Quick version…

Phillip Anderson, VP of Sales for CBC BevCo, producers of Twisted Cedar Wine, owned by the Cedar Band of Paiutes. International Wine Specialist for the Beach Box Ibiza Resort. Winner of the Sommfoundation David A. Carpenter Masters of Wine Scholarship. Student on the Institute of Masters of Wine study program.

Longer version…

I love wine. Sometimes I hate the way people talk & write about wine though. Wine isn’t something that you bring out for special occasions, although it is great for special occasions. Wine isn’t something that is inherently mysterious. Wine can be both incredibly basic and incredibly complex. At the basic level, you either like a wine or you don’t. At an even more basic level, the first wine ever made was almost certainly made by accident. Like most things though, there is complexity there for people who want to dive deeper. It’s like football. The basic idea of the game is pretty simple. The offense tries to score and the defense tries to stop them. Once you start looking a little more deeply, it becomes more complex. Is the defense a base 3-4, or is it a 4-3? Are they playing a wide 9? You don’t have to know the details to enjoy wine or football, but it can be fun to think about them.

I hope this blog will strike a balance between too much and too little detail. I want to support the idea that it is OK to break the rules in wine. Sometimes red goes with fish. Sometimes wine and chocolate go together. Sometimes when you are tailgating at a football game and it is hot outside, real men drink rose’.

I didn’t get serious about wine until I was over 30 years old. I decided I wanted to learn more about wine, so I took a part time job at a tasting room in Fredericksburg Texas that poured wines from Texas and around the world. The tasting room was unbelievably busy on weekends, but pretty dead during the week. So during the week I would read “The Wine Bible” and sample wines that the local distributors brought by the shop. I really got into wine. Over the last two decades I have worked for a distributor, run a small distributor, been a partner in a South African wine company, worked for an importer, and run a winery. I have been able to try wines from around the world, blend wine in South Africa, and make wine in Texas.

At one point I decided I needed to be more serious about learning wine. I took and passed the intermediate, advanced, & Diploma courses from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust.

I have taught wine classes at the winery I managed and at Texas Tech University for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. I have been a guest lecturer at other universities.

I am now a student in the Institute of Masters of Wine study program.  I have passed the Theory test & now I am studying to pass the Practical exam.  That means that I have to try a lot of wine!

I am married and have two wonderful girls. I love football. I still love wine.

You can reach me at phillipdanielanderson@gmail.com.