About

 

Hi there

Thanks for taking the time out to visit and read the ramblings of the winemaker’s wife & the grape grower’s daughter!   My name is Jacinda and I’m writing this blog to share our family’s journey as we establish a wine label – Fiasco Wines.    You’ll find a mix of content here, authored by myself or by my husband Aaron.  Most of it is G-rated, although some of hubby’s vids are a bit scary !    Please feel free to comment, ask questions or make suggestions and criticisms.

My parents were among the first viticulturalists in Marlborough, planting grapes when I was just a toddler (and when many locals thought it was the most crazy idea they’d ever heard).    After marrying my teenage love (soppy eh), who is now a talented winemaker, my fate was sealed – there was to be no escaping the world of wine!

At the beginning of 2008, Aaron and I decided, after quite a bit of nervous procrastination, that we would just go ahead, take a few risks and have a crack at producing and marketing our own wine. 

We were struggling to come up with a name until one morning when Aaron arrived home at the end of yet another 13 hour night shift (the joys of working vintage when wineries in Marlborough run 24/7).  I asked how work was and got the response,

 ”A ***** fiasco.” 

“How was your day?” he asked. 

“Ditto” I replied.

We laughed and thought, now there’s a name.  Dictionary definition of Fiasco:  

1.	a complete and ignominious failure.

Mmmmmm… 

Of course we don’t intend Fiasco to be a complete disaster but we appreciate the idea that life can be busy, chaotic even and we know it’s often a balancing act.  We know that time will always roll on and that it’s important not just to keep going forward, but to have fun along the way.  We hope the character running on the wine barrel with a glass captures some of those ideas.  

As far as Fiasco goes, I hope that we don’t go broke, but figure that if we have fun along the way and learn lots then we cannot lose much.  I do know that things will be a fiasco at times, as they already have been!    We have four precious children: Tahlia (aged 11), Jed (stillborn), Finn (aged 7) and baby Archie who mean the world to us.  I also have a part time job secondary teaching  while Aaron works part-time making wine at Indevin – all part of the juggling act!  The photo on the blog masthead is of me hand-picking Guwurztraminer grapes with a team of students and parents from college who used it as a fundraiser. 

So what I hope to do here is simply share the journey as it unfolds.  There will be a mix of content, sometimes associated directly with the wine industry, sometimes about the fiascos we see others experiencing and sometimes about our own efforts to find balance.  Thanks again for stopping by and don’t forget to comment – all advice, encouragement and ideas are most appreciated.

Cheers, Jacinda