EatRetreat: Day 1
I haven’t been around this many dedicated food geeks since college and DAMN does it feel great. They come from every facet of the industry—olive oil, fermented foods, ranches, food writing, bakeries, food photography, cranberry bogs…the list goes on. But we all have our passion for this industry in common and it’s remarkable.
Today after arriving and settling in, I presented the first workshop of the retreat. It was a crash course on sparkling wine (because of course it was) and it was the most fun I’ve had in a while. I started off a little nervous, but once we all got to tasting and they got to participating it was simply buckets of fun.
I presented the basics but I paused regularly to check for questions and people asked a lot of them! They were so insightful and it gave me an opportunity to dive into subjects that were a little off the beaten path but that I love talking about. For example, I touched on the climate of Champagne in terms of why dosage is necessary. That prompted one gentleman to ask about how climate change was affecting the region. I got to then dive into talking about English sparkling wines and how Champagne’s climate in the 80s and 90s has moved north into England and babble about how cool those wines are (side note: remind me to write a post on that in more detail. English bubbles are rad AF). Another woman asked about what the baseline price point is for quality wines in each of the categories which prompted a great discussion on how price and quality are related (and often unrelated) while also giving her some concrete reference points that she can use going forward in stores and restaurants. The question I loved most was about what words they should use to describe wine when ordering it because it gave me an opportunity to get up on my "dry" soapbox again and basically present my last post in person. Other people commented on how they liked my analogies and how it really put things into perspective and made them make sense. The way I explain things is often very, very silly but it makes me really happy when people get something out of them anyway.
My second favorite part may have been watching people take notes. It was so exciting for me to see people not just engaging with what I was saying, but showing that they want to remember it later. I get so much joy out of knowing I’m passing along knowledge that people will take to heart and then hopefully pass along to another person some other time. Wine is just bottled joy and spreading it as far as I can makes me happier than anything else.
My first favorite part was feeling truly like myself for the first time in a while. I got up there and referenced my notes as needed but for the most part, I just talked excitedly about something I love. I got sidetracked telling stories and I made jokes and I had a ball. Getting to see people's reactions in person rather than writing at them from the other side of a screen was so rewarding too, I kind of forgot how much fun that part is. Teaching makes me so, so, so happy. That's why this blog and my YouTube channel exist in the first place. I think I need to get back into making videos because today was just too damn fun.
At the end, one of the ladies encouraged me to try a sabering demo so naturally I caved to peer pressure…it took a few tries and a few different tools but eventually it worked which was such a fun way to kick off the night!
After that, we hung around for happy hour outside then had a fabulous dinner of a whole lamb prepared a few different ways. It was absolutely sublime. We finished with dessert from one of the participants, an ice cream maker from New Jersey. I chatted with several more people and continued to be floored about how interesting everyone here is. They all have different stories, different backgrounds, different ways they got to be here…but here we all are, together, enjoying a fabulous meal. Food can be magical that way.
I’m going to bed early now because I have to wake up to go mushroom foraging at 8am. I'M. SO. STOKED.
At the end of my presentation I had meant to sign off with a cutesy toast but I ended up getting sidetracked with the sabering demo. So instead I'll sign off with it here.
My darling winos: May you always have great news to toast to, great people to toast with, and a great meal to toast over.
Love and pet nats,
-D