Kristi Mayfield (00:01)
I am so excited to welcome my guest today, Anna Mpinga, who is actually not at all in the wine industry, but she is a financial services professional with Crystal Clear Financial Group and New York Life. I'm sure you've heard of those. Now, I met Anna through a local business event and I invited her to be part of my marketing research leading up to the launch of Everyday Sommelier's podcast. Now, while her career doesn't necessarily relate to wine,

as a business professional, Anna's world revolves around wine via mixers, client dinners, business association engagements, and more. Now, having myself 20 plus years of business development where client engagements were a regular occurrence, I can relate to the pain points and frustrations that Anna, I have.

I can relate to the pain points and frustrations Anna has shared with me. So it's super exciting to be able to share real life experiences on the show today. And this is actually going to be part of, first part of a two part interview with Anna. So you're going to have to stay tuned until the end of the episode to understand why that is. So Anna, thank you, thank you, thank you so much for being with me today on Everyday Sommelier Welcome to the show.

Anna Mpinga (01:10)
you

Thank you. I'm excited to be here. Absolutely. I'm excited to honestly learn from you. ⁓ I stumbled into the industry in a little bit of the untraditional way. And I want to make sure that I continue networking the proper way with confidence. Because again, I'm a little bit like a fish out of the waters when it comes to this topic of wine. So I'm excited. I'm excited to jump in and get started.

Kristi Mayfield (01:52)
That's awesome. And you're not alone in feeling like a fish out of water. Somehow we have made wine so complex and so scary. Today, our conversation is going to be about you, about breaking down what you feel, how wine makes you either excited or nervous. And so when we very first met on it, you mentioned to me that when you go to these business events and

go to the bar to get a glass of wine. Most of the time, it's dry wines that are being served. And this can be a real challenge for you. So can you share what is this experience? How does it make you feel? What frustrates you about this based upon where you are in your wine journey?

Anna Mpinga (02:41)
Yeah, that's an, I totally remember ⁓ where we had bumped into each other and it was the Tri-Chamber networking event. And again, we were given drink tickets, right? So it's like, boy, here, here it goes. What is everybody gonna order? Like, what am I gonna order? Cause a lot of the times you have to have an acquired palette I have to, but it seems like everyone else around me has an acquired.

Kristi Mayfield (02:43)
You

Yes.

Anna Mpinga (03:09)
palette for the dry stuff. Like there's nothing dry about me. You know, I'm like, sweet, sweet, sweet to the max. Like I needed to give me a cavity. I need a reason to go see my dentist. Like that's the type of wines that I've been telling myself. Like this is what I enjoy. This is what I like. However, in these, you know, business events and networking spaces, my palette is not typically

Kristi Mayfield (03:13)
Not at all!

Anna Mpinga (03:38)
you know, the top of the wine lists that has been selected for the night. And so for me, sometimes it's like a little jarring experience, like walking up to the bartender and they're so excited to just pour you a little something, take that ticket and you go on your merry way. ⁓ But for me, I'm like, boy, what is everybody drinking? Okay, how do you pronounce that? What does this taste like again? Is this sweet? And sometimes I'm like bold and brass. I'm like, what's the sweetest thing you got?

Kristi Mayfield (03:59)
Yeah

Anna Mpinga (04:08)
And it's like the driest thing there. And they're it's bright. And I'm like, okay, know, can you throw a little lime or lemon in there to make it look fancy? And it's just a little bit, you know, discouraging in a sense where I want to fit in, you know, everyone is enjoying a nice little glass here and there, but my face tells you everything you need to know by just me taking one sip.

You know, and so it's like, ⁓ man, how does somebody like me kind of work into that, build that palette to acquire some additional, ⁓ I should say, be open to more than acquire, be open, right? To trying something different and my face not give it up right away with like, woo, we just wasted a drink ticket. Now what? Right?

Kristi Mayfield (05:03)
Well, it sounds if I'm hearing you correctly, Anna, it sounds like that experience makes you really kind of feel out of place ⁓ with other white other business professionals at those events. And it really impacts your confidence and sounds as though it kind of impacts your ability or just your whole networking opportunity simply because there's not something

that aligns with your palate. Is that a fairly accurate statement and how can you expand on that?

Anna Mpinga (05:39)
Yeah, so when I get up there and you know, have that Dread and they have been some moments where I'm like, I'll just yep I'll take the chardonnay because everybody's drinking there, right? And I just take that step and I'm like, I hope no one saw me that kind of spit it back in there Right, and you know the whole night I'm kind of just like holding this glass and I'm like trying to pivot to like Okay

you know, one of those icebreakers, it's like, you know, what are you drinking? You know, what is your, you know, favorite choice? Kind of just building that little bit of rapport, right? I know for some it's like really wine. That's what's, you know, impacting you from breaking in and having a conversation. ⁓ At the same time, it's like, it's still those little details that you never know that lead into really awesome conversations by just having that little icebreaker to be able to add something.

to break the ice, to introduce the first thing, you know, shouldn't have to be, what do you do for a living? What do you do for business? Right? It's like, what do you like about, you know, that selection, you know, the notes, the, is it okay? Is it not? Is it sweet? What, what notes do you taste? And I'm just like, I taste a foot, but I can't say that, you know, because I'm not used to it, but it's so good to other people, you know, like.

There are friends of mine who, if I even try to give them any of the Moscato's that I so much love to praise, they're like, are you trying to poison me? Right? Because it's not for them. It's not for them at all. But it's like, how do I use, right, just those little, ⁓ little conversational starters to break that ice? And wine is one of the best ways at a networking event. Hey, what are you drinking? nice.

Kristi Mayfield (07:08)
Right.

Anna Mpinga (07:26)
haven't tried that. I should try it next time. Or this is what I think. And it just helps you build that initial rapport and kind of lower the tension. You could feel the tension lower in the room because it's like, OK, they're not trying to sell me anything. Like we're just literally building off of common interest. But if you don't have that common interest or anything to add and you're like me, you're making faces and they're trying to interpret what your face is saying. Right? Yeah.

Kristi Mayfield (07:36)
That's.

night.

They're like, do I smell?

Anna Mpinga (07:55)
Yeah, so that's kind of where, you know, I'm like, help me, you know, help me overcome some of those humps. And I'm sure there's more people out there who are like, girl, stick to your little moscato.

Kristi Mayfield (07:55)
Yeah.

Right. And I think.

And I would say exactly the same to you, but I think one of the things, and this is totally like off script, which is the magic of being in the vehicle of a podcast is opening up and saying, I so want to enjoy a broader range of wines. Right now I'm still in Moscato land. That's where my happy place is.

Did you have a similar experience? And how did you transition from sweeter wines to the drier wines they're serving tonight? I mean, what a great, what a great icebreaker instead of saying, Hey, what's in your glass, but really getting them to tell you the story of how they went from where you seem to feel like you are, which is not a bad thing. It's absolutely an amazing thing because you know what you like, but just

like listening to other people tell the journey on how they started and where they are in their wine journey could be a really great experience for a great conversation.

Anna Mpinga (09:14)
Absolutely. And I appreciate you ⁓ bringing that point of like, okay, I'm not alone, right? Validating like my one experience. It's like, hey, you're not alone. I'm not the first and I'm not going to be the last to go through this, right? Journey because networking is really centered on ⁓ having like genuine conversation that sometimes has nothing to do with our businesses, right? Because you genuinely get to learn that people are people and they want to feel

Kristi Mayfield (09:20)
No you're

Mm.

Anna Mpinga (09:44)
They want to feel appreciated, valued. And they also want to know that you're interested. They don't want to know that you're an interesting person. They want to know that you're interested in what they have to say. And for me, ⁓ I'm such a sponge when it comes to learning. Like I want to know it all. I want to soak it all in so that way I can apply it. ⁓ And being able to learn from you, right, to take little tips and tricks where

Kristi Mayfield (09:51)
Yes.

Anna Mpinga (10:13)
and just shift just a little here, right? It could be language, like the question you proposed of, what was your journey like? I'm right here, right? I'm owning up my vulnerability in the wine world. Or like, okay, I'm right here. For someone who is very enthusiastic and you seem to really enjoy the variety that I'm like, no, stay away from me.

Right? Not necessarily, how do you convert me? But what was that journey like? And sometimes, you know, hearing those experiences, you can relate that to a lot of different ⁓ opportunities or a lot of different spaces, you know, in work, in your personal life, but just learning about the journey and why, you know, the transition occurred. Right? This is where I started, but this is not where I'm going to end up.

And so it's through having those conversation again, that can translate and literally magically take you to a place where it's like, my God, we need to get together because I need to learn more. I am so sorry. I took up all this time just learning about your interest in wine. I didn't even get to know about your business. Let's get coffee. Right. And they're like, ⁓ absolutely. Let's do that. But you know what? Let's not get coffee. Let's go try out this wine spot so we can have more opportunities. Right.

to have more engaging conversations. So I'm excited for those opportunities that are gonna come for me to be able to just ⁓ utilize certain language and different questions instead of the straightforward, like, do you like that? Yes or no.

Kristi Mayfield (11:52)
Yes. And I think you brought up such a beautiful element of wine in general. If you were both having, let's say, a Cosmo or a Gin and Tonic, that conversation really doesn't necessarily apply as well. But wine is and historically has been such a great networking and it's been for centuries the centerpiece of great discussions and

great relationship building. So I'm really thrilled that that you sense that and are willing to let that be an exploration, not only for a networking purpose, but also to, to learn how can you potentially translate a tip somebody gives you into your own line experience to take it maybe to that next level. So I really do. I really love that. But there's also in, I think,

part of what I sensed when we started talking about wine months ago is the misconceptions that are out there about wine and that you have to buy into all of these different things and perceptions about wine. Are there misconceptions that hold you back? Different misconceptions that either you've read or somebody's told you or you've experienced at these events? ⁓

Anna Mpinga (13:18)
One of the biggest misconceptions I think even sometimes, for me, I still kind of fall into the trap. And one of them is that you have to drink something. You really don't. You really don't need to use that drink ticket. know, you really don't. ⁓ And also, like, if you don't know something, just ask somebody.

Like, hey, I'm actually pretty, and be vulnerable to say, what is your honest recommendation coming from somebody who enjoys, you know, the sweeter things in life, right? What would you recommend? Right? Kind of walk me through your thought process. And also feeling like I have to fit in and kind of know something in order to belong or be part of the conversation. Sometimes it's the differences.

that bring people together a lot more than the commonalities just as much, right? And for me, I'm learning that like, ⁓ boy, this misconception could either 100 % like take me on the left side of the room to where I'm like afraid to say something or it cripples me or I can lean into the misconception and confront it, right? Hey, this is how I think and feel about it. Do you think the same?

What's that all about? Right? Is it because I'm like a woman, I'm supposed to have more like ⁓ more white wines, right? Why are men naturally gravitating towards red wines? Like, what's that about? Right. And just asking those questions instead of again, one of those things where some of us do, it's like I answer those questions in my head. But it's like, Anna, stop talking for people. Like, let them answer. Right.

Kristi Mayfield (15:05)
hahahaha

Anna Mpinga (15:08)
And it's okay not to know. Like, I don't believe anyone in the room expects me to know a lot of the things that I think they're expecting me to know, right? And it's like, I just need to know that like, hey, I like my sweet stuff and that's okay. And that's it. And that's it.

Kristi Mayfield (15:25)
Yes.

you are spot on in that, you know, we do, unfortunately, with wine, we assume, especially in a business setting, we assume that if they have a glass of wine in their hands, that they know something about wine. And I wish we could just dispel that overall, because putting yourself and everyone else in a no judgment zone.

around wine makes the conversation better, makes everyone happier. We learn more, we engage more, we experience more. When we put that, I know everything, even if I don't, like I'm faking it until I make it. If we do that, others will do that too. So that open honesty, Anna that you just expressed will go so far with other people potentially sitting in the same shoes as you're in right now.

Anna Mpinga (16:19)
Yeah.

Kristi Mayfield (16:19)
but they're trying to fake it so that they fit in. we don't have to do that. We shouldn't do that. We should all. I still am exploring wines that I know as, you know, with someone with all the certifications I have, I should love. And I still am struggling to make them fit into my palette. I enjoy trying them, but am I going to order them at a restaurant? The answer is no. And the reason is it's not

Anna Mpinga (16:34)
Yeah.

Right.

Kristi Mayfield (16:48)
that's not my flavor palette. So wine should be about your enjoyment, but it doesn't mean that I don't want to learn more about it. So I love that no judgment perspective around wine. Yeah. So have you, I know where you sit with sweet wines and I know you haven't crossed the dry wine bridge yet, which is great. But what have you tried or have you tried?

Anna Mpinga (16:50)
Yeah

Right.

Right, thank you.

Kristi Mayfield (17:16)
to what have you tried to move towards drier wines? What strategies have you potentially tried to leverage? And what was the result?

Anna Mpinga (17:27)
Yeah, one, obviously the networking portion with the limited, you know, selections there. The other one on Thanksgiving around Thanksgiving or Christmas, ⁓ one or the other, depending on the year, I would visit my little sister in L.A. And she's actually ⁓ she'll be a great person, too, for you as well, because I feel like she's a little bit more.

⁓ knowledgeable in the sense that she joined a wine club of some sort, some organization that like sent her, she pays like a monthly premium or something. And then they send her different selections and things like that. ⁓ and so anytime I would visit her, she's like, girl, this is what we got. You either, know, you're going to try it. Right. And you know, for what I discovered through that, and it's like,

Kristi Mayfield (18:13)
Hahaha

Love it or hate it. Yeah.

Anna Mpinga (18:23)
Over time, right, you could start like becoming a little bit used to it, or it grows on you, right? After a couple of sips, but I've also noticed that the drier sides have a little bit more alcohol content than the sweeter side. I don't know why that is, maybe you know. Why is that? Not to like hijack your question.

Kristi Mayfield (18:43)
do. So no,

I think it's it is a great question. So ⁓ sweeter wines, a lot of sweet wines are made by actually stopping the fermentation process before all of the alcohol, all of I'm sorry, all of the sugar is consumed by the yeast, which turns into alcohol. And so you do see a lot of sweeter wines in say that eight or nine, even maybe 10 % alcohol.

where traditional dry wines are going to be 11 % at minimum and up to the 14%, 15%. Because they chill the wine down to where the yeast can no longer consume the sugar, then they filter that yeast out, leaving a lot of residual sugar in the wine. That's one of the ways it can happen. You can also add sugar at different points. But that is typically where you get that result with a very low alcohol percentage.

Anna Mpinga (19:12)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm. ⁓

Yeah ⁓

Yeah, ⁓ gotcha. Yeah, she she's like girl. This is how we're drinking, you know ⁓ and So every time I go to her I'm like, okay I either have to make sure like as soon as I land like I stop somewhere and get me one of mine's or like I'm gonna brave it and that's it my you know friends one of my you know, close friends she ⁓

Kristi Mayfield (19:41)
Yep. Yeah.

Anna Mpinga (20:07)
she's into Pinot Noirs, right? So she's like, that's her thing. So when we have like friendly dinners, like I would go and get a Pinot ⁓ Noir for her. And then for one of our other friends who's kind of like in between, I would find like a nice Riesling. And then there's one of ⁓ us in our group, she's a Rosé type of girl. Like, and she's never gonna deviate. And I love her for it, cause she stands on business. This is what I like and that's it. And I'm out here like.

Show me your ways, I wish, you know. I could be like that and be like, hey, this is what I like and that's it. I've tried all this stuff and I don't need to adjust or try anything else. And then there's me, right? ⁓ And I'm more on the sweeter side, love me. Again, I'll keep referring to the Moscados because that's what I like. I like it to taste like juice, you know?

Kristi Mayfield (20:38)
Hehehe

Mm-hmm.

Anna Mpinga (21:05)
Barely, barely anything in there, alcohol content wise. ⁓ But it's through a lot of just like trial and error. And they're like, just try it. If you don't like it, don't like it. You can always go back to what you enjoy consuming or whatever makes you happy. That's your business. So I've had some opportunities, right? But when I go select something for myself,

Kristi Mayfield (21:31)
Mm-hmm.

Anna Mpinga (21:36)
I have my go-tos, right? however, unless someone like, comes over and they bring a bottle, well, of course I'm not gonna be rude and be like, I'm not drinking that. I'll brave it and just be like, this is gonna be a one glass half a night for me, right? No refills whatsoever. And again, like that's how I get a little bit of my exposure.

Kristi Mayfield (21:37)
You're right.

Anna Mpinga (22:04)
through others and networking where they really don't have much of an in-between. They either have two options for whites ⁓ and then two options for reds. And they're typically not your traditional Rieslings or Moscatos or things like that.

Kristi Mayfield (22:06)
bright.

Right.

Right, right. So based upon what you just described, if you could design a perfect ideal wine list for a business event, ⁓ what would you include on it in order to cater to all attendees?

Anna Mpinga (22:43)
Yeah. See that's tough when the ownership is on the coordinator, right? Because it's like Virgo side of me would be like, well, let's send out a survey and see what people like. But the world doesn't work that way. Right. Like you just know people are coming. Obviously you definitely need to have more selections or higher quantity of certain things. But like I would, you know, honestly have on hand like one or

one or two bottles that are on the sweeter side. Offer it, if it runs out, like, it was so popular, we done ran out.

Kristi Mayfield (23:22)
No, and that you bring up a great point, because a lot of the constraints around some of these business events, or you are, quote unquote, required to utilize the wines that they have available. If you use a hotel ballroom, you have to use the wines off the hotels list. But one of the things I always try to do at events is I always ask, should we have a non alcoholic wine? Because

Anna Mpinga (23:38)
Bye.

Mm-hmm.

Kristi Mayfield (23:50)
that's

a growing market and there are people who want the experience of wine but don't want the alcohol. Great. I always, we're going to have a bottle to your point. We're going to have a bottle available to anyone who wants or needs that. ⁓ It doesn't hurt as an event coordinator to say, okay, here's my white or whites, here's my red or reds and I am going to have a couple of bottles of those, let's just call it on the fringe.

Anna Mpinga (23:56)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Kristi Mayfield (24:19)
for the people who want the sweeter or want a non-alcoholic wine. So for people out there listening who do coordinate events, have those in your stash, have those, you know, behind the bar, because it is great to be able to cater to the breadth of audience. And you don't have to have a case of everything, just a bottle or two. And it's really going to enhance the experience for Anna, people like yourself who...

Anna Mpinga (24:20)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Kristi Mayfield (24:46)
That would

make, think if I were the bartender and you came up to me and I said, well, I have a Chardonnay Sauvignon Blanc, ⁓ Pinot Noir and a Merlot. And you said, do you by any chance have something sweet? And I said, yes, I do. How would that make you feel?

Anna Mpinga (25:04)
ecstatic. I would have been like, thank you. Right. This would be a really great memorable experience to where it's like, my God, somebody like, listen, like the universe. Thank you. I must've done a good deed last week. Right. And I like, I can confidently walk up to folks and you know, Hey, ask what they're drinking. And when they ask me, I can confidently write, share, Hey, this is what I'm drinking. This is what I love. ⁓ I haven't tried.

Kristi Mayfield (25:05)
you

Anna Mpinga (25:33)
you know that yet, but next time I'm not going to try it next time. However, in the conversation, Hey, next time I will. Um, it's something that I'll think about or, I know someone who is actually in a similar palette as you. will confidently let them know about this recommendation so they can try it too. Um, but you know, really be able to engage and not feel like a little bit of imposter syndrome when it comes to, um, being in a networking space where you kind of

You want to fit in, but at the same time you're like, I want to stand out. But at the same time, it's like, I just want to drink something good that I enjoy. And I don't want to accidentally make a face in front of all these people, right?

Kristi Mayfield (26:17)
that's too funny. That's too funny. Well, I have a couple of, you know, funny little questions, sort of like a game show pop quiz type thing. Are you game to try a few? Okay. All right. Well, the first question is, do you judge wine by your first sip? And if you're guilty, how does it make you feel?

Anna Mpinga (26:27)
Yeah.

Absolutely, let's go, absolutely.

You know, they say you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover for sure, right? ⁓ However, like for me, like before we even get to the taste, like I look at the bottle, like is it pretty? Right? Like is the bottle attractive? Like is the bottle like drawing me in? I could totally like not like what's on the inside. But I'm like, it's pretty. I don't know. I might just go for it. But the first, the

I would say like the first three sips kind of tell me it's like, we're just going to hold it for aesthetics because we're in a networking space. We're not actually going to drink. The first taste on anything, like you make that yes face or that sour, like, you know, and like try to take the first sip, like staring at a wall. So like nobody can like see my full facial expression, you know, if you can.

Kristi Mayfield (27:16)
Okay.

Yep. Yep.

Anna Mpinga (27:41)
And then it's like, okay, maybe I was being a little biased the first time. Let me try it again. know, I'm ready to just like, know, third time's the charm. Maybe, right, by the third time, if I'm still making the same like, I'm like, I'll go back and ask like, is there a way to make this sweeter? You know, like, no, okay, thank you. You're doing a wonderful job though, you know.

Kristi Mayfield (27:47)
Right, right.

Yeah. Yeah.

⁓

I love that. No, and you said it. First sip sometimes is completely driven off the bad end of the taste palette by things like, did you brush your teeth before the event? Or what did you have to eat? Or if it's a really bright and acidic wine, especially white wines.

Anna Mpinga (28:20)
yeah

brain.

Kristi Mayfield (28:28)
Sometimes it can just come across really bitter, but you said you take several sips. You don't judge until like the third sip. And that's, think, the ideal because sometimes that first sip will literally make anyone, whether they're going to love the wine or not love the wine, have that moment. Yeah, yeah. So fun. So fun. So do you experiment with food and wine pairings? And if

Anna Mpinga (28:29)
Right.

Yes.

Absolutely, absolutely. I agree, absolutely.

Kristi Mayfield (28:57)
your answer is not guilty, do you believe that food pairings could potentially enhance your experience?

Anna Mpinga (29:07)
Well, I'm definitely guilty of not pairing. And I've had folks like help me, you know, try to, you know, they'll ask like, ⁓ come over, making dinner, you know, and they'll base up on what I'm making, like if I'm baking salmon, right, or for making steak or for, you know, having pasta, they'll bring, you know, a wine to kind of pair. So I've seen it and it does work. There's a science out there. I don't know who did it, but there's there's a science to it.

that sometimes my love of certain sweetness kind of overrides science. And I am learning to like, hey, just try it. You're not gonna die. The worst thing that's gonna happen is that you're gonna enjoy it because it's gonna pair nicely. Because that's how the whole experience is supposed to be. It's supposed to enhance the flavors and things like that.

Kristi Mayfield (29:45)
you

Anna Mpinga (30:07)
And I think having that kind of a mindset going into is a little different ⁓ versus like my not so great behaviors of like hands laugh, no, we don't do that. ⁓ I'm definitely guilty of not pairing correctly and kind of just going with my gut instinct of like, just stick to what I know. But I know that also robs everyone else around me from the experience of a great pairing, you know.

Kristi Mayfield (30:32)
And I think there's two parts of what you said, if I hear you correctly, you know, it's, we do get too specific at times. And we did like pigeonhole ourselves into that. You have to have a big bold red, like a Cabernet Sauvignon with a steak. And you do have to have white wine with fish, or you have to have X with Y. And those, those are very constricting. And I think when you start to explore beyond those,

Anna Mpinga (30:44)
Enjoy.

Yeah.

Kristi Mayfield (30:59)
it can be really, really fun and it can be really eye opening. And you said it best, no one's going to die at the end of the day. you know, I mean, it might not necessarily enhance. And for me, if like my husband has popped a bottle of wine before I finished cooking and he didn't really know what I was doing and I know it's not going to be the best. Well, I might have a, we'll do our little cheers and kiss and sip. And then I'll just leave it next to my plate while I'm eating my dinner. And then

Anna Mpinga (31:19)
Yes. ⁓

Kristi Mayfield (31:26)
as we're watching a movie later on, that's when I'll enjoy the wine. So the world isn't going to end, ⁓ but I love some of the points you make because one of our next series that I'm going to do here on Everyday Sommelier is going to be about flavor influences, not necessarily on food and specifically food and wine pairings, but like flavor influences and how that can impact. So I think that's going to be a lot of fun. ⁓ So at the end of the day, I think I know the answer to this one.

Anna Mpinga (31:29)
Absolutely.

Yeah.

Kristi Mayfield (31:55)
Do you ignore wine snobbery and just trust your taste? And if you're not guilty of falling prey to snobbery, how does this make you feel?

Anna Mpinga (32:09)
I would say I'm a little bit of, I don't know if I ignore it per se. I am guilty of falling into the trap of like, my God, they know a lot. But then sometimes I tried to like back it up with like, well, you know, back in college, you know, I worked out two wine stores and we did wine tastings, right?

Good point there, like excellent. Yeah, I think, know, Matt Arsomalier said something similar, but then I'm like, what, did I just say? Like what, you know, what the heck? Like girl, just get your drink and go, you know? So it makes me sometimes feel like, we are not in Kansas anymore. Okay. These people are way too deep into this. I'm just here for a good time. Not a long time, you know? So I'm like,

Kristi Mayfield (32:57)
Ha ha!

Anna Mpinga (33:04)
guilty of that person a lot of the times. But I also try to listen between the lines of like, ⁓ they're not sharing to make me feel bad. They're sharing because they're genuinely passionate about this. And they're hoping that I learn something out of it in a good way, not necessarily make me feel like,

Kristi Mayfield (33:23)
Mmm.

Anna Mpinga (33:33)
less than for not knowing, know, or having the experiences that they do. And sometimes like it's a little overwhelming when, you know, folks are throwing jargon and, you language and half of these, you know, wine lists, who knows how to pronounce them anyways, you know, let alone know the type of soil, the degree and the land and the air. I give you props for knowing all of that, because I'm like, I just know my grapes come from Aldi.

know the extent outside of that. And so, you know, I also have a deep appreciation, you know, for someone who's able to share that passion and be able to, you know, confidently like convey their message. And so like, again, I am guilty because it does make me feel sometimes, you know, some type of way it's like, man, I should have paid more attention, you know, when I was working at the wine store. But then I'm like, I wasn't caught.

Kristi Mayfield (34:26)
You

Anna Mpinga (34:30)
I was just trying to make a quick buck, you know? So, but now I'm like, okay, let me actually learn something that I can apply. And just little tweaks here and there to just enhance my experience more than anything. Continue to just enhance my experiences moving forward in different spaces.

Kristi Mayfield (34:50)
I that's that's great because and I appreciate being the one that is like that nerdy kind of sometimes over the top over enthusiastic about wine. I know sometimes people just kind of go okay, kristi snap back into reality here. I mean, literally that's way. Yeah. Exactly. So

Anna Mpinga (35:11)
Remember, it's just me. It's just me. It's Anna. You're talking to like, break it down, English, barely. You know, I'm like,

I can barely speak English as it is.

Kristi Mayfield (35:19)
We definitely need ⁓ to tone it down a bit. But again, I think the no judgment zone kind of goes both ways. ⁓ And I think we just have to be really candid with one another about where we are with our experiences and find that middle ground. And how can we learn from each other? Because I learn so much talking to you about the feelings, the experiences, what you've tried, what you haven't tried. And I think you're doing a great job of trying to say, look,

I kind of fall into this bucket, but I am willing to step outside. just haven't quite found the right path yet, ⁓ but I'm not giving it up. I'm just not giving it up. Exactly. Well, and I think some people that are in that same situation newer to wine or haven't kind of found that journey, you know, fall into some mistakes of, you know, assuming that all wine tastes the same.

Anna Mpinga (35:57)
Right. Yes, we're gonna hang in there. We're gonna hang in there.

Kristi Mayfield (36:17)
after like, let's say you've had one bad experience with a white wine you didn't like. So I'm not going to drink white wine anymore because I don't like it. same with red. You you start off with some big, bold, tannic red Cabernet Sauvignon and it's overwhelming and you go, I don't drink red wine. So exploring and not letting that one experience limit you is definitely something I recommend for anyone. Actually, I recommend it not just for people new to wine.

anyone drinking wine. Don't let one bad experience with a varietal or a style of wine get you down. Don't let it limit you.

Anna Mpinga (36:48)
Yes.

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you.

Thank you for sharing that gentle reminder of like, second try. Okay, third try, right? Keep trying.

Kristi Mayfield (37:00)
Mm hmm. Yeah.

Yeah, keep trying. And one day you may have just that aha moment and find just the thing you've been looking for. ⁓ And I think from sitting kind of on the other side of things, when you might be more experienced with wine, or you might, ⁓ you might have adopted a flavor palette to dryer wines, we often see people, you know, making that mistake. And you as a listener might be thinking,

know, sweet wines really aren't serious wines at all. So what is Anna talking about? Why is she stuck on on Moscato? Well, here's what I would tell anyone in that situation. There are 100 different styles, hundreds of different styles of wines, because guess why people drink them, they like them, they enjoy them. There's a wine for everyone and some of the world's greatest wines like Chateau d'Yquem Quim-Sauternes, most coveted wines in the world.

Anna Mpinga (37:32)
Brain.

Right.

Kristi Mayfield (37:59)
are sweet wines. So I think that is definitely yes.

Anna Mpinga (38:01)
Right. Yes, I love that. See,

I don't even know what you just said. Chato de something something. As long as it's sweet, sign me up. I don't know what it's called, what it's spelled like, but it sounds very eloquent. It sounds very demure, very poised, very me. Chato de something something out there. And I'm like, yeah, I'll take that. I'll take that.

Kristi Mayfield (38:09)
Okay.

⁓ Chateau to Anna. Yeah, okay.

Well, you know what, let's make it a point to, I'll expose you to that at some point. But it's gonna be a little bit beyond the budget of wines that we're going to talk about if you are open, Anna. I'd love to talk through some suggestions of different wines that maybe you could go try between now and part two of this episode.

Anna Mpinga (38:32)
Thank you.

Kristi Mayfield (38:49)
you know, would you be willing to give it a go and potentially get a group of friends rate and review these three wines and come back to that next conversation and share what you experienced.

Anna Mpinga (39:02)
Yeah, I think that sounds pretty awesome. I'm very much open to exploring and just kind of learning a little bit of different varieties and expanding my palette outside of what I'm just used to. I'm excited for it because I get to, again, share that experience with my friends and have those natural conversations. You just see what everybody else likes, what they're into, what they're not into, what I'm into, what I'm not into compared to them.

Kristi Mayfield (39:32)
Mm-hmm.

Anna Mpinga (39:32)
and being able to kind of practice around, you know, folks that you know, like, and trust that they're not going to judge you. Right. So when you get to that, you know, business meeting, when you're ordering for, you know, in front of a client or a networking and you're ordering in front of a stranger, that's potentially a prospect, that's potentially a client, you do it with confidence. You do it with ease. You're able to have those, you know, conversations and spark something that intrigues them. And now you're, you know,

They're interested in hearing what you have to say, right? So I'm excited.

Kristi Mayfield (40:06)
Okay, great. Well, some of these recommendations are fairly, you you've probably even tried them before. And if so, we're going to move to the next one. But ⁓ I just did an episode on rose and kind of rose in the US really got its legs from white Zinfandel. And it's one of those wines we've kind of pushed to the back. You know, we've said, we've all as especially in the US, we all moved beyond white Zinfandel.

but it still sells millions of cases every year. So white Zinfandel is one of those, especially moving into summer, I think would be a great option for you. So I don't know how much experience you have with white Zinfandel.

Anna Mpinga (40:48)
My experience will be very limited from the time, again, when I worked at ⁓ the liquor store. Shout out to Nancy, if you're listening, Nancy. She took a chance on me and exposed me to a lot of great selections. And she did tell me ⁓ back in 2019, 2020, right before I graduated, ⁓ she was like, your palette is going to expand, and you're going to have a lot more fun exploring.

non-sweets. Once you leave your Moscato Comfort, you're going to enjoy some awesome, you know, some awesome delicious wines. And I was like, Nancy, no way, never going to happen. Right. And then look at me five years later, exploring. So I'll owe her a phone call after I try them. And I'm like, Nancy, you can never guess what I just tried.

Kristi Mayfield (41:26)
You

at you. Exactly. I love that. Exactly.

And she'd love to listen to this, I'm sure. Okay, so White Zinfandel is number one, and of course, I'll send all of these to you. And then you did mention Riesling, and Riesling is everything from bone dry to super, super luxuriously sweet. And when you get into trokenbeerenauslese and ice wines, which I'm not going to ask you to take a quiz on that one. ⁓ But

Anna Mpinga (42:00)
Thank you.

Kristi Mayfield (42:01)
But there

are some mid-range and the great thing about Rieslings lately is on the back of the labels they typically will now have a scale that shows dry to sweet and then a little vertical line showing where that wine falls. So finding something that's somewhere in the middle to just a little bit left and we can pick out these wines together anytime you want. But an off-dry Riesling especially if you're eating with some spicy Asian food is absolutely something I'd love for you to ⁓ put into your

rotation between now and the next episode. Okay. And then Lambrusco which is an Italian slightly fizzy somewhere between a still wine and a full sparkling wine, but it is a red wine. So it has some of those, you know, red fruit flavors, cherries, black fruit flavors like blackberries, but most Lambruscos are on the sweeter side and they can be served

Anna Mpinga (42:34)
Absolutely. Thank you.

Kristi Mayfield (42:59)
a little chilled. So again, going into Texas summer as we're about to do, it's a fun option from, you know, everything we've been talking about, for the most part is white wine. So a labrusco and then and I'll text this to you. But if you look for ⁓ amabile or dolce on the label, those are going to indicate that sweetness. So if you think of dolce, you know, ⁓ as sweet. So

Anna Mpinga (43:24)
Yes.

Kristi Mayfield (43:25)
Okay perfect and these also go great with your summer barbecues, meat and cheese boards, things like that.

Anna Mpinga (43:32)
love that.

Kristi Mayfield (43:33)
Cool, cool. Okay, so we have our three wines and then I'm gonna toss out, if you're game, a suggestion for anyone who's at that business event and the coordinator has not put a sweeter wine on the rotation is to ask the bartender to make you a wine cocktail, which is essentially either a rose or a white wine mixed half and half.

with like Sprite or 7-Up. So you know don't have to go either or mix them together over ice and if they've got you know a little cranberry juice or or something that you want a splash of but just mix those two half and half and drink it as a cocktail and that is a fabulous way to take a drier wine and add a little bit of sweetness as well as a little fizz to it.

Anna Mpinga (44:26)
I knew there was a way where there's a will, there's a way. There's a way for us to be able to order whatever is out there, but make it, you know, add a little sweet touch and make it our own. No, I love that recommendation. And that's exactly moving forward. One of the things that I will start because at least that half and half will be able right to get me ⁓ to start building up that palette and confidence to be like, OK, maybe just the less less bright.

less bright and then eventually right we'll be able to you know dive into some of those uncharted territory.

Kristi Mayfield (44:58)
Yes.

I love that. So yeah, instead of just going all in with from sweet to dry, let's look at that as maybe the transition drink for your networking events. Okay, awesome. Yeah, I think you'll love it. Well, we've talked a lot about Moscato, which is definitely something for people who are getting into wines. It's, it's, it's

Anna Mpinga (45:14)
Yes. Thank you. I appreciate that.

Kristi Mayfield (45:28)
great entry point and there's some just really fantastic Moscato's they are going to be on the sweeter side but if you're new to wine it's definitely a great starting point. ⁓ Dryer wines like things like a really light Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc they've they've got some if you like things like lemonade and those really crisp types of flavors those can be great transition wines ⁓ for you if you do want to try some reds don't start off with those big tannics.

Cabernet Sauvignon styles, ⁓ but Gamay, which is Bougelet ⁓ from France. You can buy Gamay's from many different countries now, but Bougelet is one. And if you get a Bougelet Village, those wines are really young, just fermented and bottled. And that's going to be a really bright, fun red fruit, chillable red. So Bougelet Village.

Anna Mpinga (45:59)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Okay.

Kristi Mayfield (46:25)
⁓ And, you know, those go from everything from pizza, burgers, sipping by the poolside. ⁓ Those are fun. And then also, ⁓ if you think about Prosecco, there's sweeter Prosecco's. And then those can also go into either the Prosecco's or the Moscato's. Anything that's got some bubbles in it, you you can definitely pair those with, ⁓ you know, Aperol ⁓ or with some Sprite, you know, to get that little bit of fizzy but add a little bit of sweetness to it. So.

Anna Mpinga (46:54)
Yeah,

awesome.

Kristi Mayfield (46:56)
Yeah, so any questions for me, Anna?

Anna Mpinga (47:02)
I feel like you answered a lot of my questions, you know, throughout our conversation and you shed some light on certain things that I was, majority of the time I'm like, huh, is that even worth asking? I don't know. And you've kind of like covered it throughout our conversation. So ⁓ I'm super, super appreciative of the perspective that you're able to share. And also those just little tidbits of how we can reframe some of our questions, right?

elevate the style and be confident in whatever we like at a little splash of sprite, right? And depending on where you're coming from in your wine journey, know that everybody's on a different path or everyone is at a different level. So it's like, let's not compare, right? Let's not compete, right? Let's compliment one another and just have awesome conversations. So thank you for that.

Kristi Mayfield (47:57)
learn. Yeah,

I love that. I love that. Well, let me just summarize a couple of the tips that we have talked about today. So when you're talking about whether you're beginning your own wine journey, or whether you've got somebody in your family or your friends circle that's beginning their wine journey, and you know, exploring beyond what they know today with different wines, like the Rieslings we talked about those off dry Rieslings, Moscato, Lambrusco, etc. Those can be

great ways to kind of start your journey and explore within that just a little bit sweeter or off dry palette. But because they do have some things like bright acidity and grapefruit that can be a nice lead-in to more drier styles over time. Pairings, food and wine pairings, if you do like sweeter wines

finding the perfect pairings for them such as spicier foods, spicy Mexican foods, spicy Asian food, those sweeter wines, whether you're only drinking sweeter wines or whether you're a dry wine person and you're interested in what a sweeter wine can do, that's the perfect food and wine pairing to really just enhance because the sweetness tames that heat from the food. And then, you know, don't be afraid to

take that glass of wine and make it into a spritzer with some sparkling wine or some sprite or something bubbly because it's a you know I have had lots of wine spritzers in my life a lot of people start off their dinners with that type of aperitif so drinking that at your events is absolutely going to be right up your alley and you can be confident and bold in all of it.

Anna Mpinga (49:39)
Mmm.

Yes, I love it. I love it. Thank you so much for having me today.

Kristi Mayfield (49:52)
And ⁓

absolutely. And for our listeners out there, don't be afraid to experiment to find out what your favorite wines are. Take what you know, take what you love and look just outside of that to find new wines that might just excite your taste buds and move you along to the next part of your wine journey. So Anna, it has been a real pleasure. I've so enjoyed our conversation and I can't wait to have you back in a couple of episodes.

and hear how you explored the white Zinfandel off-dry Riesling, and Lambrusco

Anna Mpinga (50:27)
Yes, likewise. I'm excited for my wine journey. Like, we're whining, you know, whining down, letting go, and just enjoying the experience.

Kristi Mayfield (50:38)
love that. I love that and my motto is learn wine your way and I think this will be a great great way for you to do so.

Anna Mpinga (50:45)
Thank you.