A note to my readers
Some updates to the ole newsletter and life in general–would it be more accurate to say I'm a grape writer?
Today I came across this study out of UC Davis showing how eating grapes can improve muscle strength in postmenopausal women and immediately sent it to my mom. I want you all to know, too: grapes are amazing in all forms. Here’s me posing next to a wild grapevine in Pisgah National Forest. I think it’s Vitis aestivalis, and it may or may not bear fruit. I don’t care. I’ve recently realized that some days, consuming grapevines with my eyes is enough.
Another update: I was accepted into the Bâtonnage Forum, a mentorship program for women and wine! I’m so grateful to have an opportunity to share everything I’m doing and thinking with someone who has been in this industry much longer than me. If you’re a woman in wine, you should apply. And eat 1.5 cups of grapes daily.
As a result of one meeting with my mentor, I’m feeling energized to dive into my most personal projects: this newsletter and my forthcoming print publication, Foxy Wine Review. Foxy will be devoted to wine in Appalachia and the South, and I’ve decided to launch it without a social media presence. I want to ask: can’t an analog project find its audience without social media? Can we create an example of peeling ourselves away from the digital wasteland of social media? Can our stories do something other than line the wallets of tech billionaires? And I want to give writers an opportunity not to have their art scraped. Maybe I’ll print 3 issues, maybe it will change the world. We’ll see.
Paying subscribers, you’ll get a zine with details soon. In the meantime, here’s a refresher on the subscription tiers of this newsletter and what you’ll get:
Free Subscribers (free free)
Occasional educational articles, bottle reviews
Paywalled articles will unlock after 7 months and be sent to ya
Paying Subscribers ($5/mo or $50/yr)
Free subscriber benefits +
More articles and essays
Subject matter will dive into more nuanced aspects of wine, history, and the political moment
Exclusive reporting on North Carolina and other under-the-radar wine regions
Bonus features: photos, interviews, and raw notes from articles after they publish
Founding Members ($100/yr)
Paid subscriber benefits +
Postcards from my wine travels containing wine secrets
Complimentary copies of Foxy Wine Review as it comes out
Thanks for being with me, readers. There are over 900 of you now! What an honor. Have you noticed I have been writing and talking about Muscadine a lot lately? Yeah, I keep trying to publish pieces but then the story keeps growing. Yikes! Speaking of growing out of control, here I am shaking the hand of a 400+ year old Muscadine vine on Roanoke Island. She covers about a quarter acre.