June 23, 2025
Summary: In this insightful blog, renowned keynote speaker and wine expert Karen MacNeil shares her most terrifying speaking experience—following a lineup of high-profile women including NBC’s Hoda Kotb and First Lady Laura Bush at a Fortune 100 leadership event. Watching the audience’s reaction to each speaker, Karen realized that effective keynote speaking isn’t about fame or […]
June 19, 2025
Summary:Â Â Wine lovers are captivated by a single elusive question: what makes a wine truly great? This essay explores the deeper dimensions of wine appreciation to come to an understanding of greatness. Drawing from her research as a book author and her executive wine tastings, wine expert Karen MacNeil introduces 12 essential attributes that define the […]
June 5, 2025
Summary: In this thoughtful reflection, wine expert and book author Karen MacNeil reveals why describing wine flavor can be so challenging—even for those with discerning palates. Unlike food, which has an agreed-upon vocabulary tied to taste and experience, wine lacks its own inherent linguistic framework. As a result, wine drinkers borrow metaphors and use personal […]
May 22, 2025
Right now, there’s a lot of sex in the vineyards. (Strictly between the vines of course). And it may sound odd to say, but it’s also a great time to visit wine country. Cultivated vines are hermaphroditic, meaning that the reproductive organs of both sexes are simultaneously present. So, come late Spring, grapevines pollinate themselves. […]
