the not serious Elaine Chukan Brown
After helping Hawkes Bay Wine out with a little branding work for the 2024 Chardonnay symposium, I was kindly remunerated with a ticket to attend. Aotearoa Chardonnay is a two day, seriously solid, cerebral workout that truly tested the connectivity of the olfactory to the frontal lobe. It was, as the title suggests, all about Chardonnay. While there, I was given something of a backstage pass and that meant I got to ask this amazing human being and international guest to sit down for a not serious chat with wine — my favourite kind of chinwag.
We had the pleasure of parking up in the cute Cabana at Black Barn in Hawkes Bay. I got to spend an hour or so riffing on wine life with wine writer Elaine Chukan (pron. like Chaka Khan minus a syllable) Brown. I say wine writer but actually they are much more than simply that.
Elaine’s wine journey started in earnest in 2011 but it’s the life they had in the lead up to then that brings a richness and depth and, at times great humour, to this chat.
Originally from Alaska, Elaine now calls Sonoma, California home and to spice things up they rocked up to our get together with a bottle of wine from Washington state. That threw me - especially as it was a Sauvignon Blanc blend. You could call that a ballsie move to sit down with a kiwi and pour them a glass of that stuff but what it actually was, was an incredible portal that saw us transcend into chatting about prohibition, the great depression, world war II and the effects it had on the American wine trade as well as Elaine’s time spent training camels. You heard that right but here’s the thing. The training camels came after a stint as a Tarot card reader for a Dial-a-Psychic gig which came after a decade of fishing for salmon.
Not serious enough for ya? I’m deadly serious when I say this one is a cracker folks. After all those various vocations, Elaine has ended up dedicating their time to being a global wine educator, a wine mentor, a wine lover but mostly an absolute advocate for the people behind the bottle.
The list of credentials Elaine has earned when it comes to wine is far reaching and includes publishing a wine book, The Wines Of California, assisting with the publication of the 4th and 5th editions of the Oxford Companion to Wine along with freelance writing for all the top wine mags. Perhaps most importantly, they co-founded the Diversity in Wine Leadership Forum, and has advised diversity initiatives in multiple countries around the world.
They were in Aotearoa for the 2024 Chardonnay Symposium - a two day exploration of everything Chardonnay held in Heretaunga, Hastings by Hawkes Bay Wine. The key theme for the conference was to discuss a ’sense of place’ and Elaine was asked to offer their take on it all, from Canterbury to California or Bannockburn to Burgundy. With deep roots to their own place and an academic background in Philosophy (that came after all the camels), they were one of the very best wine people to help define what a sense of place even means.
So, shuffle your tarot cards, pour something that makes you think hard and get the cold smoked salmon plated up. This is the not serious Elaine Chukan Brown.
CHAT FACTS
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DeLille 2022 Chaleur Blanc, Columbia Valley (Washington)
and a bottle of antipodes still water 1L
Turns out you can’t get your sandwich grabbers on the 2022 DeLille Chaleur Blanc that Elaine kindly smuggled over in her carry-on. You can try something similar (sort-of, not-really) by looking at a lovely wee local number that might give you an idea of this blend, as in it’s a little bit sauvignon and a little bit semillon — Pegasus Bay Sauvignon Semillon 2020.
Recorded at Black Barn (thanks to Kim, Francis, Bettina & Deb). Thanks to Hawkes Bay Wine for bringing Elaine to Aotearoa and to Amy Hopkinson-Styles for the hook up and Holly Girven-Russell for the pies!
Edited by Benj Brooking at Popular. Thanks Benj. You’re the best! ♥️🍷
