While at the Austrian wine event, I ran into Reuben, one of my Diploma classmates. He is the Wine Director for the Monday Room, at Public restaurant on Elizabeth Street. He noted that he would be heading home to his native Ribera del Duero for a month’s holiday. Thinking that such a visit sounded quite nice, I asked him if I would fit in his suitcase. While not expecting an affirmative response, I was a bit surprised by his answer. He noted that there wouldn’t be any room left due to all of the wine he would be carrying.

I am always anxious to bring home wine from Europe on my own holidays, but never thought about someone wanting to bring wines back from America. Of course, it makes similar sense as my own purchases, but I guess I hadn’t really ever given it any thought. My classmate noted that he had a cellar at his home in Spain and liked to stock it with American wines in addition to his European collection.

This is certainly a vote of confidence in American wines, which are more recent additions to the wine world than their European counterparts. It also raises the issue about the difficulty in getting a diverse range of wines wherever you live. As a New Yorker, I am fortunate to be able to obtain wines from all over the world, but even still, may not find a lot of the smaller producers since they are unable to get representation/distribution. Likewise, a Spaniard can purchase lots of different Spanish wines, but may have less access to wines from California or Chile. Consequently, visits abroad (in whichever direction) are a great way to learn more about wines one would not ordinarily find at home.