Not All Milestones Come With a Trophy
I am still holding that feeling…. I did not see it coming. Being nominated was unexpected—and rewarding on so many levels.
Winning was never the point. The nomination itself felt like a recognition of the hard work and the long hours: of completely pivoting my career from project management into wine as a brand strategist and communicator, while raising a young family at home, and starting from scratch in a region that is not known for wine. Early mornings writing. Late nights editing. Tastings that become conversations. Glasses that open into someone else’s land, family, and work. A passion that has never felt like a career so much as a calling I keep answering.
What I will not forget is the room. Communicators from 34 countries. Castilla y León opening its vineyards and tables. That hush when a bottle is poured and, for a moment, everyone leans in together. Instant friendships. No pretense. Just the warmth of a global community that already speaks the same language.
Thank you to everyone who has followed my journey as The Happy Vine, sat at a tasting, shared a post, or believed that wine education can be warm, sensory, and human. We would not be here without the winemakers. They are the soul of the bottle. Every piece of content, every pairing, every “can you taste the limestone?” begins with them.
The Happy Vine has never been about the spotlight. It has always been about the people who grow, ferment, and bottle something that carries place and memory.
A nomination is a beautiful pause.
The work continues — the next vineyard walk, the next glass, the next story that deserves to be told with care.
Grateful. Grounded. Still completely in love with this world.
Kathleen Smith, DipWSET