What inspired you to create your collection of wines?
I love to compete and like the challenge of making the best product possible in every category we enter. Being restless by nature, I am NEVER satisfied which is frustrating for those around me but this is also a source of energy which is a growing need as each year passes by!

Are there other wine makers you look up to and why?
I completely identify with what both Ricard Rofes and Fernando Mora are doing: “simple winemaking” that enhances fruit picked at the optimum moment and a quest for balance, freshness and harmony rather than power. Actually what they do is extremely complicated but the techniques and methods aren’t new ( except perhaps for the fermentation “eggs” ).

What’s your favorite recipe and do you have a favorite wine to pair it with?
One of my favourite dishes is an Indian yoghurt soup which is rich with mainly lentils, greek yoghurt, cardomum, cumin, ginger and garlic. I’d usually have a glass of DE PRO rosé on hand and left over from the aperitivo and then move on to Altos de Aranda Tempranillo. The cava has the structure to stand up to the spice.

Favorite moment from your career?
Many people have suggested I write a memories of things that have happened most of which would be publishable but I have extremely warm memories of spending time- usually over a dinner table and a cork pulled- with people I have got to know through  business and had the pleasure to still work with 10 years or more later and this applies very much to Artisans & Vines.

What is your favorite part of the creative process of creating wine?
Blending with winemakers is always fun and creative. Scheming up new brands and then writing about them is also enjoyable and then perpetually looking for new ways to enhance them. That’s usually done by those around me but I like that very much.

What’s your favorite place you’ve travelled to?
Crikey, I just can’t come up with just one, sorry! Despite a strong attraction to Japan, I will stay faithful to my adopted homeland  and mention: The wild open landscapes of Extramadura with the holm oak trees, pigs and streams to bathe in. Asturias generally speaking whether it be in remote mountain locations or near the sea. The area beyond Falset towards Terra Alta is very special to me. I used to be memerised by the stars at night there when staying in the rented room of a hazelnut growing family there.

When you’re not drinking wine what’s your drink of choice?
I have quite a weakness for German wheat beers amongst others.

Any holiday traditions you love?
We return to Asturias year after year.  Being english (- originally at least! ), I guess the lush green grass appeals and the  mountains always lift my soul
whilst Barbara is similarly moved by the sea. The quality of food-especially fresh seafood- provides the icing on the cake. ( as it were ..)

Favorite music?
I tend to like music linked to blues . Going back in time, I adore especially the Greg Allman band, Clapton of course and the Doors. At the moment I am listening to a Valencian based band called the Prussians and I also like an album by a Belgium band called Balthazar.

Any fun hobbies?
Tennis. I’m obsessed and usually play at least 5 times a week.

Melissa Flynn has been with Artisans & Vines for nearly two years and has a diverse background in the food and beverage industry. A 2000 graduate of the University of Maryland and 2004 Graduate of The Art Institute of Washington’s Culinary Arts program, Melissa began her career working in restaurant kitchens. Over the course fifteen-plus years, she has broadened her knowledge of food and wine with jobs in catering and event planning, menu development, wine retail, restaurant management, and wine distribution. Melissa has an Advanced Certification in Wine and Spirits from the acclaimed Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET). She is a native of Baltimore and after many years spent hopping around the East Coast, she has settled back in her hometown with husband, Mike and son, Emery (5).