There’s a lot to be said about loving the wine industry, and there are a ton of wine writers and wine bloggers doing just that… Saying it and loving it.

I first came across wine blogger Megan Kenny, known as Wannabe Wino, when she hosted an on-line Petite Sirah tasting. As the founding executive director of PS I Love You, this was someone I needed to know… She was advocating for a cultivar that I had also taken under my wing…

“Who is Wannabe Wino, anyway” thought I.

So, I went investigating, and found someone I really enjoyed. Megan (her day-name) is a brilliant young woman who’s living a passion outside of her day job, like so many other wine writers. She, also like many other lawyers before her, finds wine to be part of a lifestyle of choice. Wine, truly and without exaggeration, is as much a part of daily food as it is a part of a very romantic lifestyle; otherwise, why would so many of us be drawn to it? There aren’t a million peanut butter bloggers, let’s just say, like there are devoted wine blogs. I just searched  “peanut butter blog” and the first one I clicked on had this for a title: Peanut Butter Recall Updates. (So not wine, romantic, or remotely interesting, although necessary!)

I had told Megan that whenever she’s in this area, to let me know, and we’d do a day in wine country with some of my connections. The day became the following, wanting to turn her onto more Petite Sirah producers that might be new to her:

• Stags’ Leap Winery
• Quixote
• Judd’s Hill
• Robert Biale

Jose and I hired a car… and off we went: Megan and Matt, Jose and I, and I also brought along Melanie and Heath Hoffman. Melanie is my assistant, writes Melanie’s Wednesday Wines (for this blog) and is my middle daughter. Her husband Heath is a winemaker, and I thought he’d enjoy a day in wine country when he wasn’t just focused on wine as a labor, and could taste some very special wines of love. Heath also does a lot of freelance work for us, and is our company’s consulting winemaker… A Merry Band of Wine Lovers in a Pure Luxury limo.

The day was filled with knowledge, history, great food and wine, and wonderful people. I have four really great blogs from this day trip day that I’ll be sharing in the near future, each one will feature one of the wineries above; for now, I’m happy to just share a few image with you, none of which I’ve taken. As I made sure everything else was set for the day, I left behind my camera. Bringing along josephotos.com was my saving grace, because he was smart enough to remember his.

Hollly Finklestein of Judd’s Hill fame took this group shot of us all, just as we were wrapping up lunch with Judd and her, and were then headed to Robert Biale Winery to meet with Dave Pramuk. Left to right, front row: Heath and Melanie Hoffman, yours truly, and Megan Kenny, aka, Wannabe Wino. Left to right, back row: Matt Kenny, Judd Finklestein, and Jose Diaz.