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Divulge D'Vino a conversation with Joanna Barbolla
25 Plays4 months ago
Joanna Barbollo enjoys wine, not just as an accompaniment to a meal, but exploring wine, learning about the different varieties and production techniques, and sharing what she learns.
As Joanna explains to Michael Millward there is much more to a glass wine than simply a great accompaniment to a meal. Wine has history, character and for Joanna wine can evoke memories and emotions that fuel her imagination.
Divulge D’Vino started as a collection of wine reviews that Joanna wrote for her wine blog that are now collated into a book, illustrated by her vibrant art works.
Not just a book about wine, as Joanna demonstrates by reading the first page of one chapter Divulge D’Vino is a force of creative writing that everyone can enjoy.
In this episode of Rest and Recreation Michael and Joanna discuss how Joanna discovered wine and how wine provided Joanna with an opportunity to explore her creativity and build a new social circle.
Joanna is an advocate for the sensible enjoyment of wine. For more information, please visit Drink Aware.
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You can find out more about both Michael Millward, and Joanna Barbolla at Abeceder.co.uk .
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Thank you to the team at Matchmaker.fm introducing me to Joanna. Matchmaker.fm is where matches of great hosts and great guests are made. Use our offer code MILW10 for a discount on membership.
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Transcript
Introduction and Zencastr Promotion
00:00:05
Speaker
Made on Zencaster. Hello and welcome to Rest and Recreation, the Work-Life Balance podcast from Abisida. I'm your host, Michael Millward, the Managing Director of Abisida. As the jingle at the start of this podcast says, Rest and Recreation is Made on Zencaster. Zencaster is the all-in-one podcasting platform on which you can make your podcast in one place and then distribute it to the major platforms like Spotify, Amazon, Apple and Google YouTube Music. It really does make making content so easy.
00:00:48
Speaker
If you would like to try podcasting using zencastr visit it Zencaster, zencaster.com forward slash pricing and use my offer code ABACEDA. All the details are in the description.
Podcast's Goal and Guest Introduction
00:01:02
Speaker
Now that I have told you how wonderful Zencaster is for making podcasts, we should make one. One that will be well worth listening to, liking, downloading and subscribing to. As with every episode of Rest and Recreation, we won't be telling you what to think, but we are hoping to make you think. Today's Rest and Recreation guest is Joanna Barbola, who is an artist and a wine expert who has combined these two interests in a very interesting way. Joanna is based in Tampa, Florida, USA.
00:01:41
Speaker
If you are in need of a trip to the Sunshine State, take my advice and arrange your travel like I do at the Ultimate Travel Club, because the Ultimate Travel Club gives you access to trade prices on flights, hotels and package deals, and all sorts of other travel essentials. There is a link and a membership discount code in the description. Before I introduce you to Joanna, I'm just going to let you know that Joanna has given me a little bit of a challenge, bit of a tongue twister. What I have to do is say that Joanna is not a lifelong Floridian. She is a later in life Floridian because she is a true New Yorker. I suppose in the words of the song that makes you a native New Yorker, does it
Joanna's Career Change
00:02:30
Speaker
Joanna?
00:02:30
Speaker
yes it does born andre
00:02:35
Speaker
We will now spend the next half an hour with Native New Yorker by Odyssey ringing round in our heads, one of those very, very catchy late 1970s disco era type songs, brilliant stuff. But now that I've set you up for a night out on the town, please can we start by you and giving us a little bit of an introduction to you, your history, um what made you move from New York, New York to the Sunshine State?
Teaching and Activism
00:03:03
Speaker
and how everything came together. Yeah, yeah, sure. So first I want to say thank you for having me on your podcast. I'm thrilled to be here. And especially that you are all the way in the UK. I'm just so glad to connect. So yeah, so you know, I spent my whole career in New York City, as a Long Island commuter, close to three decades. And then unfortunately, COVID hit. And the job that I was at,
00:03:34
Speaker
the last 12 years in Times Square, I was laid off. And it was just so, so difficult for me to get back into my career because really everything closed down in New York City. So I really needed to rethink what I was going to do with my life and my career. And as a single woman with no family left to speak of in New York, I said to myself, I really need to start over. and why not start over in a place where I had such happy memories visiting as a child. So that's why I decided on Florida and I decided on Tampa because being the city girl that I am, I wanted to stay near a big city for job opportunities.
Wine Blogging Journey
00:04:16
Speaker
So when I came to Florida, I started a second career in teaching
00:04:21
Speaker
and tutoring, and I'm also actively involved in the fight for women's rights. so So that's a big part of my life, really one of the most meaningful jobs I've ever had. I work for the National Organization for Women, handling all their social media and and working as an activist. So I really enjoy that on a very part-time basis. And I'm also, as I said, a teacher on my second career. My first career I worked in New York City as a high level executive assistant. So when I came to Florida, I really wanted to start something new.
00:05:01
Speaker
you know, really kind of branch out and and do something a lot different from what I was doing in New York. So when I came to Florida and I started teaching and tutoring and substitute teaching, I had a lot more time on my hands, which gave me the opportunity to create Devolched Avino. And Devolched Avino was really, it started off as a wine blog. Back in New York, I used to run a wine and art networking group. It sounds like an interesting idea. yeah Over here, we have business networking where people take their dog for a walk and and network, but an actual wine-related networking event sounds like you'd learn something as well as enjoy a nice glass of wine, get to know more people. Yes, it was. It was. I mean, I planned a lot of fun events. It was really fun. And then I also did an international
00:05:58
Speaker
tour through Tuscany and the Italian Riviera with my group. And it was it was so exciting and fun with the culture, the art, the wine, the food, the people. It was um it was a wonderful, wonderful trip. So I really did great things with this wine and art group called Wine Art, et cetera. And I grew my membership to nearly 250 participants.
Wine Reviews and Book Concept
00:06:22
Speaker
So while I was running this group, I started the wine blog called De Vulture Vino, and each week I would publish a new wine review from wines that I would choose from a different country. So by the time I finished, I was so excited about this wine review and I published it weekly to my members. They loved it. And by the time I had stopped doing it, I was up to 16 different wine reviews. But as I said, I was working in in corporate America. My schedule got really hectic, so I just couldn't keep it up.
00:06:56
Speaker
I had always said to myself when I was back in New York that I wanted to do something with these wine reviews. I wanted to publish them in a book. I just never had the time. So when I came to Florida, I had more time. And that's how I started thinking about how I'm going to self publish my book. Tell me how to pronounce the title of the book. It's Devolge Divino. That's it. Devolge Divino. That's right. I wanted a catchy, fun name. I wanted something that had a little Italian in it because I'm Italian American. I wanted something that was going to be memorable and unique. And in the cover of the book,
00:07:35
Speaker
is one of my favorite paintings, which is the front and the back cover. And I'm still amazed at the print job. Yeah. It's so vibrant. It's just it's such an eye catcher when you look at the book and when you open the pages and then you see one of my abstract painting images in each chapter. And I have 16 chapters in the book. So there's 16 different images of my paintings in each chapter plus the cover page. and the back cover. So there's 17 different images of my abstract paintings.
00:08:10
Speaker
Because this is one of the things that makes the book and your hobby, the combination of your hobbies a little bit different. It's not just a book about wine. You've also done the art of the sommelier and suggested things that can be eaten with the wine. So what food does the wine complement? But you've also then combined your interest in art and abstract art. And my interpretation when i when I was looking at the book was that the writing is really interesting and you've you brought the wine and the experience of the wine to life because as you just described, don't drink wine by your by yourself. You're not getting the full value from the wine if you're sitting there by yourself. It's something to
00:09:00
Speaker
to drink with friends, with family, to the social side ah of drinking a glass of wine as is the social side of it. The bottle is designed to be shared. There's all of that type of thing. But then the inclusion of the art is it's not just, oh, I like this painting. I'll put it in the book. There seems to be some sort of connection between what you've written and the wines that you're describing and the art that is used to illustrate each different section. In the book I really talk about food and wine pairings and then emotions. Emotions are a really big part of the book. It's written in a very witty conversational tone. I want the reader to think that I'm right there with them speaking with them and we're having a chat a little chit chat and
00:09:52
Speaker
It's fun, it's witty, it's conversational. I really wanted that to to be important because I wanted it to be really down to earth. And especially since the premise of the book is to find a good valued bottle of wine for $25 and under. So it's not one of those heidi-tidi kind of art books that caters to you know the upper echelon. It's more like just a regular down to earth book. I just wanted it to be all around fun.
Wine Pairings and Writing Style
00:10:27
Speaker
Fun and and you know witty and and something to spark your curiosity and to you know lift your senses and open your mind and try different things and and not having to spend a whole lot of money.
00:10:46
Speaker
um So really, it's just a good table guide. I mean, if you were having a dinner party and you wanted to, you know, like find a, making a leg of lamb and you were looking for a good red, um you know, I would suggest like an onionico or maybe a Malbec, you know, and and there's just so many different ways of of pairing food with wine. and i'm just I'm just in the book giving options and and trying to enlighten my readers.
00:11:21
Speaker
One of the things that worries people about wine is choosing the wrong wine to go with the whatever it is that they're eating. And even in a restaurant, ask the Simele, ask the wine expert what it is that you should be drinking and tell them the amount of money you want to spend. And they should give you a good value for money wine to drink with whatever it is you're eating. You've got that sort of element within the book. It's it's not a preachy type book. You're not hooking down to anyone. Not at all. When you say that you want people to feel as if they're sitting at the table with you, it does have that chatty, conversational, talking to a friend type of feel to the book.
00:12:08
Speaker
And that was that was really my aim, to do that exactly. Yeah. But tell me tell me more about the connection between the words on the page and and the wines and the food. you The words on the page are about the wine and the food, but the pictures, tell me about how you can the connection between the paintings that you've made and the the the wines. what How does that work? but The paintings were done before the book and before the wine reviews or during the wine during the process of of writing the wine reviews. So there's really no direct correlation between the two other than when I was choosing the names of the chapters.
00:12:54
Speaker
I was thinking about my colors and what I thought would blend with what I was writing about, like for instance, chapter four, crisply, crisply painted chardonnay. um I chose one of my vibrant um abstract paintings that have colors that are vibrant and very, very warm, inviting colors with yellows and reds and purples and greens because I just felt like that would blend with what I was talking about.
00:13:28
Speaker
in the book. I start off the chapter, I just want to read you the first page of the chapter real quick because it's really fun. Gorgeous wine of finally's. Sometimes she's zuberant, oftentimes she's pouty, but most of the time she's just unbelievably flirty. Ah yes, just having a fleeing nostalgic moment. I'd like to share as I begin to ponder this crisply painted Chardonnay. Now, Imagine the sexy Sophia Loren in her young precocious days. Ah yes, if lovely Sophia were a wine.
00:14:03
Speaker
then this Tesoro would be her. Now, let's talk about him. Visualize, if you will, a devilishly handsome young Marcello Mastrioni. Ah yes, Señor Marcello. If this hunky Mediterranean god were the cork, then this wonderfully crisp Chardonnay would be perfectly matched with these two screen legends, as well as when they started together in the 60s, movie marriage Italian style.
00:14:35
Speaker
So that's just the first page of that chapter. So that's really kind of like the flow of the book, um you know, kind of just talking about whatever's going on in my mind when I'm thinking about the wine, when I'm tasting the
Publishing Decision and Wine Learning
00:14:49
Speaker
wine. And it's just really just it's just flowing out of my mind and it's just flowing out of my mouth, whatever I'm thinking and how I'm comparing the wine and my emotions to different meanderings throughout life and my life experiences, you know. So that's where I came up with that. So you're building the the cultural references into the wine, painting a picture of the Dolce Vita. When I've been in Rome or Milan, one of the things that I'm always struck by is that the teenage boys on their scooters zipping in and out of the traffic
00:15:29
Speaker
And on but on the back of the scooter there will be this gorgeous, yes absolutely stunning-looking Italian teenage girl. I presume they're teenage girls. They'll be in the high heels, the short skirts, and if you go in winter they will be in the sheepskin coat. They'll be sitting side-settle on the and the back of the scooter. It's like a classic, classic Italian stereotype, I know, ah but it is also the epitome of that coolness that just is just comes so easily to Italian teenagers of a certain type. And you I know when you're reading that, I'm imagining that Sophia Loren on the back of the scooter, yeah all this sort of stuff,
00:16:19
Speaker
everything yeah but the thing is then that they will get off the scooter after being in the wind and the dirt and on the road see But they're free-flowing hair and the beautiful face. And they will walk into the cafe absolutely perfect. It's as if they have not been on the scooter at all. And what you're describing as a result of using that type of metaphor is an extremely sophisticated type of wine, but one that is so easily sophisticated, sophisticated without trying, completely effortless.
00:16:56
Speaker
Effortless. effort Effortless. Absolutely. We have already mentioned music with Odyssey in Native New Yorker, but there is a another song um by Sheila E, which is from the 1980s, and it's the Bell of St. Mark's. I don't know if I know that song. Oh, you'll have to look it up. Look it up. It's a job to do later on, but she talks in the song about the bell of St. Mark's, um, where's his father's clothes and it's, but where's them with ease and with style so that it just looks right. So in the way in which you're describing these wines, you've got the whole sort of emotion, the scenario, of the metaphors to that really bring them to life.
00:17:39
Speaker
So it was just so fun. It was just so entertaining for me to write these to write these wine reviews. And that's why I was so excited to disperse it to my group. And then when I got such positive feedback, I said to myself, I have to do something. I did so much work. doing all the research, getting all the information on all the wines and the history and the origins. And I put so much time and effort into it. I can't just let this fall by the wayside. you know It's just so much time. And when I was in the in the wine business with my wine group, um I was invited to all these different trade events.
00:18:21
Speaker
you know that that only people in the trade are invited to. And I would go and take a personal day and go to these trade events and did all of these tastings and all of these classes all throughout New York City. I learned so much information about wine that I put all of that plus my own research into each review. So I was just so filled with all this knowledge. And I said, I really, really can't let this go. Is that the secret to enjoying the wine that you drink is that you should never really just say, Oh, it's a bottle of wine. You know, it's a glass of wine. Part of the, part of the joy of enjoying wine is to actually investigate, you know, where was it grown? Was, what type of soil, what type of grape, understanding the history of the vineyard. Is that part of the, the joy of wine?
00:19:22
Speaker
It is learning it, learning about where it came from, the origin of it, how it's made, what's the alcohol level, um what are the grape varietals, is it just all of that and then how it feels in your palate and what's going on in your mind while you're enjoying it and what foods are you eating with it to bring the flavor of the food out from drinking the wine and the flavor of the wines. Because for me, I would never drink wine unless I was having food. Because one thing goes with the other. um And you know when you just get so used to having dinner with a glass of wine, it just becomes a normal part
Wine Preferences and Experiences
00:20:03
Speaker
of your life. you know and And that's how it's done in Europe.
00:20:07
Speaker
I mean, it's just so common, you know, everybody, everybody who has a backyard makes their own wine. We can't all do it, unfortunately. Yeah, I'm talking about mostly in Italy. What got you into wine? Is it just your Italian American wine was around or? Yeah. You know, it's really something, um, I really didn't, you know, I came from a very strict conservative Italian American family. So I wasn't really having wine but at a young age at all with my family. This is something that I've gotten into as I had, as I had grown up into the woman that I am today, you know, um, just
00:20:45
Speaker
I started going to different wine tastings and learning about wines and then I started doing the networking group. um the business and social networking group that got me even more involved in it. um Actually, i first the whole thing really started um with a meetup group called Vin Village um where I was part of this meetup group and it was a wine tasting meetup group and it was all about wine and they were looking for a vent host.
00:21:17
Speaker
so i So I said I would, you know, work with them and start hosting events. And I was really, really enjoying it. I was doing a lot of events and I learned more and more about wines from going to different wine tastings. And then that's when I decided to, instead of doing event planning with them, start my own group. So I started a group in Long Island where I was from and had all of my Long Island friends um join my group rather than Continue to do it in New York City because you know with I worked in New York City But my life my home life was in Long Island So when my in my Long Island friends heard about this wine group that I was doing in the city They kept saying why don't you do this in Long Island? We can't you know, we can't come into the city do it in Long Island So that's how I started wine art, etc. What's your favorite wine?
00:22:12
Speaker
I would absolutely have to say Anjanago, which grows in the Naples Amalfi Coast region, Campagna region of Italy. I had gone on a wine, really not a wine, more like a dining group event. um I belong to a dining group in New York City and Long Island. They had two different chapters. And each year they do a big European trip um and they choose a different country each year. So one year I went with them to the Himalfi Coast. It was a, I think we were gone for eight days and we flew to Sorrento and we stayed at this beautiful hotel that was built into a cliff.
00:22:56
Speaker
And we stayed there for the whole time. We were able to unpack. And then each day, the bus tour would take us on a different area of the entire Amalfi Coast. And it was a dining group. So you can imagine the restaurants we had gone to um throughout this whole trip. And a lot of the times, we would drink the onionica wine. And I just, it's Thoroughly enjoyed it. I mean, the food was gourmet, the wine was gourmet, and that's what got me hooked on Anyaniko wine. But I have tasted wines from almost so many different countries. There's an African wine called Pinotage that I fell in love with. um There's just so many different wines, but I do love my Tuscan reds and I do love my Anyaniko.
Episode Conclusion
00:23:47
Speaker
I think I could talk to you for a very long time about all these different wines. Your blog sounds very interesting. I hope you keep it up. And the book is a very good read. Highly recommend it to anyone, whether you're a wine buff or not. It doesn't matter. the The writing is entertaining as you might have gathered from that. or that little bit that Joanna read. But for the moment, Joanna, it has been great fun talking to you and learning more about wine. So I really do appreciate your time. Thank you very much. Thank you so much for having me on. I had a wonderful time.
00:24:23
Speaker
Thank you. I am Michael Millward, the managing director of Abbacida. In this episode of Rest and Recreation, I have been having a conversation with Joanna Barbola, an expert in wine and an abstract artist. You can find out more about both of us at abbacida.co.uk. There is a link in the description. I must remember to thank the team at matchmaker.fm for introducing me to Joanna. If you are a podcaster looking for interesting guests, or if like Joanna you have something very interesting to say, matchmaker dot.fm is where matches of great hosts and great guests are made. There is a link to matchmaker.fm and an offer code in the description.
00:25:09
Speaker
If your connection has been buffering as you've been listening to Rest and Recreation, you may like to know that 3 has the UK's fastest 5G network with unlimited data. So listening on 3 means you can wave goodbye to buffering. There is a link in the description that will take you to more information about the business and personal telecom solutions available from three and the special offers available when you quote my referral code. That description, just like Joanna's book, Divolish Divino is well worth reading. If you've liked this episode of Rest in Recreation, please give it a like and download it so that you can listen anytime, anywhere.
00:25:52
Speaker
To make sure you don't miss out on future episodes, please subscribe. Remember, the aim of all the podcasts produced by Abecedah is not to tell you what to think, but we do hope to make you think. All that remains for me to say is until the next episode of Rest and Recreation, thank you for listening and goodbye.