What is “Wine Country?”
I have not had a week go by in the last few months where someone hasn’t said; “I cannot believe all of this is going on here!” The “this” are all of the wine tastings. The “here” is the Pensacola area.
According to any map of wine we are not “in Wine Country.” But are we?
What comes to mind when you hear “Wine Country?” Tuscany, Napa, the terraced slopes of the Douro. Places that grow grapes probably, because that’s where you can also drink that fermented grape juice. Sounds like a fun place!
What would it be like to live “in Wine Country?” It would be really fun! Well, look around at any one of our local wine tastings and you will see people having fun. So, I say; We do live in Wine Country! Wine Country is so much more than a place where grapes are grown. Wine Country, just like any Country, is a place that has an identifiable, unique, and ubiquitous cultural.
To me Wine Country = Wine Culture. Pensacola has a unique and super fun culture, especially with wine, and it surprises people constantly. There are many reasons why this culture exists here and not in our closest large neighbors to the East and West. A few of those reasons are our long and diverse history, the constant influx and mixing of people (a lot due to our military bases and not just Navy, but Air Force, Army, and honorable mention to the Coast Guard), and the fact that we live in a part of the world where many people travel to to have fun.
The result from mixing all of that for a long time is a culture that likes to enjoy enjoyment, and wine is a natural fit.
There were SEVEN wine tastings around town last week from Wednesday through Saturday! I can’t even add all of the pictures from them to this article. That should not surprise any of you, but it does surprise many people, both new to our area and those who have been here for quite a while.
That is why we started Gulf Coast Wine; to give a home to our amazing local wine community, and to share our uniquely fun wine culture, to enjoy the experience together! This week you could have had a great summer sparkling wine at The East Hill Bottle shop tasting, jumped around Tuscany at the So Gourmet tasting, sampled some great food and wine at Anna’s monthly tasting, played in the mystery wine game and Bottle Share night at Aragon’s tasting, and partaken in a few amazing wines from Argentina at a special AJ’s Market tasting. Each one was a great time, with fun people enjoying the company of other wine lovers, not wine snobs!
So, we do in fact live in Wine Country, one that, in my opinion, is actually more fun than several of those listed on the map! Cheers to that!