Trained as an engineer and raised in a dry household, Michelle (@thevinodiva) was not a likely candidate to become a Wine Adventurer.

After the early days of white zinfandel and Paul Mason in a carafe, her palate followed a common progression to California chardonnays, Washington State rieslings, and whichever under $8 red wine from the grocery store had a pretty label on the bottle.

But then, love struck hard, in a glass of (then) hard-to-find Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc. The open bottle, obtained in a wine auction and leftover from a family dinner a few nights earlier, was pulled out to sip during Thanksgiving Eve preparations. Thoughts of turkey were put on hold once the crisp aromas of grapefruit and lime wafted up from the glass.  The pale straw-green wine hit the tongue with a bracing tingle of acid and flavors of otherworldly citrus.  This was no glass of wine; it was a rocket ride of flavor.  That was 20 years ago, and her palate was never the same again.