A year and a half ago, on a late winter morning walk, I found myself worried for the future of wine. Something had shifted in the cultural zeitgeist. Wine—which I had always thought of as something beautiful and true—was under attack.
It wasn’t just that wine consumption was down. The very character of wine itself was being challenged. That morning I opened my emails to find a wine-themed Substack titled “Not Drinking Poison.” I almost cried. Almost. But instead, an idea came to me. What would it be like if every wine drinker in America invited a friend, a colleague or a neighbor to come over and have some wine? And the title Come Over October came to me. (Writers like rhymes).
Today on the cusp of the second annual Come Over October, the campaign has become an international movement that has reached 2 billion people via the media.
I am unbelievably proud.
And then last week came a huge surprise. I, along with my cofounders Kimberly Charles and Gino Colangelo, have collectively been nominated as “Person of the Year” by the Wine Star Awards committee of Wine Enthusiast magazine.
It’s an honor that has taken my breath away.
