What am I doing… NOW?
Last updated: 07-21-2025
Background
No fluff. No social media. Just now.
Location
Working from my PA office.
Work-Life
In Work:
If you have been a part of the DGW Community, you may have noticed some ups and downs over the past few years.
I’ve been steadily growing the “Sip & Swirl”: a blog that is devoted to wine appreciation. And this last year has lent me the opportunity to share my love of wine with guests at places like Longwood Gardens and Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library. But my biggest accomplishment in the last year was the release of “Voices of the Vine,” a podcast that discusses all things wine from the people that work in the industry. If you haven’t had a listen, I invite you to enjoy through most podcast platforms or by browsing our “Cellar Archive.”
On the winemaking side, there are a few things I have been working on in the background: from changing DGW systems to finding new contractors to make DGW a smooth experience for Clients and Members. This is an ongoing endeavor. It takes a lot of time, but I promise I’m working on these pieces to bring innovative solutions to the industry.
In Life:
The summer months always take over my life by storm. This is especially true as the harvest season rolls into my life quickly. I try to sneak in a lot of extra activities, which is both hectic and fun.
To slow down, I’ve started a puzzle table in our living room. We work on the puzzle throughout the week, which gives our family a time to connect outside of the normal day-to-day life. Sometimes we puzzle and start a movie! Those are fun evenings. I also spent this summer managing swimming lessons, saying goodbye to family heirlooms, and planning out some future trips.
My favorite summer red wine is A to Z Pinot Noir. It’s affordable and reliable. Absolutely enjoying that right now. My current favorite rosé is Crios.
During my travels, runs, or workouts, I tend to listen to podcasts. I may not always have time to read anymore, but I do make time to listen. I find it enjoyable to learn a lot of random things. Some of my favorite summer podcast episodes this year include:
- Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
- Kesha: For the introduction, the conversation with Sonja had me laughing to tears.
- Martin Short Live from SiriusXM NY: No one roasts people like Marty.
- Diego Luna: For his perspective.
- And Flula Borg: For his laughs.
- Freakonomics Radio:
- The Most Powerful People You’ve Never Heard Of: The big reveal of how our “free market” is not unmanipulated.
- Can a Museum be the Conscience of a Nation?: Perspective on getting past binary thinking.
- People I Mostly Admire:
- How to Help Kids Succeed: A fresh perspective on modeling behaviors for today’s youth to succeed as adults.
- The VinePair Podcast:
- Wine Still Isn’t Taking Women Seriously: A deep reminder for the wine industry why they need to be proactive in a change towards acceptance.
- Acquired:
- Costco: A good reminder to how business success does not have to follow one path.
- Smash Boom Best: (I have a kid. These podcasts are great and introduce children to debate!)
Life is tough out there, folks. Make sure you take some time to also create magic for you and your family. One of my hobbies is photography and I especially enjoy taking pictures of things that are awe-inspiring or bring me joy. Here’s one of things. Wishing you a wonderful 2025 summer.
