About Me…?
My name is Joon Song. I was born in Los Angeles but called Alhambra home for 19 years; I’ve called South Pasadena home for the remaining seven. I spent four-and-a-half of those 26 years in Berkeley, where I graduated from the UC in 2006.
My relative proximity to Napa Valley was, unfortunately, negated by a dire un-proximity to money. This changed my fifth year of college, when my being a Resident Assistant and having a steady job gave me a bit of disposable income.
What better way to dispose of income than get into wine?
Seriously, though, I have a number of reasons why I decided to go into wine, ranging from working in food service and hospitality while at college to other, more emotional motivations. Whatever the reason, I love wine and talking about wine. However, as a “budding neo-oenophile” I am stuck between a rock and a hard place: the “wine is too complicated” camp and the “wine snob” camp.
How hard can it be to exchange information about wine, gush about new and exciting and old and expensive wine and vines, and revel in horrible puns? My hope is: not very. Hence, this blog.
Now I am a law student at George Washington University in DC. I’m nearly halfway done with my second year, and maybe–just maybe–when I’m done I’ll have a bit more to spend on wine.
Please feel welcome to leave comments or start your own blog and link to this one. Cheers!
— Joon
Hi-
I love your profile- IT SOUNDS JUST LIKE ME
I am an RA in New York City with high dreams and aspirations but living a dire reality where wine often saves the day!
I also intern at a PR company that represents a bunch of wines under the moet hennessy brand
keep in touch- we may want to send you samples
Oh, hey – one other thing:
I had the most incredible wine a few months ago, called Don Melcho, made by Concha y Toro. It’s a Chilean wine, and for 50 bucks I think it’s about the best I’ve ever had. If you ever run into a bottle, try it out!
Hi Joon, we met a few months back when Amelia was in DC for a little while visiting with her friend Joel.
My first chance to check out your blog — really neat! I especially like that you’re twittering.
Hey Wilson!
I remember you, man! I believe I still have your card at my apartment in DC. Thank you for reading my blog!
I haven’t been tweeting very much, nor have I have been updating my blog regularly. I need to get on that!
Hope you’re doing well,
Joon
Joon, great blog! Will definitely be tuning in. I’m glad you’re finding time to share your wine experiences (and thoughts) with law school and all.
Thanks Rona! Please check back often. I don’t know if I don’t post as often as I should because of law school or post even as little as I do because of it!
Stumbled across your web site so I thought I’d ask you.
I just bought a house and it has a wine cellar. Once the dust settles and my Visa clears, I’d like to start cellaring wine. I’d like to buy ‘new’ vintages circa 2009 and age them myself.
Where do you buy these? The web, surprisingly, doesn’t have much info on this.
thanks.
Thanks for the comment, Mark! Regarding the cellaring, I’m not the best person to ask per se because I don’t have a cellar–yet. However, there are a number of ways to build up your collection. Many retailers have advance order groups or futures, where you can purchase cases of wine at a substantial discount. You can visit Kermit Lynch or Ansonia Wines online (use the links on the sidebar to the right); there should be information on how to do this.
Many winemakers also have similar deals. For instance, Ridge Vineyards allows you to join a special club (either their ATP or their Z List) which gets you first dibs on new releases.
Or, you can sign up for online auction sites, such as the one at Christie’s (http://www.christies.com/departments/wine/). You may be able to find bargains on verticals of wine, in case you want to do some retroactive purchasing. Other sites, such as Cindarella Wines and Winery Insider, can provide you with good bargains on hard-to-find wines.
Congratulations on your new home and wine cellar. Good luck on collecting bottles, and let me know how it goes!
Wow Joon, all of this is very interesting. Stuff I never knew about you! I recently just started to explore wine and such. My favorite thing right now is Sparkling Wine. I’ve always been a Champagne lover (I’m definitely a bubbly type of girl), but a few weeks ago I went on a wine vacation in Temecula, and discovered a few sparkling wines I love. One of them is called Ruby Cuvee, a red sparkling wine, and the my other true love is Spumanti Diamante which is extremely sweet. After I had both, it made me want to lay and relax in a nice bath with rose petals haha! It’s very feminine I think, and the bottles both have photos of beautiful pinup girls, which is a nice touch. I was never a fan of red wines, but after this trip I found a type that I think I liked, which is a Syrah. Oh, and the wine and cheese pairings is absolutely delightful. Anyway, I love how you share your experiences, emotions, inspirations and perspectives. How fun!
Hello Joon,
We’ve selected you as our Foodista Wine Blog of the Day for 8/3! Your blog entry (regarding the perfect summer wine) will be featured on the Foodista homepage for 24 hours. This is a new feature that we recently launched and are thrilled to post your blog. Besides posting your link on the homepage, we will also post a couple shout outs on our Twitter and Facebook pages.
Since you are now a part of the Foodista Featured Wine Blogger of The Day Community, we’ve created a special badge for you to display proudly on your blog sidebar. I couldn’t find your email on your blog to send you the access code for the special badge, but I want to make sure you get it if you are interested. Please send me an email and I’ll send it right away.
We are really enjoying your blog and look forward to seeing your recipes, tips and techniques on Foodista! If you would not like to be recognized on Foodista please let me know and I will remove your blog from our queue.
Cheers,
Anneka