The past two weeks have been a blur — from Winter Solstice Sparkles to tomorrow’s first new moon of 2019 and a lunar eclipse!

So so long 2018!

But before say hello to 2019,  according to WordPress:

For most of us, the month of December is always busy with holidays, family gatherings, and travel. I had big plans to post several more articles but that didn’t happen in 2018 (cue 2019!)

Instead, I got my grades in, holiday crafts made, shopping done and wrapped.. and Sue went to Hawaii!

Then we had a quiet Christmas at home followed by travel to see my dad in Crossville Tennessee home of the largest treehouse I can imagine

by way of Atlanta where we were delighted by the GLOW exhibit which is up each year from mid-November until early January. So glad we caught it!

Now I write this from our “parlor” in the Steamboat Grand located across from the gondola at Steamboat Springs and Resort Center where we enjoyed skiing under bluebird skies.

We have a fireplace and a full kitchen, a queen sofa bed and two twin window seats in 330 square feet — and with the bed up, that is a lot of room and we love it!

Tonight my guys went to soak in the Old Town Hot Springs where there’s a water slide and I stayed here to enjoy the Friday fireworks and get some writing down — and hide out because I broke my glasses at the Winter Park ski area and my new ones haven’t come in yet… I am trying to write this wearing my old sunglasses.

Fortunately  in the past year I have written over 141k words on this blog in 91 posts and 63k words on Art Predator (over 70 posts) so I know my way around a key board quite well…

New year’s, new moons (like the one tomorrow), and eclipses (like the solar one tomorrow and the lunar one in two weeks) are all times for reflection on the times past and the time to come.

Today I found out that because of underenrollment, my classes at the college where I teach have been cancelled. This may feel like bad news but maybe it is good news because it means I am available for travel, teaching, writing, and other opportunities. 

I’d intended to reflect more deeply on last year and what’s to come in the next one but seeing as how I can barely see and I’m trying to get up tomorrow’s post about Italian wines for Winter, and tomorrow is our last day to ski in Colorado, it’s just not going to happen like I’d wanted.

I do invite you to check out this blog post on Art Predator where I share some of my 2018 highlights which include travel to Ireland, England, and France including a few days in Champagne with Caroline Henry which I wrote about here and here. 

Other 2018 highlights include a press trip to Oregon’s Willamette Valley which I will be sharing more of in 2019 but here’s a few tastes: Lady Hill’s Cabernet Franc and Left Coast’s Bee Bubbly.

And of course, we love participating in the various food, wine, and travel wrier groups each month.

So what will 2019 bring?

I plan to write more extensively about matters near and dear to my heart: biodynamic, organic, and sustainable wine practices. How will we take better care of our planet? Our soils? Our climate?

To that end, I will be writing about a number of wineries that lead in these areas, and I will be hosting the French Winophiles on this topic on January 19, the Italian Food wine Travel group on this topic the first Saturday in February, and the Wine Pairing Weekend crew in April which is Earth Month.

And I’m really interested in going to Portugal for the “CLIMATE CHANGE LEADERSHIP PORTO 2019 SOLUTIONS FOR THE WINE INDUSTRY” in early March. 

Keeping in mind that all topics are subject to change, here’s what’s a little of what’s in store for 2019  here on Wine Predator. Thanks as always to Sue Hill for all of her culinary and note taking help and to my husband Marshall who often grabs something last minute on the store on his way home… and who is patient through these shenanigans even if he eats his dinner while it is hot and I am still taking photos and Sue is taking notes!

First Saturday of the month: Italian Food Wine Travel #ItalianWFT

• January: Camilla M. Mann Italian Wines for Cold Winter Nights
• February: Jeff Burrows Umbria, with a focus on Sagrantino
• March 2: Gwendolyn Lawrence Alley Biodynamic Wines
• April: Jason Or Jill Barth Island Wines of Italy
• May: Lynn Gowdy Marche and the Pecorino grape
• June: Katarina Andersson Lambrusco? or other
• July: Camilla M. Mann – Lazio Wines
• August: Kevin Gagnon Whites of Northeastern Italy
• September – Jennifer Gentile Martin Passito Wines
• October – David Crowley Abruzzo
• November: Wendy Klik Outside the Norm of Chianti in Tuscany (Montecucco, Bolgheri, Maremma, Valdarno di Sopra)
• December: Susannah Gold Lesser Known Wine Regions of Italy (Molise, Basilicata, etc)

Second Saturday of the month: Wine Pairing Weekend #WinePW

• Jan: Argentina
• Feb: Uruguay
• Mar: Cab Franc
• April: Biodynamic — and I’m hosting!
• May: Oregon
• June: South Africa
• July: BBQ & Rioja
• Aug: New Zealand
• Sept: Slovenia
• Oct: #MerlotMe
• Nov: Texas
• Dec: Pet Nat

Third Saturday of the month: French Winophiles #Winophiles

• January 19, 2019: Biodynamic Wines of France | Host: Gwendolyn Alley, Wine Predator 
• February 16, 2019: Provence | Host: Wendy Klik, A Day In The Life On The Farm
• March 16, 2019: Women of Champagne | Host: Julia Coney, Julia Coney
• April 20, 2019: Chablis | Host: Liz Barrett, What’s In That Bottle?
• May 18, 2019: Gérard Betrand Wines Languedoc- Roussillion | Host: L.M. Archer, L.M. Archer
• June 15, 2019: French Cheese & Wine | Host: Martin Redmond, ENOFYLZ Wine Blog
• July 20, 2019: Loire Reds
• August 17, 2019: French Basque Country (or Jurançon) | Host: Lynn Gowdy, Savor the Harvest 
• September 21, 2019: Corsica | Payal Vora, Keep the Peas
• October 19, 2019: Cahors | Host: Nicole Ruiz Hudson, Somm’s Table
• November 16, 2019: Rasteau with Thanksgiving| Host: Michelle Williams, Rockin Red Blog
• December 21, 2019: Vouvray | Host: Jeff Burrows, FoodWineClick

Cheers to 2019!