For my fellow women with the side hustle or two or for those in male dominated fields, I’m sure you can relate to that inevitable burn out phase that hits you every so often. The feelings of complacency or exhaustion or futility, where you’re just like “give me a glass of wine and a puppy and let me zen out of a minute before I have a complete meltdown or quit my job.”

I was in the midst of that the other week when I attended the Women, Wine, Makers event hosted by local winemaker Rachel Silkowski and local artist Kristine Claghorn. The event is monthly wine tasting, featuring women winemakers, with an added art workshop. At this event, hosted at Space 15 Twenty, we created roll-on fragrances and room spray with the help of Kristine, while tasting three wines, including Rachel’s own Rasi 2014 Pinot Noir (Santa Rita Hills.) The event’s proceeds (a reasonable $22 per ticket) went to the Downtown Women’s Center.

I left feeling completely inspired (and a bit tipsy).

Wine tasting events can be a bit prissy or pretentious. This event definitely wasn’t. Aimed at the millennial demographic, it proved totally accessible and affordable. Rachel and Kristine were friendly and down to earth, while being so cool and badass.

The event was also interactive and fun and instructional. Rachel introduced each of the wines with a little background on the women winemakers, while also being informative about grape varietals and tasting notes. Kristine provided each of us with a beautiful postcard, with one of her original watercolor designs, with a helpful guide to essential oils on the back. She spent a little time with each of the guests to help them nail down their scent palettes.

The group in attendance was small, roughly about 15 people, and it included a couple of men! I appreciated the inclusiveness. The event totally celebrated women winemakers and feminine spirit, but men can enjoy that too! The spring evening event felt intimate and casual.

I spent a few minutes chatting with Rachel about her journey into wine making. Wine has been a passion of hers for years and it is an art she has perfected. Her pinot restored my faith in pinots, (I’d actually been rather bored for pinots for awhile), and her enthusiasm is infectious.

Women, Wine, Makers was really the sweetest, most earnest and loveliest event I’ve attended in a minute and the great wine was just the icing on the cake.