Meet Stephanie: A Fritalian Sipper Taking Life One Steph/Sip At A Time

Every month, we feature a member of our SippingTHIS community (aka Sipper) who is doing awesome things in wine. 

Stephanie is taking the WSET course and sharing her learnings along the way. She also is an avid traveler who can't wait for her next wine adventure (something we can all relate to). We're so excited to feature her this March!

Read on to learn more about Stephanie.

Stephanie: I am a government affairs professional in Washington, DC, and work basically to fund my love of wine, travel, and live music! Coming from French and Italian families, wine has always been a big part of our culture, but my love of wine really started expanding in two ways. One, my dad taught me quite a bit about wine as I got older, especially about not waiting for the perfect "special occasion" for your best bottles. Of course, it's ok to do that, but wine is meant to be enjoyed! I also started expanding my knowledge and palate through my job. I've had the pleasure of having some great work travels and dinners that included spectacular wine. Some of my co-workers were incredibly well-educated in wine and taught me everything they know.

 

 

Stephanie: I started thinking about the CMS program, but on a trip to Napa in Dec 2019, some amazing people turned me onto WSET. They said it was the best track for folks like me who have no intention of working in a restaurant as a sommelier. Cue 2020 quarantine, I thought what better time to start! I certainly knew the wine drinking WOULDN'T stop (or slow down for that matter) during all the craziness, so I figured, why not begin my studies? I passed Level 2 back in September and am going back and forth on pursuing Level 3 yet. Level 2 put me exactly where I want to be for the moment getting to know the specifics of wine regions and exploring some of the OGs of wine like French whites and some of the smaller Italian regions I didn't know a lot about. It's turned me onto German wines too. I really love the program!

Stephanie: Honestly, anything I would change is already changing! Restaurants are offering more fun options by the glass. Younger professionals are not only getting more into wine but leading the charge. And the "wine snob" stigma seems to have changed over the last couple of years, bringing more acceptance around just drinking what you love! 

 

Stephanie: This is such a silly story. Do any of you remember the Dunkin' Donuts commercial when the people in line sing, "is it French, or is it Italian? Perhaps Fritalian!"? I remember seeing that commercial and popping off the couch at the end, screaming, "Hey! That's me!" And AncestryDNA confirmed it - I am a true 50/50 split of French (mother's side) and Italian (father's side). The French side is deeply seeded in Louisiana, literally back to the 1600s. And the Italian side is very a New York story (A Bronx Tale if you will! LOL). My great-grandparents came to NYC from Naples in the early 1900's from Central and Southern Italy. I don't think it impacts many of my wine decisions (though my husband may say otherwise), but I do know I am extremely proud to come from two of the most prolific wine regions in the world. I love the French and Italian cultures in those countries and also the Cajun/Creole French and NY Italian cultures you find here in the US. One of my favorite activities is making "Sunday Sauce" and listening to some Lou Monte or Louis Prima. 

 

Laura: What made you want to start your travel and wine blog “One Steph at a Time” and how has this past year impacted what you write about?

Stephanie: I started my travel blog 6 years ago to help keep track of all of the fun things I've done while traveling. I put a lot of time and effort into trip itineraries (they are color-coded and fun) and hated not having a central place to remember all of the amazing restaurants, sites, etc. I stopped posting for a coup of years, but back in Jan 2020 (great timing, amirite?!), a coworker said I should fire it back up after I told her about a trip to Napa. So I went back, revisited all my travels, populated the blog, and created a fun Instagram page to go with it. When Covid hit, I saw the amazing community of winestagramers and decided to shift more towards wine. I knew it would be a fabulous distraction from the fact that we wouldn't be traveling for a very long time. I do love what my page has become, although I can't wait to get more travels up there. I try to keep it very "me" - which is in the moment, light and fun! My goal for 2021 is to build out the blog, put up a lot of wine content, including my WSET experience, and maybe even upgrade the website! 

  

Stephanie: Aww, thanks! If I HAD to narrow it down to two favorite wines, one would be a 2005 Chateauneuf-du-Pape I had with my mom and dad on a trip home. My mom wanted to go over  "should anything ever happen to them" information. While this was happening, my dad disappeared into the basement and returned with that bottle I knew had to be over $200. I asked him what the hell he was doing? It was a Tuesday and not a special occasion. He looked at me and just said, "well, we gotta drink it before we die, don't we?!" We all had a good laugh, but he's absolutely right! Wine has a lifespan, just like us. And sometimes, if you wait for the perfect moment to open a special bottle, you could miss out on enjoying the heart of the wine with the people you love. 

On a lighter note, my other favorite bottle is absolutely the 2010 Riesling from Cave de Ribeauville my husband and I got on our honeymoon in Alsace (France). This bottle literally made me weak in the knees, and now Riesling is my favorite grape. I thought we'd spend Clos St. Hune money on it, but it ended up being 7,80 euro a bottle! We did come home with a bottle of Clos St. Hune (a very high-end Riesling) but haven't tasted it yet - now that's a bottle I cannot wait to open! 

 

 

Laura: Since you love to travel, what is your all-time favorite wine trip? And what is the next wine trip you want to take once this quaran-hell is over?

Stephanie: No. Question. About. It. My honeymoon was hands down my favorite wine trip ever! My husband's paternal side of the family is German, but just across the Rhine from Alsace. Our heritages happen to be amazing wine areas, so we did one week in Alsace and one week in Southern Italy. It was such an incredible trip - Alsace is truly one of the most spectacular places on the planet. Everything about it is truly a fairy tale, but especially the food and wine. I actually get pissed at Belle from "Beauty and the Beast" for ever wanting to leave a place like Alsace! In Italy, we went to a vineyard in the Abruzzo area where my grandmother's parents were born, which was a truly emotional experience for me. 

There are so many wine trips I want to take, but if I had to pick one to go on tomorrow, it would probably be to the Basque Region of Spain. That was one of our honeymoon contenders. New Zealand and South Africa are also WAY up there on the wine trip bucket list! My husband and I love shark diving, so that helps put these destinations high on our list! 

  

 

Laura: How did you find out about SippingTHIS?

Stephanie: Some of it was in part to Instagram's sometimes awesome, sometimes confusing algorithm. But I also have to give props to @trillwinewife (another Sipper of the Month), who turned me on to your page and amazing shop! I knew the second I saw your page, I was a fan! 

 

Laura: What is your favorite SippingTHIS saying?

Stephanie:  It was no question the "Y'all gon' make me lose my wine" shirt had to be mine! If you turn a 90s and/or 2000s hip hop reference into a wine pun, I AM HERE FOR IT! The coasters are also too good - I sent a LOT of them to friends who are really getting a kick out of them! 

Stephanie: I cannot wait for this program to launch! There's no doubt you will make it amazing, but I would love some opportunities for virtual happy hours with other AmbasSIPPERs. Doesn't have to be that often, but I love connecting with this wine community, so I would definitely take advantage of any opportunities for that.