On the roof of the Hotel Erwin in Venice Beach, California, Wine Tasting For Los Angeles (WTFLA) hosted their complimentary Byron & Cambria wine tasting event. The organization’s goal is simple – bring wine knowledge and interest to the youth of Los Angeles.

Wizard of The Wine

Once upon a time, WTFLA creator, Leah Hennessey knew nothing about such a thing. “What is this dark juice in this glass bottle?” she thought (I made this part up). Leah went on a friend’s birthday celebration journey and unintentionally discovered the captivating power of wine. There she asked the wizard (winemakers), “What are good wines?” and the answer was so satisfying and enchanting she decided to take on this mighty craft. Now Leah the wine-wizard is on a mission to empower people with her overflowing knowledge.

Guest Wizard

My first step to empowerment came from Byron winemaker Jonathan Nagy. Much like myself the Pinot Noir requires a special kind of attention, as I am much more temperamental like the pinot grapes thriving in Santa Maria’s calm Mediterranean climate. Jonathan explained the proper tasting method and stemware but wasn’t shy to admit the times he went camping and had to drink out of a tumbler. Although I prefer to drink out of a box or a bag, we found common ground on one thing: how to open a bottle of wine without a corkscrew. Use a nail clipper to take off the foil, work around the edges of the cork and force the cork down with a toothbrush handle. Classy!

Cambria & Cambria

Cambria winemaker Denise Shurtleff explained that the winery is named Cambria because the owner of the family is of Welsh decent. Yes, “Cambria” is the Roman word for Wales. I happened to know this because I’m also Welsh; in fact I’m Griffith royalty therefore a half ruined castle is probably sitting there somewhere above a hill. The next logical question was about the other names on the label (Katherine’s Chardonnay and Julia’s Pinot Noir). Denise pointed behind me and said, “that’s Katherine, and Julia is here somewhere.” They are daughters of the winery owners. I was even so lucky to briefly meet Mom and Grandma. It was like a wine-family reunion except no one was arguing and my name was being pronounced correctly.

Return To The Wizard

Leah is currently studying with the Court of Master Sommeliers and schooling the wine industry on how to reach out to the youth. She runs the wine blog Millennier from which WTFLA came to exist as a side project to show winemakers that young people care about wine. “It’s working.” She said. WTFLA will be hosting events throughout the summer, including a happy hour at City Sip on June 5th with handpicked wines for purchase at 50% off. When? WTFLA Happy Hour @ City Sip LA June 5th, 5pm – 7pm Where? City Sip 2150 W. Sunset Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90026 Byron Wines Tasting Room 2367 Alamo Pintado Avenue Los Olivos, CA 93441 Cambria Winery & Vineyards 5475 Chardonnay Lane Santa Maria, CA 93454 Additional Information http://wtflosangeles.org/ http://twitter.com/wtfla http://www.byronwines.com/ http://www.cambriawine.com/ http://www.citysipla.com/