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Melanie Ofenloch is one interesting Dallas Wine Chick

What’s so interesting for me about Melanie Ofenloch’s wine journey is that it happens to bear so much resemblance to my own.  Where the resemblance becomes uncanny is in the admitted lack of or concern with academic expertise about wine and just simply the flat out genuine passion for it.  And when that said passion finally leads one to make the time commitment to blog, really care enough about it to share with others,  the vino  journey can start to get pretty interesting.  Inside the great nation of Texas, we’re talking about the Dallas Wine Chick.

By day Melanie is an Executive VP of a major public relations agency.  She spins at the gig and ferments by night.  One of the best things about her wine writing is the willingness to make it personal.  There’s content here from the heart.  She wrote of once attending a wine dinner and the host went weird with a series of pretentious verbal tasting notes like “I taste tobacco with a hint of currant and maybe even some shoe leather. To me, this is a big cherry fruit bomb”. Her eyes rolled.  There’s that honest admission that when we are forced to hear those things that perhaps a serious amount of bullshit is creeping into the room.  I love that observation from her so much because on too many occasions I hear people going on about tasting dirt,  tobacco or even conjuring memories of their baby brothers dirty diapers in a certain wine and I’m totally lost.  What am I missing?  How come I don’t taste the diaper here?   And wouldn’t the wine be absolute crap if it were to actually smell or taste like a diaper?  I’m trying to like this, give me a break.

So you get my point about this Dallas Wine Chick.  And aside from the fact that she was one of the first women to box in the Golden Gloves and got the fight of the night trophy “Did it on a dare after announcing it to a table of friends one night – after cocktails” there’s a pretty interesting wine story to be told.  We’re delighted that she agreed to share some of it with us.

You once wrote that your first great/defining moment with wine came on a Thelma and Louise type of girls road trip to Napa.

My “a ha” moment came by chance. I was on a business trip for a software company in San Francisco. The client asked two co-workers and me to come early over the weekend and then realized that they didn’t need us.  So we found ourselves with free time on a beautiful Sunday with a convertible — absolute luck at the rental counter— and three ladies who were looking for adventure.  We pointed the car toward Napa and set off on our journey complete with “Thelma and Louise” scarves around our hair, since that movie was recently in theaters, having no idea where we were going once we got there.

At this point, I knew that wine should have a cork, and I had a favorite mass-produced Italian wine that my husband and I would open on special occasions, or maybe with meals like dinner. We went to the usual suspects — wineries that were “on the beaten path.” The ones with the buses and the signage that made it easy for tourists to discover. I bought more wine than I ever had before — four bottles. I knew my finance-oriented husband was going to kill me when I returned home with this over abundance of wine.

Then somehow, by the grace of God, we stumbled on Stag’s Leap winery. I remember being aghast at Stag’s Leap usual tasting fee – they had the audacity to charge $9 for a 2-ounce pour of a certain wine. In typical human nature, and with a bit of a wine-induced bravado, I had to try it. With much skepticism, I paid my $9 and took my first sip of Cask 23.

The stars aligned. The angels sang. I had my “a ha” moment of what a wine could be with the right grapes, process, and winemaker. It was wonderful. And then I heard the price — $90 – I swallowed hard. Twice. You see, I was in my young 20s. We were living paycheck-to-paycheck as most college grads-newlyweds find is the reality when shouldering an apartment, two cars, and living expenses.

So I did the rational thing…OK, I didn’t. I held my breath and hoped the credit card would go through.

We’ve been told that you are an avid wine collector. Tell us about your collection.

Right now we have several hundred (about 600) bottles that are housed in two large Eurocaves as well as boxes and wine racks around the house. Our collection is definitely eclectic, but since I know the most about California wines, they are well represented. Some highlights include a 1989 Chateau Yquem, a magnum of 2000 Shafer Hillside Select, a few bottles of 05 Harlan Estate, a vertical of Masseto, several bottles of vintage Bordeaux dating from the 60s and a signed Jerobaum of Livingston Moffett cabernet that I suspect is the last one still out there after the warehouse fires. But, we also have lots of everyday great wine from Failla to Sojourn to Frank Family Vineyards to Bravante. Oh, and we only have one shelf of white wines even though I like them. I guess I need to work on that.

So then, drinking wine, experiencing wine, leads to irresistible urges to blog about it?  What finally compelled you to take the leap and publish Dallas Wine Chick?

I still am shocked that anyone cares about what I have to say about wine – actually, maybe they don’t.   Anyway, last May, I was asked by a now defunct neighborhood paper (hmmm – maybe I shouldn’t admit that…?) to write a column about wine. My immediate thought was that I was not qualified. I am not a sommelier, winery owner, wine marketer, or wine expert. The editor convinced me that wine is a product that should be discovered, shared, and enjoyed. And, if we were ever to share a bottle of wine, you’ll agree that for what I am lacking in knowledge I am not lacking in passion.

After writing the column and meeting some incredible wine bloggers on Twitter, I decided to take the plunge. The support from the wine community has been overwhelming. And, while I still am incredulous that anyone cares about what I have to say, the blog has had almost 1,200 unique visitors in less than three months. So, thank you to everyone for the support.

There are a number of very good wine blogs out there. From a casual reader perspective, what makes a wine blog interesting.

Good writing is definitely key and one day I hope to have that in my blog (grin). Even if you have all the wine knowledge in the world, the lack of ability to form a coherent sentence is going to make potential readers stop reading. I think taking a perspective is important and you must have an opinion. In one of my earlier blog posts, I was lambasting one certain Dallas restaurant for not taking the same care with its wine list as it does with its food. And yes, it’s Mexican, but that shouldn’t matter. One reader told me that I needed to name the restaurant vs. keeping it anonymous. (It was Mi Cocina).

I also like hearing about how people experience wine. There are some bloggers that do a great job with video (not me). It’s fun to see them interact and you feel like you are part of the tasting with them.

It’s a funny assumption people make about wine bloggers that we are always drinking the world’s most elegant wines? I liken it to the movie critic who grows bored with Meryl Streep and Citizen Kane then puts in Patrick Swayze’s Roadhouse when she’s alone. Do you have any guilty wine pleasures, you know, the occasional White Zin moment that you would rather no one knew about?

In college, my roommate Kelli and I were known for buying one large jug of Gallo Pink Blush and splitting it. I don’t see how I could go much lower than that experience. Now, I like to discover some good value wines – especially whites since I live in Dallas where it gets ridiculously hot in the summer. A good wine doesn’t have to be expensive. Last week, I blogged about my boxed wine tasting experience and how I was pleasantly surprised about the outcome.

For example, let’s just say when you have a group of girlfriends over (say last Friday … and they know who they are) and you open a multitude of bottles at my house, it’s nice to have a cheaper end of night option vs. another $30 plus bottle that no one really needs.

Your favorite wine ever and why?

I think that’s like making a mom choose her favorite child. My favorites have been due to wine experiences. The Cask 23 that made me appreciate good wine is one. But, the inexpensive white my husband and I had during a trip to Greece with a fantastic dinner is another. Finding the perfect food and wine pairing that transforms the dish and the wine to another level is definitely another.

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