Origin Story Part 7
The Wine Years
Hello! If you are just picking up the Grape to Table newsletter, thanks so much for joining to learn more about wine, food, and travel. But right now we are wrapping up my origin story (haha) – so please see the previous newsletters to catch up on the story.
For those in the midst, we left off the origin story with the sale of my share in the restaurant I helped create, the Glass Onion. I had latched onto wine as my north star as I felt my time at the Glass Onion coming to a close. I passed my certified sommelier exam in the spring of 2014, announced my departure shortly thereafter from the Glass Onion, and quickly found myself with A LOT of time on my hands. For the first week it felt glorious…time to tackle that cleaning project, time to cook dinner at home every night, time to walk the dogs on the beach, time to question anything and everything. As noted, I am an Aries, too much downtime is just not in my nature. I felt anxious and pressured (only by my own self I will note) to find the “next thing”.
Thankfully, I did have a long trip planned to visit a childhood friend who also happened to end up in the wine trade and was living and working in the French town of Beaune – the heart of Burgundy – my Mecca! I headed there in the fall and spent three glorious weeks immersing myself in this fabled region (see above photo). I rented a bike multiple times and biked up and down the stretch of vineyards known as the Cote d’Or (or Golden Slope). Burgundy is famed for its micro division of the land into hundreds of named sites – many of which bring about near religious fervor in the hearts of wine nerds.
I was certainly one such wine nerd, and I dutifully carried my printout of all the most famous vineyards along on my bike rides. I would stop and take notes, pictures, and yes, steal rocks. (Anyone who has taken my Burgundy class knows that I have a lot of rocks!) And at night we would dine out in one of Beaune’s terrific restaurants or simply grab a snack at the now legendary wine bar La Dilettante and drink wines that many of us only dream of finding in the United States.
I truly cannot recommend a visit to Beaune and the entire Burgundy region enough (more on this in another newsletter). I came back invigorated and basically ready to open my own wine bar in Charleston. But, I promised to give myself a year to contemplate things. So, I filled that year with consulting work at Ted’s Butcherblock (back to where it all began) and a terrific tasting group and study for the advanced sommelier exam. Yes, I had somehow convinced myself that this was a good and necessary path to really establishing myself as a wine professional. Plus, it was the perfect challenge to set my Aries mind on.
I spent countless hours developing more study guides (even audio versions!). Thankfully, I also spent time with family and friends and did not entirely let this valuable down time escape me. Looking back I would greatly appreciate this as in the spring of 2015 my mother became gravely ill. Miraculously she recovered, but the entire experience left me feeling that life was indeed short and I should pursue my dreams. Thus, I began looking at commercial property and brainstorming my own version of the Dilettante in Charleston. I was determined to be downtown this time, and I did in fact find a couple of properties that seemed feasible. Thankfully, I was not as naive as the first go-round with the Glass Onion, and I did more due diligence. With one property I went so far as to bring in a contractor and price out the entire buildout.
I also took a trip to New York to check out their wine shop/wine bar scene, and I vividly remember being there when I received the contractor’s rough estimate. It was certainly not the insane number that it would be today, but it would indeed bleed me dry. I could just see myself back in the same situation as before – opening a business with very little in the bank. The business had also somehow morphed from wine shop to basically a miniature restaurant. It suddenly felt like I was about to jump into an ice cold lake (or a fire!).
Here comes the plot twist or turn of fate…
Before going on my “r & d” trip to New York, I had met my old friend Scott Shor for lunch. (If you have been following along you might remember Scott and I worked together at Ted’s Butcherblock before I went on to open the Glass Onion and he went on to open the Charleston Beer Exchange and then Edmund’s Oast restaurant.) Our meeting centered around one question that was nagging me: “Were there too many wine shops/bars in the downtown area?” He laughed and said something along the lines of he hoped not because he planned to move the Charleston Beer Exchange up by Edmund’s Oast and also sell wine.
As I stood on the New York street and looked at the buildout numbers for my prospective property on my tiny phone screen and felt anxiety creeping up my back, I remembered Scott’s plan. Hmmm…maybe it was time to reconsider my solo path, maybe there was strength in numbers.
When I returned from New York, I set up another meeting with Scott, and shortly thereafter I joined the Edmund’s team with the intention of working towards this magical entity that would eventually become Edmund’s Oast Exchange. But first we needed a building! There was a plan, but ground had yet to be broken on the project. Thus I said, “Sure, I will go to work at the Charleston Beer Exchange for the next year!”
This was a crash course in beer knowledge for me, and at the same time I continued to study for the advanced sommelier exam. At the time, it was very competitive to even be accepted to take the course and subsequent exam. So I kept applying every November, and then found myself crying on the couch when I received a rejection email in December. (Ultimately, several years later I was accepted and then decided not to take the exam, but that’s another story!) Looking back, this whole rejection cycle seems a bit insane, but I will say that the study proved a necessary building block for the knowledge needed to run a wine-focused business.
And in the late summer of 2017 that’s exactly what we did. Edmund’s Oast Exchange opened its doors on August 10, 2017. We had a huge selection of wine (over a 1000 different wines!) AND beer from around the world. I had a full curriculum of wine classes up my sleeve and a plan for many events. It was definitely the beginning of an era…
Epilogue:
Some of my close friends have recently asked: “How many more origin stories?” While I feel there’s definitely one more that’s pressing (The Exchange Years), I also feel that I might need more time to digest that chapter myself before writing about it. The Exchange only closed a few months ago, and I would be lying if I said it did not still sting a little. I would also be lying if I did not admit that I am ready to set out on my main goal with the Grape to Table newsletter – sharing knowledge of wine and food and how they work together. I also know that the holidays are just around the corner, and this type of information should be entertaining and helpful. So while there will one day be an Origin Story Part 8, for now we will officially commence our wine and food adventure! Stay tuned for tasting tutorials, deep dives into regions, q & a sessions with winemakers and sommeliers, MORE RECIPES, and a whole lot of fun. Thank you for reading and please share with any like minded friends!!
Cheers!! Sarah
Looking forward to more wine and recipes!