My favorite thing about wine is how it seamlessly merges with my coinciding passions for food, travel, music, tech, and writing. I’ve been an avid writer since I could wrap my claws around a Crayola, and started studying wine academically 6 years ago. In 2020 I set my sights on starting a career as a wine writer and in 2021 my first article was published in Monarch.Wine🍷 The following year, I was accepted into the Bâtonnage Mentorship program, where I completed Levels 1 & 2 focusing on wine marketing & communications, and met some of the most exciting and influential women in the world of wine. Now that I had started to build a network in California Wine Country my ♥️ was set on finding a way to head out west to engage with this incredible community 🌱👩🏼🤝👩🏻
My dream came true this year when I was accepted for a fellowship seat at the 2023 Wine Writers’ Symposium. Their mission to strengthen connections amongst writers with a commitment to nurture new voices, ideas, and perspectives aligns with who I am at the core, and I could not be more proud that my first journey to Napa Valley was to participate in this symposium __✍🏼
The application process was recently overhauled (thanks to this incredible team) to ensure everyone interested in applying had an equitable chance. Per their Diversity Statement “The Wine Writers' Symposium is committed to fostering developing voices and promoting diversity, both key issues for the wine writing community.” This paid off in dividends, as the 2023 cohort included the most Black women the program has ever seen. Thanks to the diversity in voices and perspectives, the conversations we had throughout the weekend were some of the most interesting and multifaceted I’ve had about wine to date. The application consisted of two writing exercises, a Personal Statement, and an Original Essay addressing the topic: ‘Why is wine important?’. Not only did this theme come up as we chatted amongst ourselves throughout the weekend, the legendary New York Times wine critic Eric Asimov, shared his answer with us during his Welcome Remarks and Keynote Address.
For my paid subscribers, I’m sharing my personal essay on why wine is important to me.
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