I’m sitting in the Aspen airport as I type. The lines are long, flights are sparse. Bad weather has created an epic bottleneck at the airport. People don’t seem to care. I think we are all still a bit giddy from the greatness of this weekend. It has truly been one of the most fantastic experiences of my life. To my right, Susan Dolye of MacMurray Ranch (http://www.macmurrayranch.com/OurWinemaker.htm) smiles at me from one row over. I met her at the Sonoma Superstar lecture; to my left are Vinny Dotolo and Jon Shook from Animal in Los Angeles (http://www.animalrestaurant.com/), they also smile and say hi, I met them at the Texas Outlaw Party party. That’s how the whole weekend has been. You ride the shuttle bus into town with Merry Edwards of the Merry Edwards Vineyard (http://www.merryedwards.com/). You stand behind Marcus Samuelsson at the coffee shop and he invites you to a cocktail party. If I had to come up with one word to describe the event, I would go with accessible – that’s not sexy or exciting, but it is what is most remarkable about this event. Over the course of the weekend you have access to some of the most influential people in the food and beverage industry. Lowly “consumers” like me are brought together with these stars by a shared passion for food and wine. Everyone here is approachable. Eager to talk, learn and educate. Danny Meyers (http://www.unionsquarehospitalitygroup.com/) is interested in hearing about what you think of his new wine; he wants to know if I learned anything about terroir at this lecture. As he leaves the tent on Sunday, he waves good bye to me. It’s inspirational to meet all of the leaders in my field. Their humbleness and enthusiasm reminds me why I have chosen a path in food and wine. 

For three straight days, I have been in the presence of greatness. A text comes in. It’s my friend Kimberly, she is hanging out with Fabio from Top Chef (http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef?c=fabio) at the Denver airport. I have an urge to scream at the Frontier airlines gate agent, “I’ve been with celebrities, now get me out of here” but, I resist. Gail Simmons wouldn’t do that now would she?

Tags: A Really Goode Job, Aspen, Sonoma County Wine Tasting