Wine Spectator Wine Video Contest

This summer I made a movie and I am in love with it!

This past May I opened up Wine Spectator Magazine and saw the ad for this year’s video contest: “Love wine? Love making Videos?”

Yes. And yes.

This was a contest for me. The grand prize would propel me to the California Wine event in New York, and straight into the heart of the food and wine (and food and wine media) industry, which is exactly what I’m working toward. Then would come fame—the paparazzi, the fans, the eating disorder, an addiction, marriage, divorce and copious international adoption proceedings, a reality show, a biography…Yes yes yes!

Ideas flooded my brain for about a month, sending little anxious jolts through my stomach every time I pictured the final product, a hypothetical masterpiece. When I finally got my creative footing the script came together with great ease.

It wasn’t my first video and certainly won’t be my last, but this baby was a real enterprise. I put my heart and my head into it (something I rarely do with boyfriends), and actually used an editing program (and a friend in the profession). No homemade Casio keyboard sound effects this time around baby!

Here's the premise: (spoiler alert!)

1)An aspiring sommelier (me) studies for hardest exam of her life.

2)She’s trying to understand the concept of ‘terroir’ and realizes that the answer isn’t in any of her books.

3) She decides to travel to Cerveteri, a town of Etruscan origins with a long history of wine-making. It would be the epitome of terroir

4) She speaks with a geologist to understand the soil, and an archaeologist to learn about wine history of the region.

5) She visits a modern winery and learns about their connection to the land.

6) She tastes the wine.

7) She gets it.

8) She passes her exam. Of course.

I filmed on location in two countries, and in two languages. I worked with little to no budget. I am forever grateful to all of those who gave me hand, offered interviews, and filmed me when there wasn’t a ledge or table near enough for me to film myself.

I had an incredible time making the film, and I believed in it until the end. It has fueled my ambition, and while I am still in shock that I am not a contest finalist, I have the contest to thank for awakening a talent and drive I hadn’t realized were there.

Go and vote for the video finalists. They deserve the glory for their hard work and enthusiasm.
Congratulations guys!