I’m Kelly, and I’m here for wine.

If you’re fortunate, the universe presents you an opportunity to deeply examine your own self and how you make your bread. Earlier this year, this opportunity arrived for me with ample time and psychic space for personal exploration. Maybe this is obvious to you, but I needed to see for myself that just because I’ve been on a certain career trajectory doesn’t mean I must stay on it.* And I did, indeed, see myself veering off the clearly marked course into the rocky rows of a vineyard.

There are some key things that made me say, “yeah, this tracks”: my experience in creative copywriting, my geography degree, my love and appreciation of plants and gardening, my always-on search for the new and interesting, my creative flair in the kitchen and genuine joy of conversation.

Once I realised that what I want is to shelve the corporate life I never really wanted and build a new body of knowledge, a new skill set to work with… and this new everything will be all about wine? I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It would be exceptionally rude not to honour the universe’s offering of self-knowledge and actualisation, right? Like I said, I’m here for the wine, and I don’t plan on turning back.

But about this website, which I early on called “Pour Decisions”:

What is this? At the start of this web journal, I’m using it as a personal record of my quest to enter the wine world. I may share some personal vinous discoveries as well, but it’s mostly about my experiences as I find my own place in the industry.

What this isn’t? It’s not any kind of how-to-get-hired guide. I’m not trying to be a wine critic or an influencer. I’m not angling to be a sommelier.

What are my interests? Urban vineyards and wineries, natural wines (however you may define it), how climate change affects wine and winemakers, and wine storytelling.

*This is the duality of a privileged immigrant’s life: moving to another country and culture is a chance to reinvent yourself (should you want to), but you’re also hemmed into certain sectors, industries, etc. until/if you can pass as a local.