It was 4 yrs ago today that Gabriella was packing the last of her clothes, running from store to store trying to get last minute items, and preparing herself for what by some accounts would be her biggest adventure to date. I was working at a small wine/beer/liquor store, and trying my best to conceal the fact that I too would be leaving shortly on my leg of this journey. I had to wait so that I could save some extra cash, and make sure to secure my year end bonus. At this point, I believe only one of my employees knew of my plans, and I still hadn’t bought a ticket. Life was about to turn upside down for us, we just didn’t know how or in what way.

Today, we look back at that final march to our Iberian exodus, and I think I can safely say for the both of us, that we never imagined  we would be where we are today. 6 months into our trip, Catavino was born. But at the time, we felt it would simply be a side venture and nothing more, and in no way did we imagine that it would be the sole reason for our continuation here.

Officially, we are well past 1000 posts on Catavino. We intended to publish a big celebration post when we hit 1000, but the fact is, we probably past this number a few months ago. Unfortunately, during our many upgrades, server moves, and other website trials, we discovered that we were overwriting some of our old posts with new ones. That said, I think we only missed a handful, though I’m sad to see that some of our first “Welcome to Catavino” posts …

There are very few times when I have gathered a group of people to simply further a cause. I have been the attendee of several political, trade and social events, but never have a I been one of the organizers of an event that is meant to simply bring those of like minds together in hopes of sharing their common passion. The Blogger’s Dinner, hosted by Bodegas Tintoralba and Catavino in Barcelona last Tuesday night, was the first, of what we hope to be many, successful gatherings to simply converse and commune over the concept of wine blogging.

The question being, was it successful? Did anyone get anything out of it?

From Tintoralba’s perspective, it appears that they were elated to have a group of like-minded people enjoy their wines in a new light. Rather than stand under florescent lights, surrounded by loud echoing voices at the 2008 Barcelona wine and food fair, Alimentaria, they had the rare opportunity to share their wines in a social, relaxed setting, chatting intimately with people about their project. With their winemaker, Pedro Sarrión Martínez, taking center-stage, we listened attentively as he passionately explained the nuance and elaboration of his wines, while we delightfully nibbled on cured hams and silky pates. Not a bad way to experience a new wine, a new grape for many, and new opportunity to create an annual event!

From our perspective, we were equally pleased to have seen approximately twenty people gather in dimly lit restaurant, sharing their successes and failures both creating and upkeeping their blogs. And for those that weren’t “official” bloggers, they too had the chance to ask questions and gain insight to a world that was relatively unfamiliar to them. What this provided was a lovely give …