Hi Friends...

I know it seems like I fell off a cliff.

I didn’t. BUT, the last few months have been completely wild (which is why I haven’t written—apologies!).

Wild item #1 was the Come Over October campaign. It happened like this: One day, I found myself wondering what it might be like if every wine drinker in the country invited a friend, colleague, neighbor, or family member to “come over” to share some wine. We all know that wine is a beverage that brings people together, fostering new friendships and deepening old ones.

That simple idea became Come Over October—an international campaign celebrating wine’s historic role culturally and socially. I teamed up with two old friends, both of whom are communications experts—Kimberly Charles and Gino Colangelo. The campaign turned out to be a success beyond our wildest dreams. We reached 1.7 BILLION impressions and more than 1000 stores across the US did Come Over October promotions.

Most significant for me was the Press Conference and reception we held in Washington DC for the Congressional Wine Caucus. Imagine 200 legislators and their aides drinking wines from more than 30 states around the US. And the campaign quickly spiraled internationally with support from Wines of Australia, Wines of Chile, Wines of South Africa, The Champagne Bureau, the Chianti Classico Consorzio, the Prosecco Consorzio, the Mosel Wine Bureau and US-based wine trade groups from the Napa Valley Vintners to the Texas Grape Growers Association to the New York State Wine and Grape Foundation.

So it’s been a wild ride. I’m tired. But I’m proud. Proud to have stood up in defense of wine.

Wild item #2 was Asia. In late October I flew to Taipei, Hong Kong, and Singapore, to give seminars on the topic “What Makes Great Wine Great?” We tasted stunning, small-production California wines that demonstrated the principles of greatness. It’s surprising to me that nearly 50 years (50 years!) after Steven Spurrier co-created what was later called the Judgment of Paris, some still wonder if California makes great wine.

By the way and on this topic, only about 9% of all the wine imported into the US is French, and yet we constantly use Bordeaux and Burgundy as examples of style, flavor, and quality. Those wines are reference points for people in the wine business. But should we always refer to them in consumer wine writing when so few people actually ever drink those wines?

Wild Item #3 is writing a new book. I’ve never written a book like the one I’m trying to write right now. And so, some days, I sit for four or five hours going over and over the same page of text. I get that writing is solitary and that there’s no quantifying how long it may take to say what you feel you must say. Funnily, when the first edition of The Wine Bible came out, a lawyer (boy)friend of mine calculated how much I earned per hour. His estimate: 6 cents per hour.

I’m not complaining. I love writing The Wine Bible and will keep doing new editions until I can’t type anymore.

On the subject of books, I recently got a fantastic email from a woman named Amy Bailey and her friends who have started a Wine Bible Book Club. Each month, they read a chapter of The Wine Bible, then meet to taste wines from that chapter and talk about them. Such a cool idea. I’ve joined their meeting via Zoom once and will do so again. (I think they’re on the Champagne chapter which I wouldn’t miss).

Finally, I want to say that there’s something unnervingly chaotic about the weather. Last year here in northern California, we experienced more than a dozen atmospheric rivers. I had never even heard the term atmospheric river before. (It’s just what you’d imagine: a river of water in the sky, ready to plunge down in torrents). Last week, we experienced another weather concept that I’d never heard of before: a bomb cyclone, which unloads heavy snow and rain with strong winds. Last week in Napa Valley, we had them both at the same time.

If there’s such a thing as climate PTSD, I think I have it. And the book I’m reading is making it all the more vivid. Chris Carpenter, the winemaker of Cardinale turned me onto the book. It’s called Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson. You won’t want to put it down.

I’m off to try to spatchcock a turkey (not sure I can do it) and saber a few bottles of Champagne (very sure I can do it).

Thank you for being a reader, and I hope you’ll take advantage of my super black Friday one-day sale—40% off on WineSpeed and The Wine Bible. The code is BLACKFRIDAY24 and you can get them through the links below.

Gratefully, Karen