HOW IT GOT STARTED

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Welcome to The Unassuming Wine Bros! My name is Vigo. Wine became my passion while serving 15 months in combat (Baghdad, Iraq, 2006-2007). During that time, my then-fiancé would send me books in my monthly care packages. Some of those books were about wine (a subject that I knew nothing about). With little else to do with my limited free time (discounting working out, taking on-line college courses, and dodging the daily rocket and mortar attacks), I threw myself into studying those wine books. I could only read about it, as there was no wine at war. I studied for months in preparation for my leave to see my fiancé for 2 weeks in California. On leave, I put my studies to the test and tasted wine across the Napa, Sonoma, and Livermore valleys. It was the beginning of a beautiful romance with a lifelong partner, wine. 

Fast forward to today, I look back thinking how wine has been a terrific conversation starter and how it has helped me quickly meet new friends over the many places we have lived. Most of my friendships have started with wine. I met Patrick, my co-author, over wine at a party. Of course, our wives knew each other, isn’t that how we men meet friends? I have to admit that my friends' list would be close to zero without my wife (shhh…don't tell her I admitted that). Patrick and I spent much of the party discussing his love of Italian wines and my love of new world wines. 

My good friend and co-author Patrick is a husband, father of two active boys, an avid runner, and a practicing lawyer. His wine journey began with cabernets sauvignons which lead to an exploration of blends and red zinfandels and learned to appreciate the fruitiness of pinot noirs and the lightness of sauvignon blanc in the Florida heat. Though drinking red wine can be daunting in the Florida heat Patrick has recently developed a passion for various Italian reds. 

Though sometimes even best friends can have a completely different view on wine, Patrick possesses the best type of wine-savvy - one fostered through curiosity, passion, enthusiasm, open-mindedness, and attention to subtle details - all without the snootiness of a so-called “expert”. He describes himself as a regular joe who thinks wine is fun, enjoys wine enough to want to better understand its diversity and complexities, and believes that learning and loving wine is a lifelong marathon, not a sprint.

As Patrick and I attempt to put our passion for wine on paper, our goal is to enhance your love and enjoyment of wine and hopefully have a little fun along the way. This column is not pretentious as we believe that good wine can come in any price range or glass. We are not wine snobs; just two friends looking to explore more about wine. Above all else, we hope to have conversations with you about your wine experiences too.

In our pursuit of great wine, we will travel the local area to find the finest wine by the glass, the best wine menus, the greatest place to get the tastiest inexpensive wine, and where to go if you want to get that nice bottle for a special occasion. We will venture out to local restaurants, wine bars, and country clubs to see what is hot on their wine menus. Patrick and I will challenge each other to push the limits of wine. We hope that we discover lots of new favorite wines and that you do as well.