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Women in Wine: The Three Graces

Recently I decided to conquer a great fear in my very storied and bizarre life — the dreaded Wine List. As a fashion designer, writer, and man about town I’m very fortunate to be invited to fancy and swanky restaurants, soirees and events. Therefore to put it plainly, I spend a fair amount of time inhaling great food and swigging fine wine. I know – don’t cry for me Argentina. However, not until recently did I truly realize I wasn’t fully appreciating the art, process and tradition of fine dining and particularly, the crafstmanship of great wine. But all of this about to change — and when Mister GoLightly decides to make a change, he brings everyone along for the ride.
The first thing I knew I would need to begin my transformation from vino novice to wine connoisseur was a team of experts. Yes experts, as I plan on taking my wine consumption very seriously from this point forward. Therefore I will require a trio of professionals to guide me in the right direction. So I decided to seek assistance from the people closest to me. I telephoned, emailed, and met with almost every person I knew that had anything to do with the wine business. However, what I found a little strange was that most of the people I knew in the wine biz were all men. While most of the men I spoke with were all very passionate and educated about wine, there was just something about their approach that didn’t quite fit with what I was trying to get at in my quest. I really wanted to know more about the sense of reverence that seems to surround the art of wine tasting and making. In essence, I really wanted to be educated on the beauty, charm and creativity of fine wine. Somehow, this got me to wondering, “Are there many women in the wine business?” I didn’t have very long to ponder the question as it was magically answered one fateful afternoon while having lunch at the Four Seasons in New York City. I started yammering on and on about my need to connect to people in the wine business when a dear friend said to me, “You should meet one of the owner’s daughter, Keiko. She knows all about wine.”
BEAUTY: The strikingly gorgeous and modelesque Keiko Niccolini was born into the charmed world of restaurants and fine dining — the venerable Four Seasons Restaurant to be exact. Legend has it that Keiko could filet a Dover sole and saber a bottle of champagne before she could ride a bike. As a young girl she could be found on any given day running through the hallowed halls of the family business. However, as an adult she now travels the world in search of new dishes and wines to bring to the tables of the Four Season as well as her wine consulting firm AMEDEO. Keiko as you can imagine, was destined for a life in food and wine.
And now, Keiko Niccolini has agreed to be my guru, my personal guide as I embark on a mysterious journey into and beyond Wine Tasting 101.
Under Ms. Niccolini’s tutelage and through the course of our adventures, I am hoping to come out on the other end a lot more knowledgeable and a little less afraid of sampling and experiencing new wines and spirits. It is also my desire to finally retire my catch phrase when it comes to choosing or drinking wine, “It doesn’t matter what I drink — I only drink to get drunk.” Which is only partly true. Who cares if every time I repeat it Keiko reacts as if someone has taken their well manicured fingernails and scratched them down a freshly wiped chalkboard. Well I care — and hopefully somewhere along the way, this juvenile retort will be retired and replaced with language that describes delicious wine with the respect and grace it rightfully deserves.
Needless to say, Keiko and I have become fast friends. Recently after attending a not-so-fabulous and actually quite boring soiree, she thought that it would be the perfect time for a surprise crash course in wine tasting — total emergence in wine culture. So she decided to introduce me to a real-life Master Sommelier, Ms. Laura Maniec.
CHARM: Laura Maniec is a Native New Yorker and the charismatic owner of Corkbuzz Wine Studio. During the course of our evening I learned that Laura actually discovered her true enthusiasm for wine through an 18-week sommelier certification class at Windows of the World. It was through this experience that she was inspired, motivated and excited to pursue a career in wine.
A girl after my own heart, just as Laura was legally able to drink she became a sommelier at Blue Fin in New York City. Progressing quickly, she was made a partner as well as wine and spirits director for the entire B.R. Guest Restaurant Group of 20 restaurants across the country. At only 25 years old, she was managing the wine list as well as educating the entire front-of-house team on wine.
It turns out the charming and personable Ms. Maniec earned her Master Sommelier designation in 2009 and is currently the youngest in the world. Not to mention she is one of only 18 women to have achieved this highest accreditation given to wine professionals. And on this night she too agreed to join the team and proceeded to give me a VIP guided tour through their intense and intimidating wine list. But for the first time in being presented a normally daunting wine list, I wasn’t afraid. I was almost downright giddy. What did I have to fear? I was now armed with not only a wine guru but also a master sommelier. Take that 33- or 72-page wine list! Okay, in all honesty, I may be exaggerating the personal attention given just to me by our master sommelier. You see Laura seems to possess the uncanny ability to give everyone that enters the doors of CorkBuzz the same level of attention and graciousness — an ability rarely found in New York City eateries these days.
To attempt description of the champagnes, reds, whites and rosΓ©s that danced and dazzled in my mouth on this evening would do CorkBuzz and Ms. Maniec a grave injustice. I don’t possess the eloquence to characterize the pas de deux that took place between the exquisite wine list and the culinary masterpieces prepared by their Executive Chef, Hayan Yi. I don’t dare attempt to formulate adequate prose to depict the near religious experience that visitors share in this tastefully decorated restaurant and wine bar. To try and fail would be borderline blasphemy. However after almost closing down the joint accompanied by a magnificent high that had no resemblance at all to being drunk, I felt as if I had to rush home and immediately repent, “Our Mother, Full of Grace…”
Which brings me to the most recent introduction to form my dream team, my trilogy, my Three Graces…
For several weeks during our tastings and outings, Keiko kept saying to me, “You have to meet my mentor in all things wine. You will love her.” I will admit, in my experience whenever someone says to me “You will love him or her,” this has rarely ever been the case. But this was coming from my guru — my liege, and she hadn’t steered me wrong thus far. So off I went the other afternoon, in the pouring New York City rain, to The Modern restaurant located at the Museum of Modern Art to meet Ms. Joy Sterling.
CREATIVITY: The inventive and visionary Joy Sterling represents the second generation of wine making at Iron Horse Vineyards. She is the CEO of the winery and the author of four books on the art of wine. Although she was born in America, Joy grew up in Paris, attended a French school, and speaks fluent French. Living in Europe and traveling extensively, Ms. Sterling received an extraordinary education in the appreciation of food and wine as well as a love of quality wherever it is found in the world.
Joy returned to the United States to attend Yale University where she studied history and economics. After her studies she went into journalism, first for United Press International, followed by local television, and ultimately, network TV news. At the age of 29, Joy was Deputy Bureau Chief for ABC Network News in Los Angeles. She was given numerous special assignments including coverage of the first Space Shuttle landings in California, coordinating producer for several Presidential trips, and the high point of her career, Assignment Editor for ABC’s 1984 Olympic coverage.
In 1985, Joy left ABC’s hierarchy to join her family’s business. Thus, a new sort of woman was recruited into California’s wine industry. Significantly, she made news headlines for the winery with her first achievement at Iron Horse. In November, 1985, the White House selected Iron Horse Sparkling Wine for the President’s toast to peace at the first summit meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev in Geneva.
Joy quietly took up the reins at Iron Horse at the start of 2006, having spent 20 years traveling on behalf of the winery, personally introducing the wines to an impressive list of customers from Spago in Beverly Hills to the Four Seasons in New York.
She is an adventurer, having climbed Kilimanjaro, run white water rapids on the Bio-Bio River in Chile and the upper reaches of the Yank Sing River in China, trekked in Tibet and Bhutan, and completed a road trip to Timbuktu.
Joy joined the prestigious Board of Trustees of The Leakey Foundation in 2007. One of her major initiatives is hosting an annual fundraising and awareness raising event in partnership with National Geographic celebrating Earth Day held at Iron Horse.
Now I ask you — What is there not to love about Joy a.k.a. @JoyBubbles? From the moment we made eye contact as I shuffled in from the pouring rain, looking more disheveled like Ms. GoLightly’s wet cat than the intended flawlessness of Holly off to visit Sally Tomato at Sing-Sing, I innately knew that I would be captivated and bewitched by the accomplished Joy Sterling.
Joy is earth-mother, rainmaker and wine whisperer wrapped into one stylish, hot-mama of a package. Did I mention she was also wearing a navy vintage Dior dress? I almost died and went to heaven at the sight of this magnificent being. The one thing you quickly learn about Joy within five minutes of being in her presence is that she is filled with love, life and passion. As we shared a bottle of her world famous Iron Horse Wedding Cuvee I found out that she is also a hugger, a great thinker, a visionary, a powerhouse, and just an awesome down-to-earth gal.
During the entire afternoon my eyes kept darting from Keiko to Joy, my mind was racing, but my mouth couldn’t keep up with all the thoughts bursting through my brain. I must have come across as a complete crazy person but what I couldn’t explain to either of these incredible women was how I was finally beginning to understand it all. How I understood there was more than just wine they had in common. How I could see the ancestral sisterhood, the kinship, an indigo hued spiritual camaraderie void of competition or pettiness. But mostly, I was in complete and utter awe. I found myself in an absolute state of humbled gratitude. Grateful that I had been allowed to bare witness to their sublime and noble grace.
As I finally sat down to write this piece, I couldn’t believe that in only a few short weeks I had already begun to develop a true appreciation for wines produced in Napa Valley as well as grapes grown in the Vittoria region of Sicily. I discovered that my preference for all things “pink and bubbly” had very little to do with my flamboyance and sexual orientation and much more to do with the various techniques and processes utilized to achieve just the right shade, smell and taste of RosΓ©. And while I am still at the very beginning stages of my wine adventures, I doubt very seriously if I will be drinking with the goal of getting drunk in mind (wink-wink). Instead, I envision buckling up and bracing myself for the long and meandering roads of wine country under the watchful gaze, generosity and guidance of my divine Three Graces.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/malcolm-harris/women-in-wine-the-three-g_b_1537812.html

Manila families with small children looking for an accessible place for kids to have fun frequently visit private resort in Clark Pampanga to unwind relax in family bonding, top venue for reunion.

Some hotels and resorts offer free WIFI Internet connection to guests. This includes beach resort of Clearwater which also offers free Internet connection in the room as well as in the outdoor areas even near the beach and by the lake.

Fine dining restaurants like Yats Restaurants and Wine Bar also offers good internet connection to their guests. Highly recommended bar, pub and nightlife spot The London Pub located inside Mimosa also offers good internet connection to guests.

The London Pub is a classic English Gastropub frequented by local expats and business community. It serves up good food, plenty of excellent vintage wine by the glass and a good selection of Cuban cigars. The ambience is old English, dark wood, comfortable and relaxed.

Where to go in Clark? Hotel Clark Philippines is a De Luxe Hotel in Clark and Subic, a risk free place to stay, cozy and nice ambience, a nice function place for special occasion

You might want to check also the Yats Restaurant is the best restaurant for special dinner, best restaurant for dinner with friends near Manila, also the best place to celebrate special events.

Famous Restaurant in Pampanga, a place to dine with friends in Clark, cozy restaurant with a nice ambience, a nice function place for special occasions. Yats Restaurant is one of the good restaurants in Pampanga, a restaurant with good food, a place that is nice for celebration, ideal for business dinner meeting, a good place to enjoy family reunion, and an attractive restaurant that serves good wines for dinner.

Are you looking for an attractive restaurant or a nice place to eat with friends in Clark, Angeles City Pampanga? Yats Restaurant and Wine Bar is a restaurant with good food and good wines for dinner located at Clark Angeles City Pampanga. Perfect for exclusive dinner venues for groups, recommended for private dinner in Philippines. A Restaurant in Clark for business dinner meeting. Private dinner place or dinner restaurant in Clark Subic Near Manila Angeles City Pampanga. Yats Restaurant is one of the Good Restaurant in Pampanga Angeles City Clark near Manila.

Frequent travelers and visitors staying in Angeles City Pampanga Clark Philippines look for restaurants, coffee shops, bars, pubs, hotels and resorts in Clark that serve high quality Nespresso coffee to guests. Here are some of the highly recommended places in Clark that offer good gourmet Nespresso coffee.

Looking for interesting hotels near Manila Subic Clark Angeles City Pampanga?
Trouble free hotels and well recognized hotels in Subic Clark Angeles City Pampanga
Clearwater Resort and Country Club offers a good place to stay in Subic Clark Angeles City Pampanga. In offers nice place to have rest in Subic Pampanga outside Manila.
One of the Philippines top hotels in north Luzon.

This web site contains articles and information that will be helpful to visitors, residents and tourists traveling out of town from Manila on a short getaway to Subic, Angeles City, Pampanga and Clark Philippines. There are several web sites that contain information that might also be pertinent to what is happening in North Luzon, Subic, Tarlac, Pampanga, Clark Freeport Philippines.

Looking for a party venue in town?
Clearwater Resort and Country Club is one of the ideal venues for birthday party because it is a risk free venue. Not only Birthday Parties but also a good place to enjoy family reunion. A good place to celebrate special occasions. Clearwater Resort and Country Club is one of the resorts in Subic Clark Angeles City Pampanga or near Manila with activity amenities, place that are nice for celebration.

Wedding couples looking for wedding reception venues and beach wedding venues can log on to this Philippines Wedding Venue web site for free information and assistance:

For assistance with lodgings, accommodations, hotels and resorts near Manila in Subic, Pampanga, Angels City and Clark Philippines log on to http://www.HotelClarkPhilippines.com

While in Clark, one might as well add to the itinerary a visit to the famous Clark Wine Center, the largest wine shop in Philippines which offers over 2000 selections of fine vintage wine from all wine regions, vintages spanning over 50 years covering all price ranges.

http://www.ClarkWineCenter.com

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