Introductory Post

I first became passionate about wine in 1981, when I moved to a small rent-controlled apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan to attend college. I had just become of drinking age and would wander aimlessly around wine stores unsure of what to buy. One day a classmate of mine told me his father did insurance evaluations of private wine cellars, and he would provide me with a list of inexpensive “real” wines to try. With list in hand, I bought my first case of wine, and noticed an application to join a wine society called “Les Amis du Vin” (The Friends of Wine). This group no longer exists in the same form, although individual chapters apparently remain. From there, I started attending formal tastings and ended up becoming entrenched in what was then a small wine subculture in NYC. I took notes at every tasting, soaked off wine bottle labels, and wrote notes in my wine journal. I also had the good fortune to be at the right place at the right time, and was asked to substitute for one of the judges at the Society’s annual international wine competition. This involved tasting 80-90+ wines per day for 2-3 days, awarding medals, and overall falling in love with the whole wine culture. I must have done ok because I was asked back to help judge the next year’s competition as well.

Over the years I moved frequently to various states in the US, and also spent five years in the UK with my day job. My wine habit increased in conjunction with my disposable income. I even worked in a couple of wine stores in my off hours recommending wine to customers. In return I received either bottles of wine to assess which the store was interested in potentially bringing in for sale, or literally punching a timeclock for an hourly rate of wine credit. (1989-1993 with Gary Fisch / 1993-1996 under David Schildknecht).

During the following years, I ran local community blinded wine tastings, and hosted many wine parties, all with the aim to impart education, and transfer my enthusiasm for this wonderful juice.

Fast forward to the present, with my lovely wife Ginni, and as a new owner of a vacation home on the beach in the Punta Banda, Baja Norte area, very close to Valle de Guadalupe, I decided to start a Wine Blog. This is a region I never took seriously before I started to come down to the area on a regular basis. As such, while searching which wineries to visit, and which wines to try, I found that it was hard to find a reliable central place on-line to guide me. Now with the encouragement of my wife, this Baja Wine Geek wine blog is born.

My aim is to provide visitors to the region an honest wine geek opinion on the wineries I visit, some of the friendly staff in the tasting rooms, and some notes on the wines I taste at each visit. I receive no compensation for this work, only the pleasure of continuing my passion and hobby to stretch through the days once I retire from my day job. Though this blog, I hope to impart to you my enthusiasm for a wonderful, blossoming wine region that may be less familiar than other more well known wine regions of the world. Salud, Steve

#bajawines #winesofmexico #valledeguadalupe #puntabanda #ensenada #bajawineries #bajawinegeek.wine #bajawinegeek.com