Today we’d like to introduce you to Autumn Gilliam.
Hi Autumn, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
My true love of wine was sparked from a trip to Switzerland when I was 19 years old. My Aunt and Uncle lived there and we went on a family trip to visit. My Aunt Susan exposed me to some amazing wine and from there I was hooked. As time went on I became a golf professional and life had taken me down a different path. My love of wine had always been there but just a couple of years ago I jumped into the world of wine and went head first into educating myself as much as possible.
When I would go to dinner or go out with friends, I noticed that everyone was kind of stuck drinking the same things and found it hard to spend $30 or more on a bottle of wine at the store having no clue if you would like it or not. That was when I decided to start hosting blind tastings with my friends at my home. I would do these little tasting parties where we would blind-taste the wine and try to guess what it was. What an eye-opening experience! I thought I had good wine knowledge but what I learned about myself and my friends was that we were missing the boat on experiencing so many different wines.
At that point, I decided that if I was going to lead tastings I needed to get certified and learn as much as I could. I enrolled in WSET Level 2 and then progressed to WSET Level 3 which I was able to pass with distinction. The WSET Level 3 exam is an advanced exam where 2 wines are tasted blind and questions must be answered in multiple choice and essay format. From there The Adventurous Sip was born. Through wine, we can travel to any country in the world and experience the climate, the soil, the history, and the culture of where the wine is from.
It is so rewarding to see people’s faces light up when they taste a great wine and then learn that it was one that they were not expecting at all. The best part is that all of the wines I use in my classes are easily accessible. After a class, a client can confidently walk into a wine shop and know exactly what they are looking for. I do tastings for as little as 4 people up to 20+. I am now looking forward to enrolling in the WSET Diploma program and becoming a WSET instructor in which I will be able to provide Level 1 and Level 2 courses in the future.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There have been many nights staying up late to complete education courses. There has been a ton of paperwork and back and forth with different insurance plans and getting licensing etc.
I had been working on this for 2 years before I even established an LLC. I have two little kids that I stay home with and I am still teaching golf so at times it seems like it is taking forever to get the business going.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
The Adventurous Sip provides wine education through in-person and virtual classes and private tastings. My specialty is presenting wine in blind tastings which takes a lot of the pretense away and leads people to discover what wines they enjoy and why they like them. During most of my tastings, I will take great care in pairing either a snack, cheese, or an appetizer with each wine so that the guests can understand how much what they are eating will affect the wine they are drinking.
I hear from people all the time that they had “a great bottle of wine” and then went and bought it and had it at home and it was not as good as they remembered it being. I usually follow that up with “What did you have to eat with it?” Food has a really big impact on how a wine tastes so part of my tastings are showing people how that happens and explaining why. The other really fun part of my tastings is when everyone tries to guess how much the wine costs. A budget per wine is set in advance and then I will list a bunch of different prices for the wines and the guests will try to guess how much each one costs.
It’s always so fun when it is time to reveal the prices and see the looks on people’s faces or to hear people think that a $15 bottle of wine is $40. At the end of the tasting, I will tell people where in town they can find the wines that we tried. This is where the guests get a huge confidence boost that they can walk into the store and know exactly what they are looking for. In my experience, people attending my tastings get stuck in a rut of always buying the same wine. These tastings allow them to try a few different things which ends up expanding what they would normally purchase. Now they have the confidence to walk into the French or Italian section of a wine/liquor store and know what they are looking for.
These particular wines can be quite intimidating as they are all labeled typically by where the wine is made not what the grape varietal is. The things that set me apart are a relaxed and fun environment for tasting, guessing the grape, country, and price for the wine, and finally telling people where they can purchase the bottle for the best price. For more serious tasters I can provide an experience where we are looking at the structure of each wine and learn how to determine quality and more in-depth features.
I think I am most proud to take people on a tasting adventure where they will learn something about the wine they taste, learn about where it comes from, and then learn why they like it and how to find more of what they will like. I offer free consultations to start talking about doing an event to answer any questions and come up with a plan that is specific to the group. I also offer virtual tastings where a list is provided of the wines we will taste together online.
These are quick classes to learn in depth about one or two varietals. I offer private tastings starting at $150 for a minimum of 4ppl. These events are 1.5 to 2 hours in length and can be as simple or as complex as the guest would like. All of these tastings are specifically designed for the group and can be themed in several ways. The possibilities are endless.
I also teach classes at a local wine shop and our local community center in Rochester, MN. I honestly just love talking about wine and exploring all it has to offer so if there is a business that would like to bring me in to do education for their staff I would love and welcome that too.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
My Aunt Susan Phipps is the one who started my love of wine. My husband for supporting my ideas and education.
My children for their patience with me when mom has to study or work. My friends for supporting my ideas and being my testing ground without them my company would have never started.
Pricing:
- Virtual Classes- $10-$15
- Private Events start at $150
- Free Event Consultation
- Personal Shopping $10 for 20 mins
- Wine list curation $20+
Contact Info:
- Website: theadventuroussip.com
- Instagram: @mnwinechick
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100095038915020
Image Credits
Corrie Strommen, Amy Towner, and Christine Anderko
