Featured User: Meg Herring

Originally from a tiny town in the Poconos, Meg lived in Washington, D.C. for over a decade before moving to her current city, Pittsburgh. By day, she is a marketing director for a major healthcare company. By night, she is a wine blogger at Meg & Merlot and a contributor to The Vintner Project . She loves traveling, wintertime, and her cat, Plato. Delectable: What sparked your passion for wine? Meg Herring: I enjoyed drinking wine for a while, but I didn’t realize I had a true passion for it until I started to read about wine regions. When I began learning about the people and places behind wine, it transformed from a beverage I consumed to an art I love. Each bottle of wine is a little piece of where it came from, which is fascinating and special to me. D: What wine region are you wild about right now? MH: Anyone who reads my blog would expect me to say Beaujolais , but that’s sort of my tried-and-true favorite. Right now I’m wild about Southern Italy, specifically Campania , because I’m preparing for an upcoming trip there. Give me all the Aglianico, Fiano, and Greco! D: What is the most unusual wine you’ve ever tried? MH: During a recent trip to Poland I got to try the country’s first Pétillant Naturel (pet-nat). They are doing some pretty cool things with hybrids in Poland, including this pet-nat made from Hibernal. While I was there I also had my first Hárslevelű from Hungary. D: What is your golden rule for wine? MH: Don’t put down other people for drinking and liking wines that you personally don’t enjoy. Everyone has a different palate, budget, and wine journey. I try to educate people and expand their horizons, but ultimately, they should drink what they like! D: Say you’re not allowed to have wine, what is your second option? MH: A Dutch Negroni, which swaps out gin for genever . I fell in love with genever in the Netherlands, and—lucky for me—a local Pittsburgh distiller makes an excellent version. D: Choose a movie, book, quote, or song and pair it with a wine. MH: I love Lorde so I have to say one of her songs with a bottle of New Zealand wine. Perhaps Supercut from her Melodrama album with Greywacke’s Sauvignon Blanc. Both are bright and upbeat but have depth. MH: If you were a wine, what wine would you be? D: I like to think I would be my favorite wine: cru Beaujolais. It’s a bit more serious than entry-level Beaujolais but it hasn’t forgotten where it came from either.