bur•gun•di•va | ˈbərgənˈdēvə | noun
1 a woman who greatly admires the elegance of pinot noir and chardonnay
from Burgundy
2 a woman who is knowledgeable and enthusiastic about fine wines:  Erica is such a burgundiva that she started a wine blog!

Erica Mitchell Christie
Vintage [1983]
Mis en bouteille à New York

Erica is a wine enthusiast and writer in New York, where she currently is working as a consultant for a NYC wine distributor.  Her portfolio includes over 40 small producers from around the world: Austria, Chile, France, New Zealand, Spain, South Africa and the U.S. (Cali and Washington State).

Erica has long been a fan of international politics and business. She studied at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, earning a degree in International Relations and French in 2005.  For her junior year, Erica packed her bags and headed off to Strasbourg, France.  There, in the capital of Europe, she spoke French, studied European politics, interned at the Council of Europe and of course learned a lot about wine. Upon returning to the States in 2004, Erica continued her study of international affairs in Washington, D.C. Her time in D.C. notably included an internship at the State Department, in the Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs (Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs).

Erica’s wine blog represents the point at which her passion for international relations intersects with her love for international foods and wines.  

DERIVATIVES
bur•gun•dy |ˈbərgəndē| noun
di•va |dēvə| noun
ORIGIN early 21st cent.: via English/Italian from Latin, literally ‘wine goddess.’

ci•gar box | siˈgär bäks | noun
1 synonymic of the tobacco, or cedarwood, aroma detected in the nose of a wine
ORIGIN early 18th cent.: from Spanish cigarro, which is the traditional material for making cigar boxes

chewy | ˈch oōē | adjective
1 a full-bodied wine that has a dense, tannic mouth-feel, thus eliciting the need to chew prior to swallowing
DERIVATIVES
chewiness noun

com•plex | kämˈpleks; kəmˈpleks; ˈkämˌpleks | adjective
1 a term used for wines that possess many layers of flavor that merge harmoniously 

cork-tease | kôrk tēz | noun
1 someone who constantly talks about the fancy shmancy wines  in his/her wine cellar that he/she plans to crack open, but never actually does

ORIGIN Middle English : from Dutch and Low German kork, from Spanish alcorque ‘cork-soled sandal,’ from Arabic al- ‘the’ and (probably) Spanish Arabic ḳurḳ, ḳorḳ, based on Latin quercus ‘oak, cork oak.’