel, and met for breakfast each morning (which is catered) at the Citrus Fair grounds. Our panels were small groups of 3 with a coordinator that took notes and babied us making sure every little thing we could possibly need was supplied and paperwork was filed for us (rather than the usual head judge doing that job for the group). They also have almost a 2 to 1 ratio of volunteers that bus glasses in and out, washes/ polishes and delivers samples to us in precision timing. It is well organized and professional. 

Day one, they literally greeted us with Sparkling wine and a red carpet, no really, a red carpet was rolled out and a glass of bubbles was placed in our hands as we arrived. When we got to our panel, a large box with a sensational bow tied on it sat at each place setting. I'm talking one of those satin, black ribbon bows that hugs the box and lays perfectly flat, yet perky and plump on top, tied by hand. What happen to be inside was the most incredible gourmet picnic one could ask for! Excellent bottle of specialty wine, beautiful logo corkscrew, tons of exceptional high quality snacks and even a glass that would make drinking in my room soooooo much better; a very classy wine Judging gift.

Unfortunately, day one judging was a hot mess and my panel couldn't seem to agree, I couldn't seem to grasp the very different style of judging than what I was used to and I started to feel confused and insecure, frustrated and unhappy. In these times, I reach out to my Wine God Father, he gave me a pep-talk and I immediately felt calmer. The next day they made changes to our panel and a classy woman that has been judging for so many years my jaw hit the floor, took another judge's place. I felt she'd been put in as a secret agent to check me out, watch my judging and see if I needed to be removed. This would have had me flustered had I not talked with my Wine God Father, he is a wine badass and he knows my ability, which oddly means more than my own belief in my personal ability...I know, I know, I am working on this. Anyway, I refused to feel shaken and settled into this new system and took his advice, I DO have this, I DO know what I'm doing. Have I mentioned how grateful I am for him??? 

Anyway, long story short, day 2 went great and this seasoned judge repeatedly mentioned how much she enjoyed judging with me and assured me that I'd done very well that day. That said, by the end of the entire competition, the 3rd judge on my panel told me "I would be terrified if I were a wine being judged by you" ... uhhhhh... hmmmm... ok I guess?

Another element I can't gloss over was the extra events. A VIP tasting with the best wineries of the area, owners in tow and circulating apps was super nice. We were wined and dined at a wonderful local restaurant and pretty much the whole town seemed to bow at our feet. THEN, on another night, we were bused to the new Peju family winery in Carneros called 'Calmere'. The bus hit standstill traffic and turned the trip into 3 1/2 hours... which will also need to be another story, BUT the wine tasting and follow up dinner was incredible! Not only was the food unbelievable (and they had to hold it for all of us for hours!), the wines were wonderful, and we left with an exceptional goody bag of high quality gifts and the bag itself was a SF Chronicle insulated wine bag. I was feeling fully pampered, and then on the final day, they gave me photos of myself at the competition in a matte frame (which showed I had not mastered my hairdresser's styling technique and that no lipstick is a terrible look for me) and a jacket. A JACKET! This is a thinsulate, legit, baller jacket with the competition logo on the breast. I've been given lots of nice gifts doing this gig, but this takes the cake. 

So now I understand how this competition is so hard to enter, if you get the invite GO! It's been a beautiful experience, wonderful wines, professionally run, and the people... WOW, the people are so welcoming and friendly and fantastic. I am deeply sorry to say that there were in fact deaths and illness that opened spots and allowed me to step in, that is never the way you want to win a spot and I can see that all of the judges have created bonds that have lasted many years, the loss of these judges weighed heavy for the entire group. My heart goes out to those families and the entire SFCWC group that felt the loss.

With another competition in my pocket, I wonder what will be next. Another glass of wine for sure.