Ep. 636 Annie Replogle | Voices

Welcome to the Italian wine podcast. I'm Rebecca Lawrence, and this is voices. In this set of interviews, I will be focusing on issues of inclusion diversity and allyship through intimate conversations with wine industry professionals from all over the globe. If you enjoy listening, please consider donating to Italian wine podcast dot com. Any amount helps us cover equipment, production and publication costs, and remember to subscribe and rate our show wherever you tune in. Welcome to the Italian wine podcast. This is the voices series with me Rebecca Lawrence. This week, I'm excited to enjoy a conversation with newly certified, Finisley International Academy Ambassador, Annie Replaroll. Welcome to the podcast, Annie. Hi, Rebecca. Thanks so much for having me on today. So I like to start a lot of these conversations by making sure our listeners get, you know, a nice complete picture about my guest who I'm talking to you. So maybe you can tell us a little bit about who you are and what you're currently working on. So I'm a passionate food and wine lover living in New York City. I moved here eight years ago after landing a job in tech sales and spent the next four years working for different startups, selling software, was making really good money, having a lot of success, but just really didn't feel fulfilled. And I had read this book called Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, which gave tips on how to create a life that's meaningful and fulfilling. And this propelled me to start taking wine courses in the evening after work since I had always been passionate about it. And then I took a trip to Europe and on this trip, I had an epiphany that life is short and I needed to do what I'm passionate about and that wasn't tech sales. So I came back from this trip, quit my job, packed up all my things, left my apartment in the city, and I wrote to about a hundred wineries all over Italy, and finally found one that would give me an internship. In Tuscany, which was great. And that's what started me off on a new career path. And a position with Pronoa Card allowed me to travel and work in Australia's Barosa Valley, the vineyards of Marlboro, New Zealand, La Rioja, and Spain, Sanoma, Los Angeles, before bringing me back to New York. And I currently work for a wine importer and distributor in the city called Massanoy, as their marketing manager. We work with brands from all over the world, including a number of my favorite Italian wineries. And I work all across mass noise marketing initiatives, including content, events, social media. I also work part time for the infatuation where I assist with various food and beverage related projects. And I have a new wine consulting venture on the side called Vinc concierge. Okay. So just a couple of things going on. Yeah. Just a few. That's wow. That's so cool. You you literally just completely changed what you were doing. And and found a life you wanted. That's so inspiring. Exactly. It was quite the adventure, but I'm definitely glad I did it. I've had so much fun. What I have to say when when we met in Corona, you seemed pretty happy with, with what you're now doing. It didn't feel like maybe you were sobbing over the loss of the tech sales. Good. I'm glad it came across that way because I'm definitely I feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be. I'm very happy in my career. I've traveled a lot. Met a lot of interesting people along the way, so it's been a fantastic journey so far. That's a good thing to pick up on actually this love of travel because as you sort of hinted at, wine has been something you've been passionate about for a while. It kind of predates other things you were doing. And my understanding is that you kind of found this in a year abroad in Tuscany and it kind of blossomed from there. But I wanted to start at the beginning. So how did you find yourself in Florence for a year abroad? So I majored in Spanish and Italian at James Madison University and was originally planning on studying abroad in Barcelona but my school only offered a summer program there, and I wanted to go abroad for a whole semester. So my options then became Salamanca or Florence. And I opted for Italy, and it was a decision that would change my entire life. So while I was in Florence, I took a wine course taught by Delera Frrescobaldi of the Frrescobaldi wine family, and that really ignited my passion for wine. And I know that in the scheme of things, there are very few people out there who get the opportunity to study Broadwell in school. So I'm eternally grateful that I had the chance to do so. And so amazing to have also then been able to do a wine course with Rescovaldi. Like, that really will set you up for a love of it. I exactly. And as you said, you've traveled and worked in many wine regions around the world. Why do you keep coming back to Italy? What is it about the wines of Italy in particular that You know, obviously, you you started there, but there must be something in particular about them given that you've had this opportunity to work and explore many other regions that, yeah, brings you home. So it's hard to put into words. The deep connection I have with Italy. Everything about the country is so special to me, the culture, language, landscapes, food, wine, music, films, people. I love Italians. I think they're some of the warmest happiest and most passionate people, and I love the way that they live. You know, it's a culture that really symbolizes the beauty and simplicity. Italians know how to enjoy and value the unpretentious pleasures in life, like family, friends, good conversations, gathered around the table with home cooked meals, and good wine. I'm obsessed with Italian food and wine. I could live off the plate of Kaltoy Pepe and a bottle of Edna rosso. I think Italian wine is so special because there's so many different styles. You have the mountains in the north, and you have, you know, the the Mediterranean Sea in the south, And I just find a lot of the wines to be rustic, yet charming, and terroir driven, and the foods that each region pairs with the wines are delicious and, you know, I think it's not just the wine that I love, but everything associated with the wine, like the culture and the food and the people. It's just such a special place. I truly feel the happiest and most alive when I'm in Italy and I dream of being able to have a home there and hopefully a vineyard there someday. Oh, so a new a new new venture. We'll see. Well, we'll have to watch this space. I'll I'll keep my eyes on the vineyards of Vapola Chella just in case there's a little corner earmarked for Annie one day. Please dear. So you have your day job working as a marketing manager for an import company, but I wanted to specifically talk about your own venture because you now have this side hustle Van Concierge maybe you could tell our listeners a little bit about what it is you're doing with it and also how the idea came about. Sure. So I often found myself giving wine advice to friends and family and decided to expand upon that. So Vin concierge is a wine concierge service where I provide monthly wine recommendations, food pairing suggestions, recipes, and on demand wine advice to members. You know, a lot of people enjoy drinking wine, but they could use some help picking out wines that they might like. So they might text me photos of bottles from a wine shop or a picture of the wine list at a restaurant, and I help them figure out which bottle to buy. And when subscribers have a wine question, I answer. I also love hosting Italian dinner parties for my friends. So I'll cook Italian meals, pair them with Italian wines, and I thought combining monthly wine and recipe recommendations alongside twenty four seven wine advice could be a fun concept. That's that truly is like having a wine concierge. Like, they they have an issue and that you're right there for them kind of on demand. I'm your girl. Yes. I think that's a great idea and something that's kind of missing a little bit from from the industry because, you know, you can do that in a restaurant on the shop floor. But particularly at the moment where a lot of stuff, obviously, has been moved out of restaurants, has been out of traditional retail, being able to have that at your fingertips, but not necessarily have to have the person standing in front of you is, I think, a real innovation. Totally. Thank you. I I assume you've seen, some significant uptake during COVID. Oh, yes. Definitely. I actually started it in January, but that was as things were starting to slowly open up again. But actually when I first started it, most people were just drinking at home and FaceTimeing me from wine shops being like, okay. What am I drinking tonight? But now that restaurants haven't opened up again. Definitely getting more people sending me menus from restaurants asking for good good wine recommendations. So It's been a lot of fun. I love recommending Italian wines, particularly low intervention wines to people, so it's something I really enjoy doing. It must also give you a real insight directly kind of one on one to what people are enjoying, how your advice works, whether it does or doesn't, you know, whether they've enjoyed something or not. And I think, again, that's something that maybe sometimes you miss certainly if you're a sommelier, you know, you make a recommendation or if you're working in retail, you make a recommendation and you might not see that person again, or they might not get an opportunity to speak to you later in the evening to say how it was, but you can build this rapport and really kind of grow your business with their wine journey? Yes. Exactly. It's very personalized, which I think is a great aspect of it. I think that really is one of the ways that wine experiences need to go. We need to make it a because wine is so personal. Like you're saying, with with Italy, there's such a personal connection. Like so many of the great wines I've enjoyed have come from evenings with friends, sharing food, maybe sharing music, and you've kind of managed to put this into a service that also helps people get exactly what they need. Yep. I love it. Hi, guys. I'm Joy Livingston, and I am the producer of the Italian wine podcast. Thank you for listening. We are the only wine podcast that has been doing a daily show since the pandemic began. This is a labor of love and we are committed to bringing you free content every day. Of course, this takes time and effort not to mention the cost of equipment, production, and editing. We would be grateful for your donations, suggestions, requests, and ideas. For more information on how to get in touch, go to Italian wine podcast dot com. Now back to the show. No wonder you're so, passionate about what you're able to do. So you're fresh from having survived the vehicle course here in verona. And I say survived only slightly jokingly because I know you didn't quite have the easiest trip to Marona, but you also passed one of the notoriously hardest exams in wine. So why was it that you chose via in particular? So I was at a James suckling wine event in New York City about a year and a half ago when a current Via wine ambassador, Alessandro Boga, who knew of my passion for Italian wines recommended the course. And I also chatted a bit with Amy Esrin, a via Italian wine expert about the course who mentioned how challenging yet rewarding it was. And continuing my wine education is something very important to me. I like to always be learning and doing. So during quarantine, I was like, this is the perfect opportunity to sign up. Little did I know what I was getting into to say The course is rigorous would be an understatement, but it's also incredibly interesting. The depth of knowledge I gained not only about Italian wine and grape varieties, but the history of Italian wine culture is something I'll cherish and hopefully put to good use. I think being an Italian wine ambassador will allow me to spread the gospel of Italian food and wine, and being part of the tight knit via community will allow me to continue to develop my Italian wine knowledge and build relationships with people in the business who share my passion. Yeah. That community is something that I keep coming back to in a lot of my conversations with people who both passed fear like yourself, but maybe haven't passed fear, but are still welcomed into this community because it is a group of people just all so passionate about one thing. And like you say, when you meet those people, like, like Amy, who just wants to talk to anyone about, you know, the experience that she had, she is incredibly passionate about it, that shows that the the community is working because every person we can recruit to come to Via, then becomes the ambassador, but then also continues to spread their love for Italian wine in a different community. Exactly. I met so many amazing people in verona, and it was just such a nice added benefit to taking the course and exam. So speaking of benefits of of all of this background in in Italian wine and culture and history and obviously having studied Italian. So I'm assuming your Italian's pretty good. So traveling to Italy is that little bit easier. Where where is next on your your list of where you'd like to most visit in Italy? Okay. So I just got after the course. I went to Pulia, which was amazing. I think it might be one of my new favorite it is my new favorite Italian region. What's next? I have never been to Sicily, and I'm obsessed with sicilian wine. In fact, I think it might be my favorite. So I, like I said, I love Edna Broso and the bianco. So I think a trip to Sicily hopefully will be in the cards I don't know about this year, but definitely next year. I would love to visit the whole island, north, southeast, west. I think when people begin thinking about Sicily, they are so focused on Aetna But like you say, it's it's a large place and it has wine regions all across it. Yeah. And they're also very different. So that's one of the places I often recommend to people who are first coming to Italian wine and and kind of wanna get started. It's like, well, Let's just take Sicily and just explore the different wines that you have within one part of Italy, which admittedly is a very large part. But I think it's fascinating to think about the contrast between the wines of Aetna, for example, particularly the red wines compared to the wines of maybe noto or Victoria, which are just a completely different beast, and yet not so far away from each other in terms of distance across Sicily. Right. Definitely. And there's also a little island off the coast of Sicily. It's actually closer to Tunisia called Panta Leria, which I've, I've never been, but I've done a lot of research on the island. I've written an article about it, and I've tasted a lot of the wines and they make really good passito and some really delicious wines made from the indigenous Sabivo grape. So that's another place I'd like to venture off to if I make it over to Sicily. Which I'm determined to. I've heard it's very windy in Pantaleria. I had a colleague who went and she said it was beautiful, but very windy. Yes. In fact, the name actually means son of the wind, I believe. Or actually, I don't speak Arabic, but, I believe wind is in the name. So after a year of of crazy COVID and having to tackle via starting a new business while still working on all the other things you do, like you say, you're also right. I know you're involved in the Vintner project, which is very close to by heart as well. What's what's next for you? God, what a year it has been? One thing I'm enjoying in the wake of the pandemic is a return to normalcy. As I talked about, I enjoyed my recent travels to Italy, look forward to more of that. MassNoy is gonna keep you very busy. I'm excited at all the hard fulfilling work ahead, supporting our brands, driving sales here in the States. Definitely wanna keep writing. Might actually, write an article on my adventures in Pulia from just a few weeks ago for the Vitner project. I look forward to attending more wine events in the coming months. I'm gonna try to attend as many as I pen to make up for lost time. And leading a more social life, you know, spending time with friends and family. And I hope to host a lot of Italian dinner parties. Are you free this evening? Oh god. I wish. I I wish I could be there. I won't catch your pepper now without Norosso. You'll have to come visit New York once we open up our borders. Hopefully soon. We we have the US Agile course, coming up in a couple of weeks, which will update the podcast for our listeners, but Steve is going to be there, and I think we're all a little bit jealous, but she'll be there and we won't this time. That's great. Next time. Annie, thank you so much for joining me on the Italian White podcast today. Where can our listeners find out about you and what you're doing online and on social media? Well, thank you so much for having me, Rebecca. It was great meeting you in verona and talking with you again. Listeners can follow me on my personal Instagram. It's just my first and last name, Annie Replogel, a n n I e r e p l o g l e, as well as bin concierge dot com. The Instagram should spin concierge. And if anyone ever needs Italian mind recommendations, I'm me to give them. Guys, go and check out what Annie's doing in New York. It's super exciting. Thank you to everyone for listening. Don't forget to follow us on social media. Subscribe, and, of course, you can donate on the website to make sure we can keep these great conversations flowing. Listen to the Italian wine podcast wherever you get your podcasts. We're on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, EmLIFM, and more. Don't forget to subscribe and rate the show. If you enjoy listening, please consider donating through Italianline podcast dot com. Any amount helps cover equipment, production, and publication costs. Until next time, Chitching.