Fifteen Years of Grape Experiences: Savoring the World, One Glass at a Time

September 2026 marks a milestone, both personal and professional. It is the anniversary of 15 years of writing consistently about wine, food, and travel on my site, Grape Experiences!

At its inception in 2011, I was still teaching Early Childhood Special Education in the public school system but had officially scheduled my retirement for four years down the road. Anyone who knows me, understands that I am someone who loves to have a plan. In this case, I knew that I did not want to leave one career and wait for something else to happen… I wanted to be the one to make it so! After much deliberation with my husband, friends, daughters then classroom team, I decided to “do something with wine.” But what? Certainly, I loved to drink it, but what did I really know about it? Not that much, it appeared. Cue the research after which I enrolled for the WSET Level 2 (I passed) then WSET Level 3 Advanced certification (I passed that, too, with flying colors).

One evening, with a bottle of wine shared with a dear friend, we brainstormed names for the yet-to-be-written site. GoDaddy was checked throughout the night and I finally decided upon Grape Experiences. I felt it sounded professional and reflected the fact that my writing would be about my experiences with anything to do with the grape/wine. I then navigated the WordPress situation to format the site and learned about widgets, plug-ins, themes, and SEO – my head was spinning. My oldest daughter, who already had a photography site, worked hard to set up the first iteration of Grape Experiences. A couple of years later, a wine colleague set up a new template, the one that is currently in use. Clearly, it took a village to begin this journey.

And the rest is history. I published multiple times a week for the first couple of years, then moved to once a week. Reflecting the volume of readership and engagement, my Google analytics rose and I was being recognized in the wine community, too.

But what about my personal life in the last fifteen years? (I’ll make this short.)

Retirement occurred in May of 2015, my daughters completed college and were “launched” into their careers, all three daughters were married, my dear parents passed away, I survived Stage 3 breast cancer, a journey that lasted a year during which time my wine consumption was nil. Larry and I traveled extensively and we welcomed seven grandchildren into our lives. In 2022, Larry and I left our home in Illinois after 42 years and moved to Paso Robles, California wine country where this past summer, we celebrated our 44^th anniversary! Truly, it is mindboggling to consider all the changes that occurred in those fifteen years.

Professionally, I can’t imagine anything more exhilarating and mind-expanding that being part of the international wine community. As a lifelong learner, the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) classes I completed were stellar and if anyone is serious about having more credibility regarding wine than simply “I like to sip it,” enrolling should be considered. (There are other excellent programs, too, by the way. WSET was the program, though, that addressed my needs.) Participating in annual Wine Media Conferences, attending trade tastings in Chicago and New York, and sharing lunches or dinners with winemakers or owners expanded my knowledge even further. Receiving a plethora of wine samples from across the globe for tasting and reviewing and participating in virtual tastings (sometimes at 8am-and no, you won’t see me sipping wine during that hour!) continue to increase my knowledge of regions, people, and the grape itself. Along the way, I have been invited to multiple national and international press trips with many favorite colleagues who I have gotten to know not only professionally but personally. What a gift!

And there’s more. Judging wines at regional competitions continues to be a favorite endeavor besides reading my articles in well-respected print magazines focused on wine. Two wonderful wine writers and I began a YouTube channel that we sustained for almost five years – quite the run! And perhaps you’ve seen me on television in various parts of the United States. Through the years, my writing garnered awards and recognition and a couple of years ago, I was accepted as a member of the Circle of Wine Writers, the world’s leading international association of wine and spirits authors, writers, journalists, bloggers, broadcasters, photographers and educators. I could go on…

Looking towards the future, there will be additions to Grape Experiences. Although wine travel has always been a part of my lifestyle for the last 15 years, I will lean into it with more intention. Domestic and international travel with a focus on places to stay, restaurants, bistros, cultural events, and itineraries with wine at the core will have a focus on both the website and a Substack platform that will be launched in 2027. I plan to host more travel opportunities for like minded readers in order to explore the world of wine and more. In fact, this past spring, I hosted a group of brilliant women who now love Paris as much as I do – and the luxurious experiences we enjoyed will not be forgotten. Stay tuned for more and email me if you would like more information. What will not change, however, are wine articles about off-the-beaten-path varietals and food and wine pairing suggestions. By all accounts, you seem to love them!

Thank you so much for celebrating my 15^th anniversary with me. Had I not started Grape Experiences in 2011, I would not have had this opportunity to connect with you and so many others. The bottom line? Wine brings people together and the conversation is always fabulous! Let’s raise a glass to that.

Cheers~ Cindy