the not serious Elaine Chukan Brown

I recently had the pleasure of parking up in the Cabana at Black Barn in Hawkes Bay and riffing on wine life with wine writer Elaine Chukan Brown. I say wine writer but actually they are much more than simply that. 

Elaine’s wine journey started in earnest in 2011 but it’s the life they had in the lead up to then that brings a richness and depth and, at times great humour, to this chat. 

Originally from Alaska, Elaine now calls Sonoma, California home and to spice things up they rocked up to our get together with a bottle of wine from Washington state. That threw me - especially as it was a Sauvignon Blanc blend. You could call that a ballsie move to sit down with a kiwi and pour them a glass of that stuff but what it actually was, was an incredible portal that saw us transcend into chatting about prohibition, the great depression, world war II and the effects it had on the American wine trade as well as Elaine’s time spent training camels. You heard that right but here’s the thing. The training camels came after a stint as a Tarot card reader for a Dial-a-Psychic gig which came after a decade of fishing for salmon. 

Not serious enough for ya? I’m deadly serious when I say this one is a cracker folks. After all those various vocations, Elaine has ended up dedicating their time to being a global wine educator, a wine mentor, a wine lover but mostly an absolute advocate for the people behind the bottle. 

The list of credentials Elaine has earned when it comes to wine is far reaching and includes publishing a wine book, The Wines Of California, assisting with the publication of the 4th and 5th editions of the Oxford Companion to Wine along with freelance writing for all the top wine mags. Perhaps most importantly, they co-founded the Diversity in Wine Leadership Forum, and has advised diversity initiatives in multiple countries around the world. 

They were in Aotearoa for the 2024 Chardonnay Symposium - a two day exploration of everything Chardonnay held in Heretaunga, Hastings by Hawkes Bay Wine. The key theme for the conference was to discuss a ’sense of place’ and Elaine was asked to offer their take on it all, from Canterbury to California or Bannockburn to Burgundy. With deep roots to their own place and an academic background in Philosophy (that came after all the camels), they were one of the very best wine people to help define what a sense of place even means. 

So, shuffle your tarot cards, pour something that makes you think hard and get the cold smoked salmon plated up. This is the not serious Elaine Chukan Brown.

not serious wine chats would like to thank our supporters:
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Special thanks to my pal, Benj Brooking of Popular.nz for his help with the editing. An expert filmmaker, editing these chats is being done as one mate helping another. Thanks Benj. You're a legend.

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