I fell off and forgot to tell you what I’ve been reading. Over the last few months I’ve had a great reading life. I’ve been on a lot of planes, trains, and automobiles and that helps a lot. The month isn’t over and I know I will finish at least two more books before the month is over. It’s a great time to be a book reader.

I would love to know what you are reading.

The Missed Connection, by Tia Williams (Advanced Reader Copy) and Purchased

Tia Williams already proved with Seven Days in June that she writes romance that stays with you. Her romance has humor, emotional depth, and characters you will remember. Sasha Cruz has me thinking who would play her in a series. Williams has a gift for making you feel seen in the middle of someone else’s love story. (Advanced Reader Copy) and Purchased

On Eating: The Making and Unmaking of My Appetites, by Alicia Kennedy

Kennedy traces how what we eat shapes who we are and who we become. This book made me think of so many food memories; my dad barbecuing in the backyard in Houston, him and my grandmother cooking chicken and dumplings in her kitchen in Louisiana (and the chicken was fresh from the backyard); and how now wine shapes everything I eat. This memoir makes you think about the politics of food and the radical art of feeding yourself. If you don’t follow Alicia on social media, you should. She has an amazing newsletter community you can join here, and I’ve been a member since she started and hers is one I always read. (Advanced Reader Copy) and Purchased

Extra Sauce, by Zahra Tangorra

I am a sucker for a food memoir. Tangorra writes about food the way we talk about life. There is grief, hunger, and humor. She doesn’t romanticize the restaurant business or her own heartbreak. Read this one slowly with your favorite wine. (Advanced Reader Copy) and Purchased

The Parisian Heist, by Jo Piazza

Jo Piazza connects two women across more than a century and brings to the reader Jo van Gogh, who for me until this book didn’t know about. Piazza keeps the twists coming in a thriller that is sharp about the art world and about women navigating power on their own terms. I already know this is going to be a comfort re-read for me. (Advanced Reader Copy) and Purchased

Crash Into Me, by Robinne Lee

Robinne Lee gave us The Idea of You and we never fully recovered. It’s a reread for me. So many sentences underlined and annotated. I can’t imagine the pressure to follow this. Crash Into Me follows Cecilia Chen, a photographer in a complicated marriage who is forced to reckon with her own desires when she reconnects with a person from her past. At its core, a story about what women silence in themselves to make their lives fit. Lee writes about longing with patience and that sneaks up on you. (Advanced Reader Copy) and Purchased

A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR Book 1), by Sarah J. Maas

I didn’t want to go down the Massiverse. After speaking with my fellow book nerds, I decided to jump in, but for me I needed to do my research. I discovered this great reading order and haven’t looked back. I will be all caught up by the time the next installment comes out in October and January. Sarah J. Maas drops you into a new world. Part Beauty and the Beast, fantasy, and danger. A slow burn. Feyre is the kind of heroine who grows on you gradually and then all at once. If you’ve been sleeping on this series, consider this your wake-up call. I have a degree in English Literature, but I know now I just want to read whatever makes me happy. This series makes me very happy. I can be literary and discuss the beauty of Tolstoy, but I want to just read everything that makes me happy.

1. 25 Alive (Women’s Murder Club Book 25), by James Patterson

2. A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR, Book 1), by Sarah J. Maas

3. A Court of Mist and Fury (ACOTAR, Book 2), by Sarah J. Maas

4. A Court of Wings and Ruin (ACOTAR, Book 3), by Sarah J. Maas

5. Crash Into Me, by Robinne Lee

6. Start With Yourself, by Emma Grede

7. The Dahlia Suite, Carinn Jade

8. The Missed Connection, by Tia Williams

9. The Parisian Heist, Jo Piazza

10. This Story Might Save Your Life, by Tiffany Crum

11. Yesteryear, by Caro Claire Burke

12. Extra Sauce, by Zahra Tangorra

13. The Butter Book, by Anna Stockwell

14. Cursed Daughters, by Oyinkan Braithwaite.

15. The Book of Lost Hours, by Hayley Gelfuso.

16. Judge Stone, by Viola Davis and James Patterson

Books can be found on Bookshop and Amazon. Happy Reading!

For over 10 years I have been leading wine and food trips to destinations around the world. Over the past year, I launched À Privé Journeys, a boutique travel company with my friend and colleague Claire, based on wine and food. Wine is a communal product. It’s the only beverage where you truly can sit down, savor, and share a meal. Next year, I’m hosting an intimate wine and food experience in Paris. This trip will be 5 nights in Paris and 10 participants, Wednesday, April 28 - May 3, 2027.

Why apply? After over a decade of leading group trips, I’ve learned a lot. This trip is for fun, engaging, and curious people who can go with the flow and realize travel often has hiccups. You eat voraciously, locally, and want to drink deliciously.

You are NOT a foodie. You are a GASTRONOME.

Wine and food are a source of happiness and joy; and you search out both. If that’s you, we can’t wait to host you in one of our favorite cities in the world.

Here me out. I enjoy drinking rosé wine. I do. I enjoy it as an easy wine choice to go with a multitude of food. You can also have various shades of pink; pale that it almost looks clear or a deep pink that looks like a lighter-colored red wine. It’s a wine you want cold or slightly chilled. And if you want to go the à la piscine route you can. P.S., that’s adding ice to it like they do in the French Riviera.

Rosé is everything.

Or as the kids say: Rosé is that girl.

I’m here for rosé. I’m here for it; say it loud with me - ALL YEAR LONG!

Yes, I said all year. Marketing would have you believe rosé is only for summer in the sun. It’s more than that. I love rosé as a great wine to accompany holiday foods and the various ways in which they are prepared. Think about it. During Thanksgiving you have all the weird foods that are supposed to go together. Here’s what is usually on the Thanksgiving menu: turkey, ham, greens, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and more food items of various textures and flavors. Rosé can handle them all. I like to tell clients, stock up when the rosé goes on sale (in which inevitably it will) and have it during the holidays. Temperature outside be damned.

Make sure your rosé purchases are varied. Try them from Italy in the form of Cerasuolo or a lovely Vinho Verde rosé from Portugal. Classic Provence style is great, but go for ones from Bandol or Tavel. Try a Malbec rosé from Argentina and let’s not forget Oregon and California make beautiful ones as well. Explore rosé and you will find many hidden gems.

We need to look at rosé the way a red or white wine as a year long wine. Because no one puts rosé in a corner.

My first trip to Champagne was April 2016. Last month I was back in my favorite place, not only to celebrate ten years, but to learn and to work. In 2016, I discovered grower champagne and it took me down a deep dive of champagne discovery. On that visit it sparked something in my wine journey and I knew that champagne learning would be a life-long journey. Many people know about the big houses of champagne. It isn’t hard to miss because of marketing, placement, and their association with luxury.

There are over 16,000 growers in the Champagne region and 370 champagne houses. Let that sink in for a minute. What we don’t hear a lot unless you are in the wine industry is the power of the Champagne grower where the houses buy their grapes.

Lucky for us, the growers sell their own champagnes and they are worth buying, sipping, and discovering all the nuances of getting your champagne from the source. Champagne is not just for celebration. It’s for any day ending in “y”.

Remember, you don’t need an occasion because you are the occasion.

On Saturday, June 27, I’m leading a virtual grower champagne class. I’ve partnered with Schneider’s of Capitol Hill to facilitate a box with 3 grower champagnes for the class. These are small producers and one producer I had never heard of until I tasted their champagne for the box.

Schneider’s is having a 15% off MDW sale which includes the champagnes. The discount is automatically applied once the champagnes are in your cart and you still get the flat rate shipping of $25 in the continental U.S.

Virtual Wine Class: Grower Champagnes Worth Discovering

Saturday, June 27 | 1:00pm - 2:30pm ET

1. Grower Champagne class link.

2. Champagne box link.

In wine, Burgundy (Bourgogne, France) is seen as the ungettable get. There are many of these wines that retail for thousands of dollars. It can seem like it’s only a wine for “true” and I say that loosely for connoisseurs and for those with unlimited funds.

In 2018, I visited Oregon wine country for the first time as a media guest for The International Pinot Noir celebration. It was the first time I was able to taste many pinot noirs at one time. A majority was from Oregon, but other regions as well - New Zealand, California, and Burgundy. For years, I was trying not to go down the Pinot Noir/Burgundy rabbit hole. One, because many wine professionals have a habit of trying to make people feel inadequate if they haven’t had the really expensive bottles and two, because when you really start tasting and understanding the region it can become an obsession. And I already feel this way about champagne.

Recently, a bottle of 1945 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) sold for $812,500 at Acker’s La Paulée auction. This news obviously broke the wine world. You might be asking yourself, Julia, how and why? There are many reasons such as a famous producer, a rare pre-phylloxera vined Burgundy, only 600 bottles made, and from the personal cellar of Robert Drouhin of Maison Joseph Drouhin, a very famous family in Burgundy. Its provenance was well-documented and the wine was more than likely preserved in the best way possible.

With information like this, I always ask myself, “how does this work for the rest of us?”

The key is starting within your budget and taste, taste, taste. I highly encourage you to visit a local wine store, where when you walk in “everyone knows your name” and they want to help you find the best wine for you at your price point. Start with premier cru Burgundy’s, take notes, and keep an open mind. Have with your favorite foods and your favorite snacks.

I get how the right glass of Burgundy can be transcendent. A few years ago, I had a glass of Burgundy in London that brought me to tears. Tears. The big fat kind. It was totally unexpected. So unexpectedly, my friend Claire started filming me crying about this glass. (Video evidence below).

Was this glass everything I expected a great Burgundy to be and why do people give Burgundy googly-eyes? Yes.

Are there Burgundy’s that are for everyday and still within a realistic budget for most? Yes.

Here are three Burgundy’s that won’t break the bank and very delicious.

• Bouchard Pere & Fils Beaune du Chateau Premier Cru Rouge 2022.

• Louis Latour Beaune Perrieres Premier Cru 2022.

• Joseph Drouhin Beaune Clos des Mouches Premier Cru Rouge 2021.

A great wine deserves a great glass. Here are two of my favorites SCHOTT ZWIESEL Forté Burgundy Goblets and Zalto Denk’Art Burgundy Red Wine Glasses. Zalto’s are VERY fragile. I feel like if you look at them they break. Be kind to them. Take your time cleaning them.

And yes, these are real tears over a glass of wine.

I’m currently writing this from 32,000 feet in the air on my way to Portland to celebrate 20 years of the Eola-Amity Hills AVA. I’ll be moderating a panel on Precision and Power: The New Frontier of Oregon Chardonnay. Oregon is one of my happy wine places. I may be jetlagged, but Oregon renews me in so many ways. If you know me, you know I hate to fly so I’m distracting myself from the turbulence, people on the plane, and the current state of travel. I digress.

I was recently in Champagne. First, for Printemps du Champagne, the industry event that brings champagne professionals from around the world. It was great. There were many new champagne producers, some old favorites, and catching up with colleagues. It was my first time visiting Ruinart since its remodeling. Ruinart is the oldest champagne house on record and their history is worth exploring and their continued sustainability efforts showcase the future of champagne.

Don’t worry I tasted many grower champagnes too.

I wanted to visit Ruinart’s property and taste their champagne at the source. One for inspiration and two because a few students in my Champagne 101 course asked about Ruinart when I was thinking about going deeper into the soul of the brand, soil, and sustainability. I understand they are owned by a major conglomerate, but I also have to acknowledge that Ruinart is accessible to many people.

This is why in my Champagne 102: Diving Deeper Into the Region, Ruinart is one of the wines for the class. We have a total of 3 champagnes to taste and dissect. Champagnes to understand and learn, not in a negative way, but a way that keeps us curious. Deeper does not mean stuffy.

Will we geek out on soil? Absolutely. Will we stay curious, I hope so.

You should join us.

Saturday, May 9, 2026
1:00pm - 2:30pm ET

The after party usually goes on for hours. If you can’t make it, share this with friends and family."

February was a really good month for reading. The books were great and had me being disciplined so at the end of every day I had time to dive deep into reading. Instead of doing lengthy reviews, I hav challenged myself to short reviews I hope you like and you can find online, at your bookstore, or local library.

1. Kin, by Tayari Jones. Tayari Jones doesn’t write books, she writes epic stories and Kin is the kind of story that makes you call someone you’ve been meaning to call and tell them about this book. I held back from finishing the book for two days because I knew the end was coming and I didn’t want to the book to end. I physically hugged this book when I was done.

2. Anatomy of an Alibi, by Ashley Elston. If you loved First Lie Wins, buckle up for the next Elston ride. She knows how to make a lie feel real and have you actually questinong what is truth. This one keeps you second-guessing every page.

3. Finding Grace, by Loretta Rothschild. When the first sentence of the book makes your jaw drop, you know it’s going to be good. Loretta’s writing is visceral and this book takes you on a journey. I can’t wait to read more from this author.

4. Little One, by Olivia Muenter. Raw, intimate, and uncomfortable a times, Little One is the book you didn’t know you needed until you’re halfway through it.

5. Once and Again, by Rebecca Serle. Serle understands that love isn’t just a feeling, it’s a decision you keep making over and over again. Her writing never disappoints.

6. The First Time I Saw Him, by Laura Dave. Laura Dave writes tension in a thriller with with precision. If you are watching the series on Apple TV, you know it gives a lot of twists and turns.

Books can be found on Bookshop and Amazon. Happy Reading!

Last month on Threads, I made a post on how great champagne is and there are so many that are delicious and don’t have a yellow label. I didn’t expect it to go viral. I didn’t expect the thread to have over 165K views. But, I get it. I pissed a lot of people off, but it was more people who were curious about champagne.

The beauty of champagne is in how many great champagnes exist at phenomenal price points. I always say, marketing is everything and I can’t compete with a polo match convincing people of the same. In that vain, I started a champagne starter list for that reason. Not a list of champagnes over $200 although these producers make them, but a list to start a journey. It’s not a list of grower champagnes or high end champagnes like Savart, Egly-Ouriet, Krug, Dom Perignon, Selosse, or Salon. Yes, there is a place, but this list is for those who want to try champagne without breaking the bank.

Cheers to drinking better. The list is in alphabetical order and not in order of my personal preference.

1. A. Margaine

2. Ayala

3. Billecart-Salmon

4. Boizel

5. Bollinger

6. Charles Heidisieck

7. Delamotte

8. Deutz

9. Henriot

10. Lallier

11. Lanson

12. Laurent-Perrier

13. Louis Roederer

14. Mailly

15. Nicolas Feuillatte

16. Perrier Jouët

17. Philliponat

18. Piper Heidisieck

19. Pol Roger

20. Ruinart

21. Taittinger

I came to wine by drinking Califronia cabernet sauvignon in 1999. It was paired with brisket, ribs, pulled pork , and barbecued chicken. I was hooked. I had never tasted anything like that pairing. The majority of my family doesn’t drink, so going from margaritas to wine was an instant love. (I still love a good margarita and an ice cold martiini).

But it’s been a long time since I actually tasted a Cabernet Sauvignon from California that moved me. The kind of movement where I was staring at the glass. I really haven’t been drinking big red wines. Not because they are bad or don’t taste good, but I don’t like how I feel when I have them, especially if I don’t have them with a lot of food; meat, something savory, rich, and can absorb the alcohol. This means I have to drink them earlier in the evening where my body can process the alcohol before heading to bed.

A lot of the California Cabernet Sauvignons I have tasted in the last year were so similar to me and rather boring, I found myself drinking my old stash to find something interesting. Yes, the wines are structured beautifully, they taste amazing, but they kind of all started tasting the same. A one note so to speak. Dare I say it, but many California white wines have replaced their reds in my wine life.

Then I tasted atLarge Cabernet Sauvignon, Red Hills (Lake County), Beckstoffer Amber Knolls Vineyard 2022. I was thrilled by this wine. It was absolutely delicious; not too jammy, wasn’t too oaky, and balanced on so many levels. I needed to taste this kind of balance, structure, and texture from a Cabernet Sauvignon without feeling like I’ve been hit over the head with alcohol and fruit. Everything about this wine was exceptional.

I know there are many parts of California wine country I have yet to explore. California is one of the biggest wine regions and I don’t get to taste enough of their range. So, atLarge is different. In a good way. It made me think about California cabernet sauvignon that hadn’t been on my radar in quite some time. And it got me excited about wines coming out of Red Hills of Lake County.

It got me excited for an area I really didn’t know about. An area I want to know more about. I truly need to visit. I need to place my feet on the soil and take it all in. The wine had many components; structurally and aesthetically pleasing on the palate. atLarge is one of those wines you want to sit with. I wouldn’t call it a simple wine. No, it’s more nuanced than that, but I was shocked. It had range in a way I wasn’t expecting; pleasantly surprised. And with that also came the price point.

A beautiful California cabernet sauvignon under a hundred dollars.

The first place most people think about cabernet sauvignon is Napa Valley. This is the kind of wine you pour for someone and let them discover it. Let them experience it without telling the provenance. I would go as far and decant it for them to taste. No labels and no judgment.

Can you lay this wine down for more years to age? Absolutely. I used my trusty Coravin to first taste the wine and a few weeks later opened it fully. This is California cabernet sauvignon. It’s a wine that makes you believe in California cabernet sauvignon again and not just the popular places. It made me want to know more. I think Red Hills of Lake County wines will pique a lot of people’s curiosity. That is my hope. I shall continue down the rabbit hole of Red Hills of Lake County and I’ll let you know how it goes

Because what I do know is I need a little more of this in my life. I think this wine is beautiful. I think this wine has everything I’m looking for and a lot of consumers like me who want a cabernet sauvignon they can drink all night long.

In episode 6, Camille has arrived back in Paris just in time for the first vintage wine contest.

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In episode 5 we see Issei has made a new discovery.

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In episode 4, we see Camille, Issei, and Tamar’s bond deepen. We also have more information on the feud between siblings Tamar and Davit. As the bad memories on both sides continue to emerge the relationship between Camille and Issei begins to soften in their pursuit of this perfect wine.

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This episode takes Camille and Issei to Georgia, the country, in search of the wine that beguiled them to do this test. We also see Camille and Issei are still at odds. They love each other, but as newly discovered siblings they are still getting to “know” each other. There is the conflict of we must know about this wine and who makes it and the ability to move forward and find meaning in what wine holds for them.

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There is a day to celebrate almost anything right now. Seriously, doing research for this post I came upon this website. Truly there is a day for any and everything. It’s a rabbit hole of “there’s a day for that?” and you questioning yourself on should you celebrate it or not.

Right now you, like me, are getting bombarded with all things Valentine’s Day. I personally do not celebrate the day. My email is full of what wines would be great for Valentine’s day, but these wines are great for any day that ends in “y.”

A lot of people like me are thawing out from the snow, ice, or bad winter weather. It seems fitting to only crave big, bold, and heavy alcoholic wines. But there is also a place when it’s chilly to have some crisp, delicious acid, or decadent roundness in your wine. These wines are great year round. I personally like Sauternes or sweet Bordeaux with spicy Indian food or Creole food.

Wines for anyday:

1. Champagne Christian Gosset Brut A03 Grand Cru

2. Domaine du Colombier Chablis Petit Chablis 2024

3. Adelsheim Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2023

4. Louis Michel Chablis Les Clos Grand Cru 2023

5. Chateau Laribotte Sauternes (375ML half-bottle) 2023

6. Lioco Sonoma Chardonnay 2023

If you celebrate Valentine’s Day, these are few good choices to share with a special someone, even if that someone is YOU, because you are the occasion. I’ll be leading a Champagne 101 Class midday on Valentine’s, so if your plans allow, come pop bottles with us.

For many years I have been asked to teach wine classes. In person or virtual. I’ve taught some, but after last month’s Champagne 101 class for a group of dynamic women, I realized I needed to put together classes for my followers or those who want to learn wine in a fun way.

Champagne 101 is HERE.

Date: Saturday, February 14, 2026
Time: 1:00pm - 2:30pm ET | 10:00am - 11:30am PT
Virtual: Zoom
Price: $65 per person. Wine not included. The champagne list to buy will be sent out 3 days after purchasing the class.
55 Participants. I don’t want to make the class too big.

This is the first of many classes including Wine Pairing 101, Piedmont, and a Journey Through Non-Alcholic Wines (before summer).

I can’t wait to connect with you over wine. No intimidation. Just a fun wine time.

Drops of God, S2:E2, we see how vast wine research can be as Camille starts the search for a particular grape. If you were as aggravated at Camille as I was when she poured the wine out then take a sip.

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In Drops of God, S2:E1, we find Camille and Issei meeting up and celebrating their birthdays together in France. At first, it’s a joyous time with lots of laughter and conviviality, but moves quickly into intrigue as their father has left them one more test in the form of an unlabeled bottle of wine. The test is to find the origin of the wine and who made it. He was never able to find out this information and a new challenge ensues.

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There are seasons when writing about wine feels like a celebration and other seasons when it feels like a lifeline. Grief has had a way of rearranging everything in my life. It impacted my calendar, patience, health, and more. I live with grief daily.

Thank God I don’t look like what I’ve been through. And yet…here I am. Still opening bottles. Still sipping and exploring wine, still trying to live well, even when “well” looks different than it did before. Grief doesn’t ask for permission before taking up space in those moments and arrives at some of the worst times; the dinner table, on a plane (lots of planes), driving, silent hotel rooms, and sometimes wine tasting rooms.

Instead of making life smaller, it makes everything sharper. I notice a lot more now. The cage coming off a bottle of champagne, the smiles when I teach wine classes, the “ah hah” moment when someone finds the bottle that makes them a wine lover. How a first sip can still surprise me. How something made from soil, wind, care, and time can still offer comfort without asking me to explain myself.

I don’t write about wine because life is perfect. I write about it because life is happening. And sometimes faster than I would like. Because wine is one of the few things that insists we slow down. The 5s’ as we say. See, Swirl, Smell, Sip, and Savor. Grief teaches the same lesson, whether we want it to or not.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about how often wine writing is expected to be aspirational, as well as inspirational. That’s the tone it has always set. The perfect meal. The perfect trip. The perfect everything. Nothing is or ever will be perfect. Some days I write about hotels, food, travel, and champagne because joy deserves documentation. I am back to documenting. Other days I write because paying attention is the only way through. There is no mystery between sorrow and celebration. They belong to the same table and now my table is full of both.

I recently was able to watch Drops of God, Season 2 on Apple TV which started streaming again yesterday. I can’t wait to rewatch it to see if changes were made to my advanced viewing episodes. Rewatching Season 1 and Season 2 while on an après ski vacation with a dear friend (love you KMD) was the jolt I needed. Surrounded by snow, laughter, books, and wine. I felt that wine and life spark. If you haven’t watched this show, you will be hooked. Even if you are not into wine.

And you know what it did? It brought back some joy to my wine life. And to my REAL life. So if your glass feels half full and half empty and you are carrying something heavy while still trying to live beautifully. You are living. And if wine is part of how you mark the days, here’s to the bottles that hold more than wine, the meals that carry memories, writing, living honestly.

I’m with you and I see you,

Julia

Paid subscribers I’ll have a recap of each Season 2 Episode on Sundays (which gives you time to watch each episode weekly) with my personal wine pairings that Camille and Issei would approve :).

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Happy Sunday! I’m headed to my first champagne brunch in D.C. today, but looking forward to a great time. D.C. seems to have skipped spring and it feels we are definitely in summer. Have a great week.

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