On July 18, 2015, I published my very first blog post. I was late to the blogging party, but I had just finished my Sommelier Fundamentals courses, and I didn’t want that to be the end of my wine journey. So, Wining with Mel was born! And with it, this mission statement:
…I do hope to answer these types of questions here, in a way that anyone can understand, even if wine isn’t your thing. For me, the point of this blog is simply to share my love of wine, and introduce you to the fabulous range of delicious wines available at reasonable prices. All too often, we get into wine habits, such as my aforementioned Malbec obsession of 2007. I hope this blog will inspire you to break those habits and try new things, whether you are a seasoned oenophile or your idea of a fine wine is Baby Duck.
Ten years later, I find myself asking some very existential questions about this blog: why am I still pouring time and energy into it? Blogging has become a thing of the past, ushering in the age of influencers, memes and TikTok trends. I am fairly certain I would be considered over-the-hill for TikTok, and I have always rejected the notion of being an influencer, because it feels like selling out (that said, I will never say no to wine samples or wine event invites). Also, when you’re an influencer, your passion becomes an obligation, which really takes all the joy and creativity out of it.
This isn’t the first time I’ve had an existential wining crisis. I wrote about this very topic in this Back to Basics post, less than a year after I started blogging. However, in the end, I reminded myself:
The point of Wining with Mel is a) to write for the fun of it, because it’s such a great outlet for me, and b) to keep thinking critically about wines, even though my wine courses finished almost a year ago now. Maybe I won’t blog about every wine I drink. But I also need to give myself permission to not taste every wine, and to just enjoy some.
In this spirit, this post is a celebration of this fun wine blog—a highlight reel, if you will, of an entire decade of Wining with Mel.
WWM HIGHLIGHTS
Certified somm
After a year without any wine courses, I really missed it, so I went back and completed ALL the somm courses, becoming a Certified Sommelier in 2017. I wrote about the experience, comparing the trade of the somm to that of a translator (my day job). Appropriately, I won the Monthly Wine Writing Challenge on the theme of translation for that post! Here is a nice summary:
Now if only I could find some way to combine my passion for words and wine. Well hang on a minute. Isn’t that what I’m doing on this very blog? Isn’t that what Wining with Mel is all about? Here, I can take the wonderful, complex and oftentimes incomprehensible world of wine, and make it fun, fresh, and maybe even somewhat informative. That’s the intention at least. So in the end, I guess I didn’t really need a little pin to get me to do my part in making wine accessible to all—I’ve been doing it all along!
Wine tasting events
A major perk of starting this blog is that I have been invited to countless wine tasting events (featuring wines from New Zealand, Australia, California, Ontario, Italy, Rías Baixas, the Loire Valley, Alsace…the list goes on and on!). There was even that one time I flashed my Wining with Mel business card and got us into a Soave wine tasting in Verona, Italy for free!
Winery visits
I’ve travelled far and wide, and toured wineries around the world—some close to home, like in Prince Edward County, the Ottawa Valley and Niagara, some further afield, like Nova Scotia or the Finger Lakes, and even overseas, including in Provence, Beaujolais, the Veneto region, etc.
Meeting new people
This blog has allowed me to meet so many wine people! From other wine writers and somms like me, to salt-of-the-earth grape growers and passionate winemakers, these are the people who bring this beloved elixir to our glass. And I am so grateful to them.
New opportunities
Do you remember that time I was a celebrity judge at a Taste Community Grown event in Prince Edward County?
Happy hours
And who can forget Wining with Mel Happy Hours! When the world shut down, I ramped up, bringing us all together on Zoom to sip and talk wine together.
In-person events
Since then I’ve started pouring at Savvy Company events and have even hosted my very own in-person wine tasting events.
And I’ve had this blog to help me document it all, so that I will always remember these amazing experiences, even when I am having an existential crisis.
Looking back on my mission statement above, I can recognize that I have fulfilled it—and more! I am excited to see where Wining with Mel will take me next!
In the past ten years, I have written 120+ posts. Some were fun creative writing exercises, some were educational, and some were simply an outlet for whining.
Now just for fun, let’s look at some stats.
Top-viewed posts
#1: Grape varieties: to capitalize or not to capitalize?
#2: What the heck is Côtes du Rhône Villages?
#3: Touraine: spotlight on my latest sauvignon blanc obsession
Through the archives – some of my favourite posts:
Gratitude
I am so grateful to everyone who has joined me for this oenological adventure, in all its iterations. Thank you for not giving up on me, even when I disappear for months at a time. This blog wouldn’t still be here if it weren’t for your encouragements along the way.
Cheers to another 10 years! Happy wining!
