As your social media feed fills with the highlights of people's past year, it is inevitable that we should all start scrolling through photos to remind ourselves of what has happened in 2021. A blur of 2020 running into 2021 and landing us here... a little shell shocked.
2019 was a huge year for me, I was flying all over the world for wine competitions and even flew from Budapest to New York and back to Budapest for one of them. It was a crazy time and seemed to only be ramping up even more as we entered 2020. That year was absolute shit for everyone and in some cases devastating. I feel lucky that I didn't lose anyone to Covid, but I almost lost my daughter to serious depression, an experience I still have PTSD from. But it was the urgent need to break her from the mire that took us to the far reaches of Mexico and where the story of 2021 started.
I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis at the end of 2020. RA is an autoimmune disease and mine was aggressive. My specialist was eager to move on treatment, but with the urgency of my daughter's condition weighing on me, this doctor could see I had no choice in the matter, I was hitting the road and treatment needed to wait; a dangerous game to play with my body attacking my joints with long term damage. It was clearly the correct choice as a gleam returned to my daughter's eyes and laughter once again was a familiar sound in our family. We rang in the new year in a charming village in the mountains of Mexico and started our journey back home.
Chemo treatment is actually the best approach to treat RA, who knew?!? Due to my Cushing's Disease (aka a brain tumor I struggled with a few years ago), I can't take steroids, another go to treatment for RA. So we hit it hard with the Chemo... which almost killed me. Luckily I was cleared to transition to a biotech drug that does completely destroy any remnant of an immune system, but is working on a cellular level to attack this disease. And this drug doesn't make me horrifically ill. It was a win for 2021.
Mental health became a focus for everyone in 2020 and after our bout with our daughter, it became a focus and where we put our money. Spa dates, therapy, time off work, it all created an elevated approach to 2021. Spring stretched into summer and I was pretty sure my career was on the back shelf. Of course I have the winery, which I love, but judging gave me something validating in a completely different way.
Then, suddenly, everything changed. I'd been working with my mentor, my Wine Godfather, on a book. I was part of the international editorial team and author. It was a giant project that was released as a free online wine reference. Interviews with some of the most influential wine personalities mingled with marketing advice, winemaking tips and tricks, and fun fluff pieces to create one of the most impressive collection of wine information to date. That publication felt like a tipping point, competitions came back all at once, events started popping up again and there was a new force to the opportunities coming my way. Read the book here
We had our Vivac Gourmet Raft Trip once again, and our Gourmet Guest Chef Picking Parties back, business was booming and I was back on the road! First to New York for one of my favorites, the Great American International Wine Competition and Finger Lakes winery tour, I wrote an article for Sommelier Magazine about it, then off to Europe for the Mondial des Vins Blanc Strasbourg (a once in a lifetime opportunity), a tour of wineries and cooking classes with my Wine Godfather, who evidently also wrote 3 cookbooks while writing award winning wine marketing books, then I ended my European tour at the Berliner Wien Trophy (an unbelievable honor to be invited back to). I returned home invigorated and looking forward to classes I'd be teaching in Atlantic City as part of the American Wine Society National Conference. On a high from the reception I received at the AWS, I anticipated a little down time, my Wine Godfather had other ideas. I was suddenly on a plane headed to the illustrious San Francisco International Wine Competition! A notoriously difficult competition to get a seat at, there was no way I could turn down the offer. I was also tasked with writing an article about that competition for Sommelier Magazine. Home quickly and then out to Texas for the Texas International Wine Competition and Hill Country winery tour where I was able to hug all my wine family and also write an article about it for, you guessed it, Sommelier Magazine. And during it all, I have teamed up with an incredible couple of ladies to create a wine blog, officially launching in 2022.
I will admit, there was some wear and tear on me and my family. My husband and daughter have been unbelievably supportive, but by the end of my Texas jaunt, it was evident on everyone's faces that mom is indeed needed at home. At least sometimes.
2021 also brought us a new press for the winery which has resulted in exceptional wines in an already star studded list of international award winners. We are expanding our vineyards, and we partnered with Ahmyo River Gallery on Canyon Road in Santa Fe to be a part of their Wine Garden. This incredible location serves as another tasting room of sorts for us. The winery also increased production another 25% at crush. All with my husband, Jesse, breaking a rib, breaking a piece off the bone in his thumb, having a tumor removed from his neck and tackling a bulging disc in his back.
My beautiful daughter, Denali Dae, has managed her junior year in high school well in these weird times and just got her driving learner's permit. She is only 15, but graduation is close. This thought is almost as scary to me as watching her drive! She is brilliant, a truly gifted writer, sharply funny and deeply caring, she is my world and I am so grateful to 2021 for keeping her with me.
This year closes out with another 10 pounds packed on, I really have to stop visiting the Czech Republic when I go to Europe, another dollop of awesomeness added to my resume and some amazing things on the horizon. We are happy and healthy (well as healthy as I can be LOL) and I can not begin to express how grateful I am for it all. Thank you 2021 and cheers to 2022!
