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A Toast to Anita LaRaia Atlanta’s Spirited Wine Expert Gushes Over the Grape In 2004, a quiet little movie about love, life and wine took home an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. “Sideways” drew the masses; wine connoisseurs laughed at inside jokes, while those undiscriminating novices began to take a greater interest. Wine has always carried an air of pretension. The two male characters in “Sideways” are an example of the world of wine; it’s divided between those with a passion and knowledge about the best wines, and those who just drink it. If Anita LaRaia has her say, the world will become both. LaRaia has spent her life educating the masses on the joy of wine, while breaking stereotypes that it’s only meant for the distinguished. For LaRaia, life is about fun, and she feels everyone should have passion and enjoy a great glass of wine. Why does it matter what LaRaia thinks? For more than 30 years, she has been educating the public and distributors about the true joys of wine. She has conducted seminars, taught classes, written books, led travel tours to vineyards, and appeared on national and local radio and TV programs. She is considered a premier source of all things wine, and she lives and works right here in our own back yard. From Sweet Tea to Chablis LaRaia’s name is her giveaway. A first generation Italian-American, she grew up in a home where wine was served at every meal and her grandparents made their own wines, ordering shipments of grapes by rail every harvest. “Wine was always on the table, but it was something that as a kid you taste dry, red wine and just say ‘yuck.’ I always liked wine but never actually considered it until I was in London and needed a job,” she said. She never meant to kick start her career in London. LaRaia headed to Europe to enjoy life after receiving her master’s degree in social psychology from Cornell University. Running out of money, she sold her ticket home and scrambled for a job. “When people ask me how I got my start, I say, ‘I was down and out in London,’ ” she said laughing. “I answered an ad in the London Times for a wine job. I worked in a big store that sold directly to restaurants and had a huge warehouse in Piccadilly that sold to everyone from the bums on the streets to the lords and ladies. I took courses there from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET), and when I wanted to go back to the States, I answered another ad for a job in Atlanta. They wanted someone from London, which is actually considered the center of the worldwide wine trade, but they didn’t want to deal with work permits. As I was American, they asked me to come. This was in 1977, and I became the assistant manager for a wine store in Marietta and Buckhead.”
While in Buckhead, directly across the street from Piedmont Hospital, LaRaia realized the doctors who came into the store had the money to spend but no knowledge of the fantastic wines it offered. She sat down and developed a course on wine, and in February 1978, LaRaia began what evolved into Anita LaRaia’s Wine School. Now, nearly 30 years later, she has taught more than 2,000 courses in what has become Atlanta’s longest-running wine school, and is to credit for sparking Atlanta’s love affair with wine. “Atlanta wasn’t a great place for wine when I arrived. It was like crying in the wilderness; everyone drank sweet tea. The people had money but had never traveled and didn’t associate the good life with great food and great wine. There were very few good restaurants in Atlanta. I was on a mission to make Atlanta a great wine city and I succeeded,” she said. “I have graduates of my first wine class in 1978 that are still in the wine business and vice presidents of wine import companies or wine distributors. Atlanta is now a very big wine market. All the famous and biggest winemakers now come to Atlanta to do wine events.” Graduates of LaRaia’s Wine School agreed she has been a great influence on Atlanta. “Big passion, this woman!” said Buckhead Life Group’s Lisa Heissan, a graduate of the class and sales manager with the renowned restaurant group. “She knows her wine and keeps everyone interested. Her energy keeps you hooked.” A Discerning Palate Without Pretension Referencing “Sideways,” LaRaia highlights Miles’ prized 1961 Cheval Blanc. “I love the moment in the movie where he drinks this wine he has been saving for years out of a paper cup in a fast food restaurant because his girlfriend says, ‘What are you waiting for?’ To me, it’s a cardinal sin to allow wine to go past its peak and turn to vinegar. It’s not a sin to drink wine too young, however.” LaRaia’s Wine School, which she conducts at wine stores to enable students to taste and view various wines as well as select wine from collections, is focused on teaching students how to read and smell wine, but mostly, how to enjoy drinking it. “I met Anita years ago and realized right away that I could learn something about wine from her. Anita has an encyclopedic mind of wine and food and may have the most discernable palate on our planet. She has spent her life totally immersed in both,” said Jay Bullock, president of Jay C. Bullock Builders in Buford. Without divulging names, LaRaia talked about the mix of clientele she serves, from Atlanta area sports stars to CEOs and presidents of the area’s top companies to young couples just starting out. No matter the person, LaRaia strives to remove pretension from her classes. “I’m in the business of teaching pleasure, because if it isn’t fun and a joy, it will be a boring, snobbish, technical subject. Until you have a real life instructor over you teaching you how to read and smell wine, you can read every wine book in the world, but you will not know wine. It is a living, breathing thing in a bottle. I show people how it varies bottle by bottle, by grape variety, by when and where it was planted, and by region and district and vineyard and everything else,” LaRaia said, adding, “You have to immerse yourself on the sensation of taste. We have trained our eyesight and we’ve trained our ears, but we have not trained our senses of smell and taste, although we have been eating and drinking all our lives. By the end of the course, my students know what they really like because they are able to put a name as to what they prefer palate-wise. I just want to get people to develop a love for wine.” Wine School classes, often held at Chris Hinton’s Bin 75 The Wine Store in Roswell, consist of six two-hour courses designed to introduce people to different wine styles, grape varieties and vineyard names. LaRaia likes to cover unique wines from around the globe and includes wines from Spain, Germany, Australia, Chile, as well as France, Italy and California. Customized wine classes are offered to clubs and businesses. Complementing her classes is her new book, “Pick a Perfect Wine in No Time,” which offers real world solutions to pick a wine to pair with dinner. In fact, that’s the No. 1 question LaRaia is asked when people discover she teaches about wine. For those ready to take their passion for wine to the next level, LaRaia has teamed with Sue Griffin of Sterling Brownell Travel, a graduate of LaRaia’s Wine School, to provide wine tours through California, Italy and France. Her next tour to the Piedmont of Italy, located at the tip of the Alps, will feature a five-night trip in mid-May, and includes a stop at LaRaia vineyards. “It’s a beautiful estate with a wildlife preserve and state-of-the-art winery. No relation, however,” she added.
Of the wine tours, Bullock and his wife Susan joined LaRaia’s last trip to Italy and raved it was the best of 14 trips they have taken to Italy. “Her trips are fun, educational and meaningful. She has provided us the opportunity to meet some of the most fascinating guides, winemakers and fellow wine lovers. I only wish she would stop writing and teaching long enough to do more trips. Anita is clearly an Atlanta treasure,” he said. LaRaia’s passion for wine is why generations of Atlantans have enrolled in her classes. It is also the reason so many organizations have turned to her for support. The nationwide Women & Wine organization has incorporated her book into its clubs, as well as co-host wine tastings and other events, such as last fall’s premiere of the Russell Crowe movie “A Good Year” in Atlanta. “I haven’t taken any of her courses, but I’ve read her book and she has helped us with our Women & Wine events. I think she knows wine well and has a contagious enthusiasm. We are thrilled to have her on our team,” said Sharon Boorstin, senior vice president and editorial director of Women & Wine. LaRaia’s enthusiasm is indeed infectious, and she reminds all who listen that the joy of wine isn’t the knowledge or investment, but the pure enjoyment of tasting a good wine. As Maya said to Miles in “Sideways,” “What are you waiting for?” v “Anita’s Aphorisms” LaRaia’s tips for choosing a wine: * Pick a Good Wine. “Wine Spectator lists the top 100 wines. If a wine scores in the 90s, it means it is an exceptional wine. In that top list, you’ll find items that cost $175 a bottle, and who’s going to buy that every night for dinner? But you also will find items that are only $40. Now, you will want to find out what those are because they are on the same page as the $200 wines.” * Taste It First. “Never invest in a full case of wine unless you buy one bottle, take it home and taste it first. If the wine doesn’t taste good, it’s not going to get better with aging.” * Drink It. “Celebrate what we call ‘Open That Bottle Night.’ There is a story about a man here in Atlanta who started collecting wines right after World War II. At that time he could get the greatest wines for $7 a bottle. He bought the original cases from the great châteaus, but he never even opened them. He put them into a temperature-controlled basement and he let them sit there for decades, and then they were worth hundreds of dollars per bottle. When he died, they were still intact. His family sold the whole thing to Christie’s for one million dollars. Christie’s said it was one of the greatest wine collections they have ever seen. But he never enjoyed one sip himself.” * Try New Varieties. “There is an eclectic sparkling Merlot from Australia that is absolutely delicious; a deep burgundy color with burgundy-colored foam, and it tastes so good. I like finding new and unusual things and turning people on to them, because it’s my job.” Women & Wine A free organization dedicated to women and wine, the group organizes events, tastings, and trips for women. For More Information
“Pick a Perfect Wine in No Time” ($16.95, Que Publishing, October 2005) is available at www.amazon.com.
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“It’s a hard grape to grow, as you know. It’s thin-skinned, temperamental, ripens early. It’s not a survivor like Cabernet, which can just grow anywhere and thrive even when it’s neglected. No, Pinot needs constant care and attention. And, in fact, it can only grow in these really specific, little tucked-away corners of the world. And only the most patient and nurturing of growers can do it, really. Only somebody who really takes the time to understand Pinot’s potential can then coax it into its fullest expression.” 
