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Thru The Grapewine
Welcome to the Thru the Grapewine podcast with your host Ute Mitchell, a certified wine professional, podcaster, and content creator. Join us as we uncork the stories of remarkable women shaping the wine industry. From winemakers to sommeliers, vineyard managers to marketers, to thought leaders and writers, we dive deep into their experiences, challenges, and triumphs.
With a delightful blend of wit and insight, each episode offers a refreshing perspective on wine culture and the women who define it. Whether you're a seasoned oenophile or just starting to explore the world of wine, our conversations will entertain, educate, and inspire.
Join us on this spirited journey as we raise a glass to women in wine, one episode at a time. Prost!
Keywords: wine, women in wine, wine industry, female winemakers, sommeliers, vineyard management, wine marketing, wine culture, podcast, storytelling, empowerment, humor, education, inspiration.
Thru The Grapewine
Ever Wondered How Wine Clubs Build Community? Join Hailey's Journey at Cork and Fizz
Prepare to be enchanted by Hailey's journey from wine enthusiast to educator extraordinaire at Cork and Fizz. In this episode, we peel back the layers of wine culture, exploring the intimate world of wine clubs and the ever-evolving landscape of social media.
Discover the art of building an authentic online presence as Hailey shares her experiences and insights into navigating the digital realm. From overcoming initial hesitations to embracing genuine connections, we'll sip on the essence of community and engagement.
But our conversation goes beyond marketing tactics—it's about breaking down barriers in the wine industry. Join us as we champion transparency and demystify the language of wine labels, empowering every palate along the way.
So, grab your favorite glass, and join us as we raise a toast to the shared passion that brings us together—the exquisite journey that each bottle of wine embodies. Cheers to education, community, and the joy of uncorking new experiences!
Cork & Fizz
Cork & Fizz on Instagram
Email: info@thruthegrapewine.com
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Hello everyone and welcome to the Through the Grapevine podcast, where we are all about elevating women in the wine industry. This is episode number 44 and I am your host, ute Mitchell. I am actually not having a whole lot of stuff to talk about today. I'm going to jump right into the interview today, also because I actually have a choir rehearsal this evening. I recently joined an all women's choir and I have to kind of put the final touches on my memorization of a Hebrew song that we're going to be performing in March.
Speaker 1:It's been a lot of fun, but it's definitely a challenge to learn a song that is not any of the languages that you speak. So it's cool, but I feel like I have this little pressure sitting on my shoulder. You got to learn the song. You got to have it memorized today. So we do have a really awesome guest that I'm very excited to have, because I've been following her on Instagram for some time and she has honestly, some of the best content out there for when you want to learn about wine. So I highly highly recommend you follow her. Her name is Hailey and she's the owner of Cork and Fizz, so hello and welcome, hailey.
Speaker 2:Hi, it's glad to be here. Thank you so much. We made it happen, we did. It only took like gosh. We're too busy people and when you try to like put something on our schedules it's like it took like three or four. But we were determined, we made it happen.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, we did, and I'm really actually quite glad because it was so funny. We had a little bit of a miscommunication, and so then it was like, oh my gosh, so we are going to do this tomorrow. Okay, well, so now I'm going to have to, like, crank out some questions, and I put a lot of thought into my questions and so I was like, oh my gosh, this is going to take some time, and then the questions just kept flowing. It's like I already knew all the things that I was going to ask you. So this is working out really well.
Speaker 2:It was already on your mind so long because we talked about it. How many times your brain was just thinking about it without you even having to try.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, exactly. So anyway, like I said, we're going to jump right into it. And question number one for you is so per your website. Actually, you are a wine enthusiast turned wine educator, and then you go on to tell your audience on your website that you discovered your passion for wine and your desire for learning, and I'm very, very curious how you discovered that passion for wine.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, it's something. It's so interesting because that it took me a long time to get to that, to figure out, like people would always ask me like why wine? Why do you love it? I don't know, it just clicks, it works, and it took a little while to kind of like dig into, like what it was that I loved about it, and so it was until so I took a trip down to the kind of. The starting point for me was I took a trip to Willemette Valley, so I'm based in Seattle, but then I took a trip down to Willemette Valley with my husband and it was just like meant to be, like it was a birthday trip. It was my birthday weekend and his parents were living in Portland, and so we dropped the dog off there and then traveled to Willemette and we had, you know, some tastings book, because that's what you do when you're in Willemette Valley, and I enjoyed wine enough, but then it was just each tasting that I went to, you know, willemette Valley.
Speaker 2:They make a lot of Pinot Noir. I'm like I'm going to be sick of Pinot Noir by the end of this right, and that was so not true. It was like each place the Pinot Noir was so different and I just learned so much at each spot and it just really made me realize like it wasn't until like one of the last spots, we ended up doing a tasting. That was meant to be like this full wine tour and it was a public tour, but on the website you couldn't book it. You had to call, and it was our last day and I was like I really, really want to try to do this, so I called them. They're like, of course, I don't know what's going on on the website, but we definitely have that going on today. So my husband and I were the only two. Oh, wow.
Speaker 2:And we went on this tour and he took us through, you know, the grapevines and we got to taste the little grapes, and then took us into the winery and we got to see how the wine was made and we went down into the cellar and every single piece of it was just so special and so cool that I just I was so intrigued and this guy clearly caught on that I was very, very intrigued, and so he recommended this book called Corkdork.
Speaker 1:And this is the book that I say.
Speaker 2:it's by Bianca Bosker. It's an amazing book. She basically, you know, quits her job and goes full force into the wine industry. And this is the book for me that just. I went home, checked it out at the library and it did it. It was like the world of wine is endless, like you can never stop learning, and that was kind of where I connected it to.
Speaker 2:As a kid I loved learning. I was like writing stories at recess and I was my husband calls me a dork all the time for it. I didn't like write stories instead of going outside, and then I would like make math problems for myself. I just thought that was fun. But then learning became about achieving and having to. You know there was so much pressure put on it. You know, get into a good college, get a good job, do well at your job, and so that learning kind of lost its. You know it's in the excitement until I got wine, because then it was like I can just do this for fun. I can continue learning about wine forever, there's never going to be an end point and it's always just going to be fun for me.
Speaker 2:So yeah, that was kind of what sparked that. And then I ended up at the library checking out every book I could online and just went from there, that's.
Speaker 1:That is so true. The, the learning. You know not to speak against schools or anything like that, but we homeschooled my kids and and I know that learning the fun for it was really kind of beaten out of me and there was no intrinsic desire there to learn anything and it didn't return until I was an adult. And now I'm like a perpetual student. You know I'm always about you know what else? What else can I do? What? What other certification is out there? You know where can I go?
Speaker 2:next it's more fun when you want to do it right and you're like in like history was never my thing in school. I was always very bored and it was always so hard because you had to memorize everything right Now, I love the history of wine. I think it's so fascinating. It's literally like storytelling right and you're learning these stories, but of real people, and it's like wow okay, if history was like that when I was in school, I would have been very into it.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, absolutely. I fully agree with that. So you have some wine certifications then too.
Speaker 2:I am officially certified. I say most of my certification or most of my wine education, I say, is kind of like I'm in that era of the YouTube generation, you know, like I learned a lot of it on my own Right Just reading a lot of books. But just to prove that I do know what I'm talking about, I do have a WSET level two Gotcha that I took just to be like, yeah, I promise I do actually know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that, I really, and I enjoy WSET. So it's there's so much to learn and it's so much good information to have. And you know, what I find so interesting is I often ask myself if I will ever remember all of this information, you know. And then it's like I am out somewhere drinking wine and somebody's asking me a question and I have this information stored in the back of my head that I studied for WSET three and I'm going. I can tell you exactly how that happened and where it's from, and you know all of that, and so it's it's kind of fun to just be randomly asked these questions.
Speaker 2:Right, well, it's just around because you're you're interested in it, right, If it's around because you're you know, it's just like oh yeah, it's because I was, you know the. The way your memory works is so fascinating and like what you remember is you know. A lot of times it's if you have good memories or moments attached to things, right.
Speaker 1:Right, Yep, Exactly so. Okay, so you started reading all of these books and and you're getting really excited and then you're going all right, I'm going to turn this into a business. Yeah, how was that? How did that come along? You know how did that happen?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I the way it started. So I got back and I read that book, corkdork and then I checked out every book on wine that I could. And one of the next things I did was I started a wine club with friends and I was kind of new to the area. I've been in Seattle probably about a year but I was just still, you know, trying to make connections with people and I really wanted to taste a lot of wines but I didn't want to have to buy all the wine. So I basically just got a group of friends together. These were people that I met through the park. Some of them were people that were living in the same apartment building as us at the time. Some of them we even met at a dog park when we did our dog to play and just invited them all over once a month and we called it wine night and we essentially just everybody brought a bottle of wine based on a theme and we would just taste the wines. And of course I would try to encourage a little education in there and teaching everybody there a little bit about wine.
Speaker 2:And I do my. You know, I made different like placemats. I once made like a tasting guide that just had all emojis on it and so, instead of like saying like what you thought the wine tasted like, you just kind of circled the emojis that the wine felt like and it was just really fun. And we did this for a couple of years until the pandemic hit and, you know, we decided it wasn't. You know, it was just. You know it's too many people we didn't feel safe meeting in person, but I really needed to do something. I needed something to happen.
Speaker 2:So I put together my first virtual tasting for this wine club and I went out, got some wine, poured it in the little plastic cups and dropped it off at everyone's door oh my gosh. And then, like, put together a little slide deck and it was wines of Chile. So it was teaching about these different wines and going into Chile's climate and why would you expect wine from this region to be this? And you know, really kind of deep diving into it more than I ever had with this group.
Speaker 2:But everyone had a really fun time and I loved doing it and it was kind of just like a couple of days later I was driving home from something and it just kind of clicked and I was like I, I could do something with this, like I kind of want to do it every week, and my friends were like Haley, that's insane, we do not want to do this every week with you. But I was like, but I want to and so I, yeah, I just kind of thought about the fact that, like maybe this could be a business and a lot of it. At the time it was in the middle of COVID, so it was kind of that idea of you know, wine brings people together and it's something again, something fun to learn about and do something new. And I thought I could bring that to people during this time when they really needed reasons to spend time together and create those really special moments.
Speaker 1:And so it started there. Yeah, that is so much fun. See good things come out of COVID.
Speaker 2:Yeah right, if there's anything, I call it my, my pandemic baby. You know everybody was out having babies. I was out creating a business.
Speaker 1:Right, oh my goodness. Yeah, I, I and you know you're saying, and you know, wine brings people together and we're really kind of craving this connection with people too. So much, in fact, that we did, you know similar things not necessarily you know as structured as you did but I remember one evening in the middle of winter it is so cold, and it was just during the second lockdown, I guess and so we decided we're going to all meet in my backyard. I have this little fireplace in the backyard and I have a ton of sleeping bags, and so we just kind of got all wrapped up in the sleeping bags, we all brought some wine and we're just kind of tasting the wine together and, you know, enjoying the company. And it was, it was fun, you know for for what it was. I don't know that I necessarily want to do it again that way, but in that moment yeah, we, we did definitely similar things where, like, we bought a couple of heaters.
Speaker 2:We were like one of the only in the friend group that had a large backyard at the time, right, and so, yeah, we bought a lot of those heaters. We bought everything we could at any time, yeah, when it was safe to meet outdoors.
Speaker 2:You know, that you had everybody together and you could just share some wine and we had our first wine night again. You know, coming back, we've been doing it now we just had one last what a couple of weeks ago and I think we were talking about this is going to be like our fifth or sixth year of doing wine night with this group and the first time we could do that again, even outdoors and not quite the same way with the pandemic, was really special.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it is quite special. I mean, now that we've all lived through this it's. I think it's sometimes it's a good thing to you know, to try to remember and look back on these days and really kind of remember how good we got it, again Now that we're basically just doing everything again with no restrictions, right.
Speaker 1:So you have a very, very cool and super educational Instagram page where you share facts about all things wine, and I mean I think it's super fun and I watch a lot of your reels and everything. But who is your target audience?
Speaker 2:Oh, that's a great question. I first created the Instagram page and the idea of it was simply like I started Cork and Fizz, the business. I, you know, my husband and I it's funny, we did it. It was on a little vacation to a cabin in the middle of the woods in October and it was here in the Seattle area and I don't know what. We were thinking that, like October, we'll go hiking, and now it rained all weekend. So we created the website for Cork and Fizz and we, you know, just kind of I thought about all the things that I'd want to offer and what I want to do, and so the Instagram page just kind of started as a way for me to talk about my business more than anything.
Speaker 2:But when I first started doing that, you know, I was just kind of targeting people. I was thinking anybody who likes wine, anybody who wants to learn about wine. I was kind of thinking about the people who were in my wine club and my friends who talked about like yeah, I'm like. Beforehand they were like I just pick it based on the label Does it look pretty, you know? And after two years they were learning how to ask questions and how to find wines that they liked, and so I was thinking about people like that who would want to learn, and so I started there. But then, you know, social media, the Instagram page kind of became more about, like you said. It added I added that educational aspect and it ended up being really fun and I realized I could teach people about wine, not just through my classes, which I love doing, but I could also do it on Instagram.
Speaker 2:So I was still definitely targeting, you know, those, those wine newbies or people who, like, wanted to learn about wine but, like, weren't sure what that next step was.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And then I've kind of expanded from there. So I think about like with my audience on Instagram, definitely people, like I said, new, new to wine, but also like wine enthusiasts who are like me, like you know. Finding you on Instagram and finding all the wine people on Instagram has been so fun.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Just to like have that community and be a part of that. So I always say, like my target group, you know, is those wine newbies. But then you know, you can see it like kind of spreading out from there and you get the people who are, like you know, total wine dorks just like me and just like I learned so much from following other wine people you can never know enough.
Speaker 2:So yeah pretty much anybody who likes wine wants to know more about wine, wants to know more about you. Know what they're drinking and explore more than just that. You know Cabernet that you always grab at the grocery store.
Speaker 1:Right. Yeah, that's so interesting because my the podcast definitely has evolved over time. Initially the idea was that I would share wine facts and news with you know, want to be wine connoisseurs, but also, you know, people who just enjoy wine, and and it kind of gradually shifted because I started seeing that more and more of my listeners are actually in the wine industry and so then I was going well, you know, what else is there that I can do? And that's when it kind of shifted into that direction of just elevating these women who are in the industry and who have so many really amazing stories to tell, and so it's it's. I guess it's more about the women than it is about the wine.
Speaker 2:I love that, though, too, and I love it like finding you know, you know you kind of follow, like you're like I have this idea, but then it kind of turns into its own thing. Right, and I think for me, too, like it came about, like, yes, it's definitely wine beginners, it's also people in the wine world, and also, specifically, I really want to create a space for those people who are like me that love wine, are super enthusiastic about it, maybe even have a wine business, but we're not professional sommeliers. I haven't gone through the whole Psalm course. I don't know which way to walk around a table when I'm pouring wine. It's not my entire life, but I love it and it means a lot to me and, like I just I think it's really powerful in the, the moments you can create around it, and so, like having a space for those people I think is really important.
Speaker 1:For sure. Yeah, totally. So I do want to talk about social media a little bit, and that's that's totally because I'm struggling with it so much. It's it's in general, it's it's a big animal. But Instagram in particular, it has changed so much over the years. You know, it used to be here, show your pretty pictures, and now it really has become a social media for business owners and it's super overwhelming, with constantly changing algorithms and everything. And I keep hearing from people who just quickly create, you know, a week's worth of posts and they don't spend more than an hour a day on Instagram. And I just personally, I cannot imagine how that is done with all the rules that you have to follow. It's like, well, yes, you can schedule out your reels, but only if you also have the time, at the time that the reel comes out, to comment on other posts, because then you're going to go up in the algorithm Like how do you do this? How do you stay calm, cool and collected and still, you know, stand out in an ocean, basically, of people?
Speaker 2:I'm glad it looks calm, cool and collected from the outside.
Speaker 1:I was hoping you would say that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, it is definitely not. It doesn't look like that on the inside. I am one of those. You know the ducks, you know above water, and they look all cool and then their little feet are just moving, moving, moving. That is me, I, you know I don't. I see those same things and I wonder, and I know a lot of it comes down to systems, and I've been doing Instagram now for about three years and even within you know those three years, everything has changed. When I first did it, it was just pictures of things. I did not show my face. I was not comfortable with that. I never really enjoyed having my picture taken. And look at you now.
Speaker 1:I know right Well and then it was like okay.
Speaker 2:And then it's like, okay, you need to show your face. People want to know the person behind the business. I'm like, well, that makes sense. I like knowing who's behind businesses. So I'm like, okay, fine, I will put my picture in sometimes. And then it branched out to like, okay, now you have to do these dumb dances on a real and then that will get people's attention. I'm like I just got comfortable putting my face in front of a camera. I'm like I have to do that now.
Speaker 2:And then, like you said it just it constantly changes, and so I, until this year, the beginning of this year I hired my first social media manager, but before then I did all the social media myself, and even now a lot of it is a partnership. Right, it's not just like here I'm going to hand this off to you and you go do it. And so a lot of it came from I mean one. I do enjoy being on social media. Like I said, ever since I kind of created that community of other wine lovers. Like I love checking in with them and seeing what they post, and so I think a lot of it comes from I enjoyed being on Instagram. Now I probably spend too much time on Instagram. I definitely spend more than an hour. I mean.
Speaker 2:I'm often, I think a lot, I learn from others a lot, so I'm watching what other people do, I'm seeing what connects.
Speaker 2:I'm seeing what connects with me, you know, and makes me want to interact, and so I see Instagram is like I'm being successful If people who are you know, the people who are following me, are enjoying the content, they're interacting, they're reaching out to me. My favorite thing is, honestly, stories more than anything. I love being able to like I'm the person who, like you may, like I may, have just started following you and you share to picture your dog, and I'm going to reply back like oh, my God, your dog's so adorable. Like, tell me all about him. It's just so fun to create those relationships, so I count that as number one. I'm just like, as long as I'm like creating relationships and doing these things, and then also like just not putting pressure on myself. I used to get so down about like, oh, this post only got like 15 likes, it must not have resonated, but then I have to remember that, like, there are plenty of posts that I see on Instagram that I enjoy, but I don't hit the like button.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know like I just saw it, I thought oh cool, and then I kept going.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so, and it's always being on the receiving end, or not receiving end, as the case may be of this. You are so much in your head about this.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I think, it's hard not to be.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the insecurities that come with. You know, I clearly ask a good question. Why are people not responding, you know? And then I have to ask myself okay, well, maybe it wasn't a good question, why are they not responding? Is it not interesting enough? But you know they listen to my podcast, so I must be doing something right. And so this is the constant, you know, chatter that's happening in my head that I just would love to just get rid of and not worry about it so much.
Speaker 2:All the time, I think one thing that's helped me a lot is just, you know, sticking with the fact. Like you said, like you know people, that's in your podcast, I know people are on my Instagram, I know people are liking it and they enjoy it because they've told me right, and so just like, like, keeping that as, like you know, that's truth. Has anybody ever told you that that was a bad question? No, then that you can't say that that's truth. So you might as well stick with the fact that you know there are people out there who are enjoying what you're putting out there, and, like there's always going to be people who have more, but like celebrate their success because you know, you never know that might be you the next day.
Speaker 1:Right right.
Speaker 2:And like there are, your people exist out there that want what you are providing, that want what you're saying and enjoy what you're saying. You'll find them, you will. You just got to keep doing your thing.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you for the pep talk, hailey. I got you Okay, so, um, well, I am going to continue trying. I am notoriously bad at Instagram and I probably should be hiring someone to do it for me, just to make it look a little bit more exciting. But right now, it's all me. It's I'm a one man, one woman show, and it looks like that's going to be the case for a while anyway.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean honestly, like I also think it's important that you figure out what you like anyway. Right, like I was I'm, you know when I did start working with a social media manager. Like they're not doing all of it. I'm still doing so much of it because it's so important that I stay connected. Like they're not posting. I'm posting because I want to know. Like, yeah, I want to connect with people when I do these things. And also like I want to feel comfortable having them do it until I figured out what my brand image is and how I want to come across. Like it's important, like it sounds silly, but like the colors I use, the wording that I use, like there's a certain way that sounds like Hailey of Cork and Fizz and I want people to always feel that way with my content, whether I did the exact drawing or edited the video together or not. Right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, I'm going to just keep moving on, because I could talk about this for so much more and yeah, it's not about that. So we're going to move on. So I actually did just start noticing that you had some posts about a wine retreat and I'm thinking it's walla, walla. Not entirely sure, but I think that's what I saw. Can you tell me about that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'd love to talk about that. You're absolutely right. It's to walla walla in Washington and I feel like I always need to, like I need to make sure I say Washington more. I always just go walla walla and I like imagine everybody knows where walla walla is. It's just really, it is one of my favorite places in the world. It's this incredible wine region in eastern Washington and it just has this. So I think it would help to know. So I'm based in Seattle now, but I grew up in a very small town in Wisconsin.
Speaker 2:And so I have these very like small town routes and something that I love about walla walla and, honestly, a lot of wine regions do this. But I think walla walla has a special where, like you, just feel so far separated from all your worries, all your stress. You know, as a small business owner, like I'm always worried about something and when I go to walla walla it just kind of all dissipates and I'm like, oh, I can just enjoy, like I'm just here to have fun. It just makes me smile Just talking about it.
Speaker 2:And so, yeah, I'm doing a trip. I did a trip out there last April. It was my first ever wine retreat and it was kind of one of those things where I'm like, who gave me permission to do this? Well, nobody, I'm just going to give it a try and see what happens. And so I took a group out there I think it was about nine of us and so we went out to walla. Walla was a three, three full days of experiences, but I think all in all it was about three and a half, four days being out there and I just reached out to a bunch of wineries and kind of connected with them, seeing what experiences we could do.
Speaker 2:I really wanted to make it. It's kind of that combination of like you know, you get me there who I am a wine educator and know a lot about wine, so when you have questions you can ask me Right. It's almost like I always tell people. It's like you know you're watching the bachelor with like one of the bachelor at you get inside and then, plus, I love planning and organizing things and so I've planned a bunch of trips for myself and well, for myself and my husband, I should say and gotten the benefit of that. So I figured why not use that skill to create an opportunity for other people to get to enjoy a really fabulous wine retreat without having to do any of the work?
Speaker 1:I really, really love that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So I'm going back out. So I did it last April and I'm going back this year and so, yeah, I still have. I still have a few spots left. The retreat includes, you know, I take care of the lodging, the all of the wine experiences and the transportation between everything. There are a couple of meals included as well. I always love like kind of like that indulgent. You know when you're on vacation and you just like go for that thing that you would never do, right that?
Speaker 2:menu the multi course and wine pairings and you're like I'll never do that in real life, but we're on vacation, so we're going to do it.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, a little bit of everything and a lot of female wine makers I made sure that that was super important to me this time around and connecting with a lot of the women out there doing awesome things, and so, yeah, we're heading back in April and really excited to see what this one's going to bring.
Speaker 1:That sounds absolutely wonderful. So you guys, you know what to do. Go over to Cork and Fizz and sign up for the retreat. Yeah, yeah, I love it. All right. So you also do offer private tasting and you also do blind tastings, and I'm very curious who your guests are for these tastings and, in particular, the blind tastings.
Speaker 2:So honestly, I mean with this these private tastings. One of the things here is like it's just anybody who likes drinking wine. You know these are I've done a little bit of everything I've done corporate events where it's, you know, an after work thing and they want a way to connect, especially post pandemic. That was really important for folks. Yeah, sometimes it's a birthday party, where you know. There was one where the husband reached out to me and wanted to plan a whole birthday party for his wife and he was having some friends over and so we did a whole tasting. There was one where it was girls night and they do something every month and they wanted to try something different and so they did. That was a blind tasting that we did and they don't require you don't need to have any knowledge on wine.
Speaker 2:The fun thing that I do with my blind tastings is I set them up like a memory game kind of, and so the idea is I'm going to bring like a sheet of paper that has. I think the last one I did it was like eight different wines and then kind of descriptors on there and talking about like OK, what's the acid level, what's the Tannin level, what kind of aroma is. Can you expect? Then, during the tasting, we're going to kind of walk through the four wines you don't know what they are, but we're going to walk through, we're going to taste them, I'm going to teach you what each of those things mean. Then, once you go through, you can kind of match what you've written down with then that kind of note sheet that I gave you as kind of like you're, you're just going to match them up.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you don't need to have all that knowledge on wine in order to kind of try this experience. And I think blind tasting is so cool because you know you're tasting it without any. You know what do they say? Like the, you're not predisposed to anything, you're, you know you're not thinking of anything. Yeah, I mean you just you're just trying to taste it for what it smells and tastes like.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly. Do you ever have any wine professionals who sign up for these things?
Speaker 2:I have had I mean more so in like my wine tasting club. I do a virtual tasting club. I have more wine professionals that end up falling in there just because it's on a more regular basis. It's also virtual and join if they're busy, and then it's more about kind of exploring new wines versus, like I think the private tastings are typically tend to land more in like the entertainment right there, like you're learning things but you're also having fun.
Speaker 2:I have had a couple people like, especially people who are like working in a tasting room but aren't you know what you would consider a full professional, like they have a right certification. But yeah, want to learn more about it so that when they're talking to other people in wine they're, you know, saying the right things or they know what other people are saying right.
Speaker 2:I've had a lot of that and but yeah, like I said, I kind of focus more towards that, the people who are just starting to get into wine. Now, if you love wine, I'm always happy to kind of change up the tasting. I can bring in some more wine talk and go a little more in depth and stuff but, like I said, I do a lot of that in the virtual tasting club, the court cruise. I have a few wine professionals in there along with total wine beginners that are just like cool new wine yeah.
Speaker 1:That's. That's very lovely, I really, and this is something that I actually had considered doing earlier last year, and I don't know. It just never came to fruition, and I'm not entirely sure why, to tell you the truth. So here I am being open about it. But I also seem to remember that you had at one point said that you still have another job. You had talked about having a day job. Is this still true? Are you full time corking and fizzing these days?
Speaker 2:I do still have what I call my corporate job. I have dropped down to 80% and my corporate job, so it's really nice. I only work Monday through Thursday, so I have Fridays now off, which honestly I was like great more time. Then I'm like I'm gonna start podcast and fill that time with others. I don't really have that much more time. But yeah, at the moment I'm you know, I'm still debating. I love corking fizz and I love what it. You know what I get to do, but I don't sell wine. I don't know if I ever want to, but I feel like if I were to take the next step and want to go full time with corking fizz and have it actually bring in my income, I would need to sell wine, just with the annoying liquor laws that you know the US loves to have ever since prohibition.
Speaker 2:So if I wanted to do that, you know I would have to, you know, go to that next step. And then also, I do value free time and spending time with family and friends. And when you think about, like, what corking fizz is set up for, it's set up for a lot of evenings and weekends of tastings and I love doing those, but I don't know if I want to do so many of those. You know the amount that I would need to do to cover. You know my part of the mortgage.
Speaker 2:Yeah, with husband and I are you know, and also I kind of like you know everybody's always asked me like, oh, like you could do what you could go full time like. I appreciate the, you know, the, the pep talk and the enthusiasm, but I don't know if I want to. I kind of like that corking fizz doesn't have the pressure of the financial needs attached to it. I get to explore more yeah, more risks than I would, if you know, if I versus, like if I had to bring in a certain income.
Speaker 1:Right, right, yeah, that makes a lot of sense and it's almost to that. How much fun are you going to really still have with it if it becomes, if there's the added pressure to have that full income from that company?
Speaker 2:And because like work, like remember, like hearing something as a kid and it stuck with me so long, and put a lot of pressure of like you know, you know, find something you love to do and then it'll never feel like work, You'll never work a day in your life or whatever that thing is and that always bothered me because I was always like I don't love what I do. Do other people just like love waking up every day and going into their job?
Speaker 2:And even with Cork and Fizz, like there are times when I'm like I don't want to do this, but I should do this. You know, yeah, and I just think it's so unfair to say that there exists something out there that you would love to do every day and you wouldn't mind any bit of it, and it's going to cover all your financial needs. You know, like, think about what you would do if money wasn't an option and go do that and I'm like, but money is a thing I need to think about.
Speaker 1:So like that's not fair. Yeah, and and you know I do like to think about that every now and then but, yes, I'm very much with you. You know, I always, I always hate when people ask me so how do you like your job? So I work for a Chamber of Commerce now and how do you like your job? Is it everything that you wanted, you know and everything? And I'm like I mean it's a job, you know it's. I like the people I work with, I like the people that I interact with. I don't mind doing the job, but it's still a job.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's still work Like if I, if I didn't have to make money, I would choose not to work.
Speaker 1:Right, exactly, yes, yes, exactly. And so I don't ever really see myself in that situation, even if I, you know, I have all of these ideas for, through the grapevine, what I want to do outside of the podcast. You know selling jewelry and you know offering some secret shopping type stuff. This is all things that I've been thinking about, but even then, I don't ever see myself going. Oh yeah, I love this so much that I don't feel like it's work at all.
Speaker 2:No, it's still work. There's still going to be those tasks that we're like gotta do. I'm gonna bite the bullet, yeah it's.
Speaker 1:There's still that pressure and there's still the. You know, I gotta do this and if I didn't have to, yeah, I'd actually just go traveling. Thank you very much. I might still record a you know a podcast episode here and there and just kind of go. Hey, today I'm recording a Napa.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, I would just like go travel. I'd be like you tell me where I will do a tasting. You know we'll just go on retreats all the time. Yeah, travel to you, we'll do tastings as much as we want. I'll go explore all these things. But yeah, and but yeah to all that to say like I love Cork Fizz and I'm definitely excited for where it'll go. Yeah, but the corporate job does give a little bit of that financial security.
Speaker 1:Gotcha. So I want to, I want to take a look at the wine industry as it is today. We have, you know, the the new world with some more openness when it comes to rules and regulations. We have the old world with, you know, very strict laws. We have we have the situation of, you know, there are more people, there are more women now coming up in the wine industry, but it's still male dominated. All of these things. If there was one thing that you could change in the wine industry, what would it be?
Speaker 2:So such a tough question to pick one thing, so I'm just going to go to the first thing that came to my head, but I like it's actually kind of happening in the EU right now, which I really like, and I hope other places start to do it. I really want to open up the transparency on, like, how wine is made and what you know what is in the wine, and I think this would help with so many things you know you have, because right now, if you get a bottle of wine, it does not, because it has over like 1.2% alcohol, it does not need to have the ingredients listed. Right, it is insane, right, Like this is still something that you're consuming. Why, because it has alcohol, do we no longer need to know what the ingredients are?
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 2:Because then the problem is that people start assuming and guessing and then you end up with you know, I think a lot of it comes down to lack of education, but at least, if anything, putting you know information on the label could at least help people right. And it just, you know, it kind of keeps wine, this area that makes people feel insecure and like they don't know anything about, and then they'll start guessing and it's like, oh well, I can't have. I can only have these wines that are called clean wines because they don't have sulfides or any of the other ingredients in them.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Okay, but neither does your neighborhood winery that makes everything by hand and just doesn't have a big corporation calling them clean, you know. Or like the wines that are like sugar-free wines and it's like, yeah, but actually a lot of wines are sugar-free, or the sugar that they have in them is from the alcohol which every wine is going to have alcohol. Thus they have to have sugar in them.
Speaker 2:Or just little things like that are like it's the sulfides that cause the headache, and but it doesn't. It doesn't happen in this kind of wine and it's like, yeah, but they all have sulfides in them and so in, like the natural wine movement. I love the idea behind it and I think it's really important, but I also think it are like organic or biodynamic and I like all the ideas behind it, but I hate that it leaves behind other wineries that are basically doing that, Don't have the money to be certified.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:We could see on every wine label that, okay, all that was in this is grapes and yeast. And then here's how they made it. And they just had like a basic description or maybe a QR code where you could go on a website that says here are the steps that I did to make this. I just think it would go a long way. And then also, you know, like you said, old World and all their rules, I mean half of the Old World bottles, any bottle from Europe. You look at it and you're like I have no idea what's in this bottle. You know, like we could we do a little more to just help people out and let them know, like, what they're drinking.
Speaker 1:Yeah, actually, I just remember a conversation that I had and I'm gosh. I wish I remembered exactly who it was, but there is a winery in the Willamette Valley and it might be so called Blosser. But don't hold me to that. Who wants to actually put that label on their wine bottles, like what's in it and you know what's the nutrition label and whatnot.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, I just did a podcast the other day. I recorded one about Reisling. You know, the biggest questions I get is like well, it's always sweet, I don't want to drink it. It's like no, no, no, that's not true. And they're like okay, well, how do I tell I'm like well, some bottles will say dry, some bottles, you have to look at the alcohol level.
Speaker 1:Some bottles you're right.
Speaker 2:And it's like why couldn't we easily just explain to people on the bottle, wouldn't it? Wouldn't that help sell it if people understood it better?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's actually one of the biggest things that I have when any wine newbie who knows that I know about wine asks me a question about it. It's oftentimes about how do I know if this is a dry wine or a sweet wine or you know, because sometimes you know they'll go into a store where they can buy a wine and they don't actually find anybody to help them, and so they stand in front of these shelves with just wine and more wine and have no idea what to get, because they don't know if it's sweet or dry. And you know, what should I get with X, Y and Z?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, and then you even look at it and it's like, okay, well, could you know? You know, as a wine expert, could you create for me like a thing to understand labels? Yeah, and it's like I know somebody who's working on this and I'm very excited to see I think it's Slickwines, I think is her Instagram handle. She's on TikTok too and I think she's working on this. But I'm so curious to what it is because I bet you it's extensive. Yeah, because you can't just create one thing. I can't create one reel that tells you how to read labels, because they're all so damn different.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, yeah, oh, my gosh. I don't know if people will be able to hear this on the podcast, but I actually just saw. So I look out onto the street in front of my house and I saw a young girl scout with her dad, you know, walking past and I'm like uh-oh, they're going to be ringing the doorbell. And sure enough, I hear my husband now laughing with them and I'm like what are you doing? Are you buying cookies?
Speaker 2:You got to support those girl entrepreneurs there and if you get cookies in the end like, oh, it's a win-win really.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, I do love some of those girls got cookies. It's a problem, okay, so actually that was a really good idea that you were talking about, and I do think that there's definitely some movement going in that direction, and I'd certainly welcome it. I think that would be really neat and, like you were saying, a QR code and things like that, that is really something that could be utilized and that makes wine just kind of go with the times, which I really appreciate.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and there's an appetite for people want I really think people want to learn about it. Yeah, they just feel intimidated to ask questions and they're not sure. It's so weird. Wine is one of the only things out there where people feel dumb for having not known anything about it. Like I wouldn't feel dumb if I stepped out on a basketball court right now and looked like a newbie, because I am. I've never played basketball in my life, yeah, and nobody would expect me to be good at it. So like I don't know why people, there's no reason to expect you know to be a wine expert if you've never learned about wine before.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, I totally agree. So to continue on, I actually would really like to know and I know that this is a really tough questions and if I've had people go and I don't know that I can just narrow it down to one but what is, in your mind, your most favorite wine region that you could imagine making your home?
Speaker 2:So I feel like it's a little cheating. I'll have two answers for you, because one is one we've already talked about. I, you know Walla Walla Washington. I do love it. Like I said, it gives me like small town roots, like just very chill. They have amazing food and restaurants and obviously great wine and it's just beautiful and I could just like. I just know that, like my stress level instantly, like just drops when I'm there, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2:So I would say Walla, walla. Or last year my husband, I went out and visited Santa Barbara in.
Speaker 2:California, and I think this is like the version of Walla Walla in California, but it has the ocean, so it does kind of, you know, beat it out. In that sense it's a little busier, so it's not quite a small town, right. So it would depend on, like, what I was going for. It is a little closer to bigger cities. So I think I guess, if you're thinking about where I would call home, that could be, you know more likely, but again, same kind of thing. Where it was, just it was very chill. It's beautiful, like, oh my God, it's beautiful there and the people there and there's a really big movement. I feel like in Santa Barbara there's a lot of female winemakers and women being given, you know, that chance and really setting themselves up for success down there. Yeah, so, yeah, I think I'd have to say either Walla Walla or Santa Barbara.
Speaker 1:All right, yeah, I actually gosh. Who was it that I'm talking to? I'm talking to the Namsol sellers. She was telling me that she would love to be gosh. Was it Pazorobles or something? It was just. You know, she's like I'm kind of boring, I would just go there because you know. And so she, you know, told me this, and I always love to hear what people think of when they think of their ideal living place. You know, it's always kind of fun to talk about that.
Speaker 2:No, that is really cool because it makes you think about different things, Because if you just ask me what's your favorite wine region, I feel like that'd be a different answer than what's your favorite wine region that you could imagine living there you know, yeah, yeah, I definitely feel the pull into the old world.
Speaker 1:But that's, you know, I grew up there. You know, I grew up in Germany, and so to me everything about European vineyards is just, you know, it just draws me there. I feel the heavy pull.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean that does sound. I think a lot of it comes from. I honestly haven't visited a lot of old world wine regions. I've been, I've been out to Italy, I've been in some parts of Tuscany, I visited Spain, but I visited there when I was younger, just, you know, in college and then just out of college, so I wasn't a wine nerd then. You know, I haven't got any of the wine regions, but we are, fingers crossed, if it all works out, hoping to visit France at the you know, sometime this fall. So who knows, maybe that my answer will change after I go there, Cause I do have a feeling like I do love that vibe, but it would be hard to be away from family, you know be far away.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, for sure, for sure, totally understandable. But yeah, it's definitely very, very worth a visit. I mean, nowhere in France that I've ever been to did I say, oh my gosh, this is a terrible place. It's just, it's, it's just so great there, yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm very excited. So, before we finish off um, which you share with our listeners, a couple of wines that you feel are kind of great wines, that like the intro wines of people who are curious but don't really want to spend an arm and a leg on a bottle of wine. You know, maybe like a white and a red.
Speaker 2:Sure, okay, and I'm also going to answer this. I will answer it with a bottle of white and red. But also I am going to say if you do live in an area where there is a small wine shop, my biggest suggestion is to start connecting with that small wine shop.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:I think this is a way and you don't have to spend a lot of money at these small wine shops. You know there's quite a few of them here in the Seattle area and they all, every one of them, has a section that is like affordable wines, yeah, and you know $15 and under. And the best part is you know that each of those wines are going to be good quality, because you know a small wine, you know a small wine shop can only bring in so many wines and they taste every wine, that nearly every wine that's in there, right? So they know it's going to be good. So my first tip, even you know, instead of just going and looking out for a specific bottle, visit your local wine shop. Tell them the kind of wine that you like.
Speaker 2:If you have any idea, even if it's as simple as like I like drinking red wines, or I like red wines with pizza, or I, like you know, I had this Sauvignon Blanc the other day. That was really good. I think it was from New Zealand, what else you know. And if you keep going to that same spot, they'll give you recommendation and just tell them your budget, like you know, in case of that example, it's like I think I had a Sauvignon Blanc the other day, I think it was New Zealand. Can you give me a suggestion like under $15 that would be similar?
Speaker 2:And you just start doing that and start connecting. And then you know, go in and tell them and be like, oh, this one was so good, I loved you know this thing about it. And that's the thing where, like with my tastings, that's what I try to teach people is how to talk about their wine and how to you know, if you don't know what words to use in my private tastings, I hope by the end of it you have those words you can use, and so that. And then the more you do, and then you can even be like, yeah, you know, that one was okay, but I didn't like this about it. And the more you do that, the more you connect, they're going to learn what you like and why, and so then you basically just have like a personal wine chopper created simply by visiting your small wine shop.
Speaker 2:So that's my first tip, if you can though very, very good recommendation.
Speaker 1:I know I agree yeah.
Speaker 2:And I understand that, like I mean, I come from a small town, so like there is no small wine shop in our small town, there is a liquor store and there is Walmart Right. So I mean I would lean towards, I really think, louis Jadot, or just looks like Louis Jadot, I guess, if you're looking at it like how do you say it? You know, for the people who don't speak and I don't speak, I speak a little bit of Spanish, but that's about it. But the Louis Jadot, their wines are really great and they have some great budget friendly ones, whether it be there, you know, they have a Pinot Noir burgundy, they have a bourgeois which just looks like what be? A Jolais or something like that, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2:I smell it every time. When I think about it, I'm like it's the same way. I smell beautiful. I'm like be a you to fall, and it's like be a you J Well, yeah, that's how you smell it. They have a bourgeois, so it's similar to your Pinot Noir style, but they also make some good Chardonnay. So the Macon white burgundy, honestly, anything labeled Louis Jadot. You'll find it under $15. I think that's a great bet to go to. I also love with the white wines. There is a Hugo from Alsace, france. They're a Hugo Hentiel, Gentile, I think it's GEN T-I-L-S-H-E-R-E-N. I really like that white. It's really, it's bright, but it's not too bright. I think if you like New Zealand Salmon Yon Blanc, go for it. I think a lot of those are great value for their price. But if you want a little less acidity, that Hugo Hentiel is a good way to go.
Speaker 1:So there you go. I love it. That's beautiful. Thanks, you're on top of it, man.
Speaker 2:Well, I get asked that question a lot and, to be honest, I even have like a I share as well and people are welcome to message me. I have like a 15 wines under $15. I think you get it free when you join my mailing list.
Speaker 2:Because it's one of the top questions Because I do think, like I'm so torn between I think we should in order to get a cheaper wine, that labor might not necessarily be paid the way that it should, or they're not making the wine in like the true traditional way. But everybody deserves to get to learn about wine and start where they're comfortable. And I have a feeling once you kind of start with the budget friendly, then you start realizing why it's worth paying that extra to get a little higher quality or you know, know that it was ethically sourced and all these kinds of things.
Speaker 1:For sure. Yeah, Well, that's beautiful and, wow, this is one of the longer episodes that I have recorded lately. I thought the lot, Sorry, no, you know. To me this is great. I love talking and I've always. I think I said this in my last interview with Diana, whose episode is going to be coming out next. I just really love these conversations because each one of them brings something. Each person brings something to the table that I admire and something that I just love listening to, and it's just always very, very inspiring. So I really appreciate that people are taking the time and, you know, are willing to share all of this information about themselves, but then also about, you know, the wine industry. So thank you so much, Hailey. I really, really appreciate you.
Speaker 2:Well, thanks for having me. It's exciting to get to like be asked these questions and to talk about myself and share my thoughts on things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, excellent, I'm so glad Listeners, I am going to be putting all of this information in the show notes, as always. If you're interested in doing a wine retreat and you're, you know, not averse to the Pacific Northwest it's very beautiful here I definitely recommend going to Walla Walla with Hailey. I think it's going to be a blast. And, yeah, and that's it. I'm going to just say goodbye, I'm going to say have a wonderful week, couple of weeks until we meet again. And with all that, all I have left to say is, of course, prost.