Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/859549
4 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } AUGUST/SEPTEMBER AS I AM WRITING THIS, the office is quiet . . . and unusually empty. Our editors are on the road—and not for vacation, although we're in the midst of summer. One editor is acting as "Camp Counselor" at our Somm Camp in the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA, a relatively high-elevation appellation in Northern California that overlooks Silicon Valley. Another is on the Hudson River, accompanied by a wine ambassador from the Rhône Valley, leading a "Cruise for the Crus" with buyers and distributors from New York and adjoining cities. (We hear reports that the water was a bit choppy, but that didn't stop the attendees from sampling some of Southern France's best Syrahs and Grenaches.) Yet another editor is celebrating with mix - ologists and spirits specialists in New Orleans at Tales of the Cocktail—that can't be too tough a gig! Meanwhile, in San Francisco, an editor is moderating a food and wine seminar. In Sonoma, another is interviewing a Chardonnay producer. In Washington State, we're interviewing Ste. Michelle Wine Estates President and CEO Ted Baseler, and with him, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the state's founding winery. And here in Los Angeles, I am sitting at my desk looking outside at the 100-degree day in the San Fernando Valley. But I did some traveling of my own recently, and in these pages you'll see some of my escapades, along with our team's best efforts. Just having returned from Denver, where our "Alpine Immersion" with wines from Kettmeir, Lombardy and Chianti Classico (page 64) was a hit, and from our successful seminars at the Seattle Somm Summit, I am readying for the Society of Wine Educators conference in Portland (which you'll read about in the next issue). Our range is wide: from the Veneto with Masi (page 72), where another 50th birthday is being celebrated—that of their "Supervenetian" wine Campfiorin—to our hosted lunches with the wines of Cariñena (page 76), Roussillon (page 90) and Alto Adige (page 86), where our somm invitees and other industry guests were able to participate with us in sharing the hospital - ity industry's greatest perks: food and wine adventures. But we wouldn't be The Somm Journal without this important accompani - ment: a healthy portion of education. Safe travels of your own this summer, wherever they may take you! Hosting Food & Wine { from the publisher } PHOTO: KELLY SHROADS Happy to be hosting a lunch at Frasca in Boulder, CO, with the local wine-buying community and the folks from Santa Margherita USA.