Today we’d like to introduce you to Julia Proctor.
Hi Julia, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My career background is in producing live events from start to finish: mostly with a specialty in booking live music, but also private parties, celebrations and music festivals while working for C3 Presents for seven years. Alongside working in the music industry, my passion for natural wine was simultaneously developing as I aspired to blend the worlds of events with wine to make wine education fun and approachable to the average consumer. I began to work on a more formal wine education for myself through the Texas Wine School and slowly chipped away at achieving my level 3 certification from the Wine, Spirit, Education and Trust (WSET) program in May of 2021. I founded my business, Wild Wine Saloon, in March of 2020 to bring wine education to people in a fun format through wine tastings, consultations and unique events.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It’s definitely been challenging to start from scratch in an entirely new industry in your thirties while simultaneously launching a business in a pandemic! However, whenever things get overwhelming, I remind myself how far I’ve come since I launched Wild Wine Saloon in 2020 and remind myself that the sole purpose for starting this business was to have fun and that helps alleviate some pressure.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Wild Wine Saloon aims to break down the barriers of natural wine to provide education in a fun, approachable format through wine tastings, consultations and unique events. What sets my business apart from others is the true approachability of wine education in the services that we offer. The number one goal is to make the customer feel comfortable learning about natural wine in every aspect of how we communicate to the customer, whether that be through our messaging, playful graphics, or simply through the details of how an event is structured from start to finish that encourages every guest to be involved.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
There is a huge natural wine movement happening in Austin right now. In fact, compared to other big cities, I’d argue Austin is a bit behind. Prior to 2020, it was rare to find a natural wine bar in this city and now they are popping up everywhere you look. Some of the top restaurants and casual dining spots around town are realizing the importance of having sustainable wine on their list and I only foresee those numbers continuing to grow. Another trend I think we are going to continue to see is the shift in wine varietals as we continue to learn to live with climate change. Some producers, for example, out of Oregon and California are learning to use and work with fruit that has smoke taint on it from wildfires rather than disposing of it and losing an entire crop for a vintage. Within the industry, professionals have been challenged to have interesting conversations on the true meaning of terroir and how we have to shift our view of how that looks with our ever-evolving climate.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wildwinesaloon.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildwinesaloon/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wildwinesaloon/
