If I elaborated on how much my life has changed in this past year I could write a book. Come to think of it, I have been toying with the idea of a memoir….Back to reality.

I just changed my Master’s concentration yesterday, which is why I felt the need for this post. Originally I was accepted into the Media Studies program focusing on children’s television education. I then branched that out to include public relations as I got more and more into wine. Yesterday I bumped into my adviser and we got to talking about how much I love the wine industry and everything I’m doing with it as far as The Second Glass, this blog, and one more surprise that I will get into soon. She suggested that I move my study over to Media and Cultural Studes, focusing on wine culture specifically. I am switching advisers to someone who knows a lot about wine, culture, history, and is a self professed foodie. I think my college experience is getting better by the day…

Looking back a year ago I had basically nothing to do with wine. I still drank it at parties and get togethers, but to think that I would crave shiraz a year later was unthinkable. I received my undergrad in Broadcast Journalism, all I had ever wanted to do was become a reporter; or at least that’s what I thought I had always wanted to do. By the end of my college career, I really wanted to explore other media options such as magazine writing and PR, but I had too many credits to change and too few prerequisites to make any difference.

I graduated, and couldn’t get a job for 5 months. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise because in this time I discovered Twitter, The Second Glass and my new love of wine. I was forced to try red wines when a dear friend of mine began taking me to weekly lunches and exposing me to his 30+ years of wine knowledge and vintages. To say I didn’t appreciate it was an understatement; I could barely handle it at the time! That’s when I really fell head over heels. The more I decided to dive into the world of wine, the more I wanted to learn and the more I wanted to experience.

It’s funny to say, but wine has made me brave. Not brave in the hitting on men at a bar while drunk with wine sense, but brave in the trying new things sense. I was able to go to California for two weeks because I wanted to write an article about it, I can go into restaurants and realize the tastes of the people in that area from the wine list, I can go to a wine shop and know what I like and be willing to try new vintages and grapes. All of this came from me applying to get my Master’s. After being pretty lost in the sudden economic downturn and massive joblessness in the country, to know what I was going to be doing in a year gave me a lot of confidence to go out and live. Boy have I lived, and boy have things changed!

Now that I’ve done my 360 spin from newscaster to wino extroadinaire I’m ready for the next year. Once I finish my study I want to go to Egypt for a month, then visit Rome and Greece with my best friend. After that, you won’t be able to move me from Ohio to California fast enough. Let’s see what changes I have to make on that prediction a year from now…..

If you know me at all, you know I love Ancient Egypt. I have been fascinated with the land of the pharaohs since I was 4 years old and my father brought me home a picture book. I cannot tell you how many papers I’ve written and classes I’ve taken just knowing that I would get to write and learn more about Egypt. When I found out from my friend Vincent Brown (@bennu on Twitter) that an ancient wine cellar had been found with the first king of Egypt, I had to jump at the chance to write about it. With that, here is my article about The King Wino: Scorpion I…

When Egyptian Pharaohs were buried, their most prized possessions went with them. Pharaoh had a cat? Poor kitty was killed and buried along with its master. Pharaoh had a favorite servant? You better bet they came too! These kings were buried with all their prized possessions: money, art, statues, toys, and clothing. Thanks to a recent discovery, we now know they were also buried with wine cellars. That’s right! King Scorpion I, was buried with an entire wine cache! Don’t you wish you could have that same luxury?! Well, minus the dead cats and organs in jars.

This discovery changes everything historians previously thought about Egyptian wine making. Scorpion reigned over 5000 years ago, centuries earlier that the perceived inception of Egyptian wines. The wine that Scorpion was sipping isn’t your normal wine, however.

Residues inside clay pots in his cache suggest he was savoring spiked wine. This stuff was loaded with herbs for medicinal purposes. You must remember that in 3150 B.C. Egyptians couldn’t run to the drug store for ailments, they had to take care of them naturally. Herbs dissolved very well in liquids, especially wine and beer. These same practices were also followed in China, Rome and Greece.

These Egyptians knew their stuff. Not only did the various herbs, flowers, and tree resins add to the overall flavor, they also worked quite well. Researchers and archaeologists are currently studying the residue in Scorpion’s wine jars to see if they can replicate the ancient recipes. The team hopes to see if they’re worth their salt in today’s world. Lead archaeologist Patrick McGovern is anxious to see if these herbal wines could aid in treatment and prevention of modern diseases and cancer.

Additionally, my favorite love poem came from this period of time, and it mentions pomegranate wine. While archaeologists don’t know if any of these wines were pomegranate as of yet, it’s still fitting to share because it means something to me.

Saam-Plants Here Summon Us

Saam-plants here summon us,

I am your sister, your best one;

I belong to you like this plot of ground

That I planted with flowers

And sweet-smelling herbs.

Sweet is its stream,

Dug by your hand,

Refreshing in the north wind.

A lovely place to wander in,

Your hand in my hand.

My body thrives, my heart exults

At our walking together;

Hearing your voice is pomegranate wine,

I live by hearing it.

Each look with which you look at me sustains me more than food and drink

While on Twitter one day I ran across Salud Spa Bar. Intrigued by the name, I checked out the web site. They specialize in a flight of “wine scents” developed by Salud’s creator, Kelly Podorsek as a solution to being cautioned against wearing perfume to wine tastings. This, I know a lot about, having had many a sommelier asking “who is wearing vanilla?” followed by an irritated look; I wanted to try these scents. As any true wino knows, perfume can interfere with the bouquet of wine at a tasting. That’s the beauty of these, they are created for and do enhance the bouquet of the wine. “Wear your Salud perfume while sipping your favorite glass of wine.” I can say that these fragrances have never interfered with a bouquet while I was sipping.

I sent Kelly a message, and she graciously sent me a flight of samples. They come in Chardonnay (my favorite), Syrah, Riesling, Merlot, and Sauvignon Blanc. Each scent is made from fragrance oil that soaks into your skin, rather than laying on it like a normal mist perfume.

As I said, I love Vanilla and Chardonnay smells amazing on me. I understand that fragrances smell differently depending on your body chemistry, but I have never had so many compliments on a single fragrance. Sure I’ve received compliments from friends on various fragrances, but never so many for the same one. Salud spa bar can be found here. You can order a sample, 1/3 ounce for $22, or $34 for a 2.6 ounce bottle.