Wow, it’s going to be a busy fall.

I just found out that not only will I be going to Italy — not once but twice! — in November. But I will also be going to Hong Kong!

The two Italian trips are teaching gigs: my regular slot teaching wine and food communications in the grad program at Slow Food U.; and a new teaching job for the Abruzzo consortium teaching a week-long seminar on the region’s wines and subzones.

If you’re a qualified American wine professional and would like to join me for a week in Abruzzo, please send me a DM.

I’ll also be doing a dinner for the Abruzzo folks here in the States sometime before Christmas. We still haven’t chosen the city. If you’d like to be yours, please let me know. Stay tuned for that.

Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday of this and next week, I’ll also be pouring and talking about Abruzzo wines at TexSom. I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of my colleagues from across the state and country during the conference.

Next month I’ll be pouring Brunello for a new Houston wine club that has asked me to be their presenter. The tentative date for that is Wednesday, September 20. Stay tuned for that as well.

But the event I’m the most excited about this year is the Boulder Burgundy Festival (October 20-22) where I’ve been the gathering’s official blogger for more than a decade. I’ll be moderating the seminar panel (more on that later).

Tracie’s going to be joining me this year for the festival in Colorado and we’re both super stoked about that.

Boulder Burgundy will be followed by my trip to Hong Kong where I’ll be pouring my client Amistà’s Nizza at the James Suckling tasting. I still can’t believe it!

It’s going to be a busy autumn and I feel truly blessed to get to do what I do for a living. Thank you for all the support and solidarity. I’m hoping our paths will cross and we’ll taste something great together in coming months.

Heartfelt thanks to everyone who reached out with their wishes following my trip to upstate New York last month. It was a really tough one and all those notes really mean the world to me. Thank you. Next month, I’ll be hosting a private wine tasting for my mother, who’s also turning 90 this year. We’re putting on a great party for her and the girls and Tra will be coming out to La Jolla with me for that. We can’t wait.