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I passed my D1 (Wine Production) exam!!!

I would like to share with you a bit of this joy, but also how much work there is behind. It was not easy to balance studying, work and private life but I managed. How?

I studied every single day with just a few exceptions. I did the bare social minimum, I luckily had my husband make me eat, i stood up almost every day at 6AM, studied before work, in my lunch break, after work, after sport, in the plane, in the car, in the bus and sometimes in bed till my eyes shut down. And don’t get me wrong, I love doing it. But i do feel I am non stop at 220V.

What happened after the exam? I had maybe a cheat month (which I now regret a bit) to really arrive in my new job, finish some Pointer projects, and enjoy some family time. And after that, I went right back to it, but with a pinch of summer gratitude, enjoying my fav season in the world despite the amount of information that I need to stuff my head with.

I have been prepping for the next WSET Global challenge: D2 (Wine Business), D4 (Sparkling) and D5 (Fortified). Theory and tasting. Found a tasting buddy in Berlin which makes it all more fun. I am in constant exchange with my Greek colleagues, and we hold each other accountable almost everyday, which truly boosts confidence and enthusiasm. Not to mention the amazing set of learning skills that my school in Athens WSPC Konstantinos Lazarakis MW has equipped me with. And I keep on studying everywhere: on the balcony, at the airport, in the train, in the garden, on the boat, with a glass of wine or not next to me :) Sometimes I look up from my papers and I see the beautiful sunsets, or my husband swimming, or my bestie studying as well.

So here’s a collection of all these studying moments and hopefully memories I will cherish forever.

24h to remember at Forsthaus Strelitz

It was great to be far away from the big city and enjoy a bit of peace, excellent ingredients, great attention to detail in the kitchen and in service, balanced pairing with some home made ciders and fruit wine next to wine bangers, exciting wine list with enough space to (re)taste old time favs and try new things, and the clearest star-lit sky (with even a few shooting stars) I have seen in a while.

To say more would be redundant, you‘ll have to set foot there and meet these people in person.

Thank you for having us in your small corner of paradise!

an evening well spent a couple of weeks ago at Matthias , with amazing wines carefully selected by Michael Stiel , wonderful hosting by Janine Woltaire , the unique menu of Silvio Pfeufer and the best company, my husband. Not to mention it was also my 37th spin around this beautiful Globe which I still hope we will get to save.

Drank Domaine Trapet , Azienda Agricola Foradori and other magical sips, tried both vegetarian and omnivore menus, fell in love with the cobia fish dish and its vegetarian sister may turnip with a touch of rhubarb.

Cannot wait to return! Grateful to have been able to experience this and NOT taking it for granted.

May dump 3 months later, because life took me by surprise.

I understood almost nothing from May. It was an avalanche of life changes, work and study load, and my usual Berlin-Bucharest-Athens dance, with some extra spice. I started working together with .suff , went on my first wine trip with them, had my first service at .bucharest , the restaurant I wine-consult in Bucharest, co-hosted with .studio our lovely wine bar popup evening Cuvéest, had some corporate tastings, a beautiful Greek-Romanian dinner co-histed with and .tsalikis and yes, I studied day and night for my WSET Level 4, with short ice-cream, beer and friends+family breaks to recharge my batteries.

When I look back, I can only think of 2 words: survival and blossom. Because I don’t know how else to live my personal and professional life than at 200%.

1 year of Cuvéest, 1 year of neighborhood friendship, 1 year and 7 evenings of great wine and people in our cosy Kiez in Charlottenburg. A project that was born on the sidewalk and that keeps on giving.

Our hearts are full of gratitude for the countless meaningful moments we spent together and we cannot wait to welcome you once more, to celebrate with a BANG this milestone: your favourite wines by the glass, pizza, DJs and great weather ☀️!

📍 .studio , Haubachstr. 26
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🍕 .locorotondo
🕰️ 18:00

All the love,
Lauri, Ramo, A***no