Author: SAHMmelier

Being a stay- at-home mom can leave one thirsting for a taste of the outside world, a world in which sentences are composed of more than three words. Being an educator means one is always seeking an opportunity to explore and learn. Being a woman with a need to connect can be a challenge when adult conversations are rare. In wine, I find the marriage of art and science, agriculture and storytelling provides limitless areas to explore. But it is the people that keep me engaged. The tenacity needed to keep the family dream alive, the risk to start anew, the trials and principles. I love the history of the vine, the impact of a season, the sentiment in the bottle. That is why I write. I write to tell their stories, to share a piece of mine. I write to learn as I teach others. I write to connect with new friends, to disconnect from the world. I write to celebrate what makes each of us unique, and that which ties us together.

Reflections

November 26, 2024.Reading time 7 minutes.

I’ve been walking the trail that winds around the Colorado River in downtown Austin for nearly thirty years. Long enough, that it has gone through a name change. The views from the trail have changed dramatically. The infrastructure has expanded in some areas, lessened in others. There are several places on the loop that elicit […]

Parable Wines

June 4, 2024.Reading time 6 minutes.

There are some ideas that are widely considered to be universal truths. Lessons that traverse cultures and time, regions and religions. These are often bigger than what can be fully expressed in a few phrases, and require room to make one’s own. They are multi-faceted lessons, condensed to an image. One that can be held, […]

I Wonder

May 3, 2024.Reading time less than 1 minute.

22 years ago, I lost one of my dearest friends in the Twin Towers. In 2022, we said goodbye to my mother-in-law, her birthday was on 9/11. In 2023, I lost the man I was dating through my 20s, a relationship which ended for good in September of 2001. Six weeks later, my greatest loss […]

Building on Legacy-Arch Ray Resort

February 3, 2024.Reading time 5 minutes.

“He retraces the steps of those that came before him.” Years ago, I wrote a poem outlining the history of the Bundschu family, intertwined with the life cycle of the vine. Previous generations of the family had laid the foundation, they’d refined course and overcome obstacles to get where they were. The current generation of […]

Restoration

January 24, 2024.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Catching Up with Texas Wines

November 21, 2023.Reading time 5 minutes.

October was Texas Wine Month, so I dusted off my media hat to join two online tastings. The first was a talk and taste with Texas Fine Wine, the next highlighted wines from Texas Heritage Vineyard. While I was not able to join in person to sample the wines in the first tasting, a few […]

“She Shouted Politely…”

September 10, 2023.Reading time 3 minutes.

The inception of this blog followed some successful entries into poetry contests. One poem was whipped out in about thirty minutes, the other followed a day of research and a more complex process. Throughout my commitment to this venture, I would sometimes be awakened with an idea. I’d hash it out between the hours of […]

The Fruits of our Labor-Texas Harvest Reports

August 20, 2023.Reading time 24 minutes.

One of the early lessons my father instilled in me was the idea that we reap what we sow, and that often the greatest rewards come from our biggest challenges. This summer has been one of the more challenging ones I have had in my 28 years in Texas. I could say that, personally, all […]

Aquilini Wines and Man’s Best Friend

July 16, 2021.Reading time 4 minutes.

The Red Mountain AVA in Yakima Valley, Washington is typically known for its cabernet sauvignon and other Bordeaux varieties. Where you find world class cabernet sauvignon, you’re likely to find equally refined sauvignon blanc. I recently sat in on a virtual tasting with Robert Larsen and Rusty Eddy of Wine and Spirits Spoken Here to learn […]