Click for the full audio story:
resolution final
Today we’re sticking with our New Year’s Resolutions. This is the time of year in which many us, despite our best intentions, are already falling short on our resolutions. But food and wine blogger Carolyn Kinneen picked an attainable New Year’s Resolution for 2014: To expand her wine knowledge.
“For years I did the gym resolution, but I’m not good at all at going to gyms. If I really don’t like whatever my resolution is but I feel like I should do it, I know it’s just not going to work,” Kinneen says.
Kinneen says that although this resolution may sound awfully easy, it will have challenges. She’ll be researching the wines, not just drinking them. Plus, Kinneen works full time from home, all while watching her 3-year-old Sylvie.
“I think it’s challenging because it is pushing what I’m used to. And when you have a little one, your life is all about what’s easy. So it’s having to spend a little more time on something. And yeah, it’s fun so I’m going to do it,” Kinneen says.
But why wine? Kinneen says she used to explore wine all the time, but in the past four years she’s gotten into a rut, sticking to the same brands. And she says that’s a shame.
“I’m not a sommelier and I’m not a wine nut. I know I like certain blends and certain kinds, but there’s so much more behind it,” Kinneen says.
Kinneen will be documenting her wine journeys on her blog Fresh 49, which she co-writes with her husband Chef Rob Kinneen. She wants to write it like it’s an adventure.
“It’s almost like a nice way to travel without traveling. A French wine is going to be very different from a German or an American wine or a Chilean wine. And you can just feel like you’ve visited those places. Some are very bright and sunny, and others you can just feel that old air about them. You can almost taste that history,” Kinneen says.
Kinneen says analyzing the vast variety and intricacies of wine can sound daunting, especially to those unfamiliar with wine. But she encourages everyone to attempt their own wine adventure at their own pace. Even if at first you’re unable to identify that subtle note of cherry, or oak.
“There’s no mistakes in wine. Whatever you taste, that’s right. However you want to describe it, that’s right,” Kinneen says.
And for Kinneen, her research has already led her to several new wines she’s very fond of. Including a new Merlot, which is a wine she typically doesn’t like. Not because of that scene in Sideways though. You know the one.
“I’ve heard people in the industry talk about this. Just how embarrassed people are to ask for it or order after that film came out. It was almost like a covert thing. You didn’t want anyone to know that’s what you were drinking.”
Whether it be Merlot or Pinot Noir, Kinneen says she hopes achieving her wine resolution is as rewarding as those broken gym resolutions could have been. And even if it isn’t, she’s going to enjoy the trip.
“I’m not very good at balance, and I can be a workaholic. So I think it’s going to push me to reconnect with friends and to maybe add more fun in my life and balance a little more,” Kinneen says.
Dave Waldron began his radio career in 2000 as a volunteer DJ at UAA’s radio station KRUA 88.1, where he hosted a weekend music show. In 2004 he was hired as the station’s music director, and held the position until his graduation in 2007. He was hired by Alaska Public Media in 2008 and since then has worked as an audio engineer, editor, and producer. He currently runs his own small business AK Audio Pro, and is a host of Alaska Public Media’s Hometown, Alaska.
