*This is an amended version of a newsletter that wouldn´t ordinarily be posted as a blog piece*

Hello Wine Lovers!

It´s been 19 months since I´ve last written these words and my, how the world has changed.

I hope you´re all well, safe and happy. Today is the start of a new year and one that I suspect will be quite different to the last two. My sincere apologies to anyone who´s wondered where on earth I´ve been for the last year and a half; in truth, it hasn´t been a part of my life I´ll look back on with any fondness. With both myself and my wife working in hospitality and tourism, 2020 saw both our careers suddenly derail and, with a 2 year old (at the time) and all of our savings invested into a first property purchase, we spent most of the this time floundering and trying to limit the damage. For me that´s included finding a lot of non-wine related work and spending all my time and energy focusing on keeping our heads above water. It´s taken its toll in many ways, but I´m happy to say that we are back on track. It isn´t purely due to the optimism that always comes with the dawn of the 1st of January, when I say that 2022 will be a much brighter year.

This first newsletter is mostly just about clearing the cobwebs away. There will be changes coming to winecuentista.com in the short term, to get it back to what it was always meant to be; a place to share a love of wine and try to point wine lovers in the “right” direction. These newsletters will be going out on the 1st of every month, as they did for 3 years without fail, with a slightly adjusted format.

Leaving Rack and Return
I haven´t actually been a part of Rack and Return since December 2020 but due to legal proceedings, it´s something I can only address now. My apologies to anyone who has signed up for a course since then under the impression that I would be somehow involved, or previous students who wondered why I hadn´t contacted them with results of exams; my hands were legally tied in this regard. I sold my stake in the business due to grave concerns with my business partner´s goals with the school, as well as some strong, personal conflicts with the same individual. Whilst it was frustrating at the time, I´m quietly delighted to have moved on. There´s nothing more important in the wine industry than reputation, and I couldn´t have mine attached to a project that no longer aligned with my values. Fortunately for wine lovers in Barcelona, there are 2 more WSET approved APPs (schools) in the city, so the choice is certainly there. One thing I can certainly promise; I will be teaching again.

Maestrazgo Wine Club
My wine career began by giving tastings in Bodega Maestrazgo in the Born. These turned into bi-monthly events and occasionally, even weekly events due to demand. I miss these more than anything else. It was an affordable way to get together with lovely people, drink some high quality wine, learn a little and have some fun. They will be returning in 2022, realistically starting in March. As much as I´m ready to start again, it doesn´t make sense to rush it during months where COVID regulations are likely to make a mess of things. The format is unlikely to change nor is the price point. One of the reasons they were always such successful events is that they weren´t commercially driven. Bills have to be paid but it´s good to have something in life that you do for the pure joy of it, and running these events made me very happy. For those of you who purchased tickets in 2020 and still have them – you will have the first priority on these spots and you´ll receive advanced notice of the event before it´s published.

Writing
One thing that actually didn´t suffer during the last 18 months was my writing. I wasn´t able to write on Wine Cuentista due to time constraints, but I´ve been published in magazines over a dozen times since the pandemic began and it´s been something of a life-line, both financially and being able to stay in touch with the wine world during a period of isolation. I do, however, miss writing on a regular basis and about individual wines. This is something I hope to be doing a lot more on the blog function of winecuentista.com in 2022.

I also wanted to say a big, big thank you for everyone who´s contacted me to check-up over the course of the pandemic. Some of you have booked tastings that haven´t yet happened and some of you just wanted to say a kind word. It´s all been enormously appreciated and I won´t soon forget it.

So, here´s to 2022. With any luck I´ll get the chance to catch up with many of you this year and see what´s happened in the last couple of years, share some good wine and hopefully, get back to living life once again. As always, feel free to respond to the mail and say hello but until then, keep drinking well and I hope to see you soon!