foundingAUSTIN

Earlier this year, I did a thing. Actually, three friends and I did a thing: our first Viking River Cruise. None of us considered ourselves cruise-types but we were interested in a river cruise, in particular, the Eastern Europe cruise by Viking that went from Bucharest to Budapest, traveling through five countries on the Danube River. We added on Instanbul for a pre-tour excursion, all to help my friend Kate achieve her long-term goal of visiting 100 countries before she dies.

The Center for Economic and Policy Research has gone as far as to call the U.S. the “No Vacation Nation.”  Unlike our European counterparts many Americans do not take the vacation time that is allotted to them. According to a Forbes survey more than 765 million vacation days have gone unused by Americans.

Got your attention? Great, because I love talking about Texas wines, but to be clear, I won’t suggest that Texas has a signature red or white grape like California has Chardonnay and Oregon has Pinot Noir. Why? Because Texas is as big as France, which has many stunning red and white wines, making it impossible to name just one. Like France, however, there’s no doubt that Viognier is among the top white grapes for Texas.

Happy new year everyone! My wine column this week is focused on Beaujolais, which most people recognize as the youthful “nouveau” wines from the Gamay grape that hit the market just in time for Thanksgiving. Beaujolais Nouveau wines have fruity, refreshing flavors that result from carbonic maceration, a process where whole grape berries are fermented, uncrushed, in a tank filled with carbon dioxide.

In the dynamic world of business and finance, there’s a beacon for those who lead with innovation and empathy — a book that’s not just a read but a journey. “Intentional: 52 Maxims of Conscious Choosing to Create the Deeply Satisfying Life You Desire” stands as this beacon. Having personally experienced transformation under the guidance of the author, Becky Henderson, my life coach for over six years, I can attest to the power of her wisdom.

One of the most frequent questions I get from friends and family has to do with pairing wines with certain dishes. My usual response is “drink what you like!” I often pair my go-to white Chablis with most anything, even steaks. However, I can tell you from recent experience, Chablis is not a good pairing with everything. While celebrating my birthday with friends at the Santa Fe Opera House, we enjoyed a bottle of William Fevre Champs Royaux Chablis with a picnic dinner of sausages and sauerkraut.

Take Me Back to Sonoma It’s been nearly six years since I visited Sonoma – the first time was with my good friend and PR colleague Maddi and we hosted a group of media to run the Napa to Sonoma race while staying in a HomeAway (now Expedia) vacation rental home. My job was to set up winery appointments for the group – tough job but someone had to do it! The Sonoma wine scene reminds me so much of Texas – laid back, comfortable and welcoming tasting rooms.

Wine Harvest! It’s an exciting time of year for Texas wineries because wine harvest is underway! This week’s column will shed light on the 2023 harvest as well as share other Texas wine updates. As a reminder, Texas is as big as France, which means harvest occurs over a couple of months because of the many different grape varieties we have and the locations of our vineyards – from Texoma to the Gulf Coast and from the Texas Hill Country to the Texas High Plains and far west Texas.

Take Me Back to Sonoma It’s been nearly six years since I visited Sonoma – the first time was with my good friend and PR colleague Maddi and we hosted a group of media to run the Napa to Sonoma race while staying in a HomeAway (now Expedia) vacation rental home. My job was to set up winery appointments for the group – tough job but someone had to do it! The Sonoma wine scene reminds me so much of Texas – laid back, comfortable and welcoming tasting rooms.