In Episode 16, we sit down with Vanessa Conlin, MW. A note from Jonathan Cristaldi, editor of Napa Valley Wine Academy’s “Pouring Points” blog.  About a month ago, Christian Oggensfuss sat down with Vanessa Conlin, the Head of Wine at Wine Access to record this podcast. Since the recording, Conlin received the biggest news of her life—she had become a Master of Wine, one of just 467 in the world, and one of only 138 women to ever earn the credential.  Next to the Court of Master Sommeliers, becoming a full-fledged Master of the Institute of Masters of Wine can only be equated to reaching a state of Wine Nirvana—it is among the most scared, highest accolades achievable in wine, on par with becoming a Master Sommelier, and kind of like winning a James Beard Award for a wine writer, but separated by rather intense degrees of difficulty that really have to do with each individual’s drive and ability to truly master their craft. For close to three years, I served as editor-in-chief at Wine Access and I remember when Vanessa joined the team. She brought an immediate flair for fashion, a penchant for inspired conversation, and a keen, insider’s perspective on California wine—and wines from around the world. Her many experiences have introduced her to a host of elite wine world vintners and winemakers, and every step of her incredible journey has brought her to one of the greatest jobs in the wine industry. At Wine Access she heads a team dedicated to the careful curation of exceptional wines for consumers, all in the name of collecting and enjoying.  Her story begins in Manhattan when she sang opera and performed on Broadway and in this podcast, culminates just weeks before she was named a Master of Wine. Have a listen.   02:00 Vanessa Conlin: So my name is Vanessa Conlin, I'm the head of wine for a company called Wine Access. So we are based here in California, but we are a national, e-com, direct-to-consumer wine retailer. Been around for over 20 years, and I've been with them for about three. And yeah, I love it, it's the best job in the world. 02:17 Christian Oggenfuss: That's great. That's great. So, really interested in hearing about how you got into the wine business and how it all started. Rewind us a little bit back to the early, early years. Where did you grow up and what did life look like in the early years? 02:31 Vanessa Conlin: Well, I did not grow up with wine. So, I actually... I come from a family of classical musicians. My dad is a symphony and a opera conductor, and my mother was an opera singer and now she does fundraising for arts organizations. But I spent my whole childhood sitting in rehearsals with the orchestra and I love music, not just classical, all kinds of music, and still do. But I just, I grew up thinking, "This is my path," and I never really considered anything else. My parents love wine now and they would have it maybe once every couple of months when they had people over for a dinner party, but it was not a part of my life at all in my formative years. I studied music, I have a Master's Degree in opera as a singer, I went to Manhattan School of Music and Boston University for grad school and after that, I went back to New York. 03:19 Vanessa Conlin: I was kind of a starving artist for a while, ended up traveling a lot actually for opera, had the opportunity to travel to Europe, and that's really probably the first time I really started getting interested in wine. And then I spent some time in a show on Broadway, I was in Baz Luhrmann's La Bohème on Broadway; and that was a nice, steady gig, a Broadway show where you've got like your solid eight shows a we...