Sue and I are in Stellenbosch, South Africa today meeting with winemakers and tasting the great wines we have found here — look for a full report on our adventures in a few weeks.

The Wine Economist World Tour is picking up steam — here are details of some upcoming events.

From One Hemisphere to Another

On Thursday January 23 we will be at the Lord Charles Hotel in Somerset West, South Africa to speak at the Nedbank VinPro Information Day, which is the South Africa’s annual wine industry gathering. Click here for details. I’m really pleased to be back in South Africa and to be able to meet everyone and learn more about the wine industry here.

Fast forward to Tuesday, January 28 and we will be in Sacramento, California to speak at the Unified Wine and Grape Symposium, which is the biggest wine industry gathering in the Western Hemisphere. I am moderating the panel on “Using Data for Better Decision-Making” at 2 pm on Tuesday and then joining Nat DiBuduo and Jon Fredrikson in surveying “The State of the Industry” at 8:3o am on Wednesday January 29.

I’m also doing a book signing on Wednesday afternoon at 2pm at the Wine Appreciation Guild’s booth in the Unified’s trade show section.

Global + Local

I’ll be back at my home base in February, with several interesting local events on tap.

Join us in Seattle for a special wine talk and dinner sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Seattle on February 4, 2014. Click on this link for details.  Serafina and Cicchetti are the hosting restaurants, so you know the food will be extremely good. And we have chosen a global selection of “Extreme Wines” to go with it. Great food and wine, great fun and an opportunity to support the World Affairs Council and its programs. Hope to see you there!

Even closer to home, I’ll be speaking and signing books at the iconic King’s Books in Tacoma at 7 pm on the evening of February 13, 2014.

You can join us for another book talk and signing the following week at the University Place branch of the Pierce County Library at 7 pm on Thursday February 20, 2014.

Finally, we are looking forward to seeing all our east side friends at a wine and book event at the University Bookstore in Bellevue at 6 pm on Thursday March 13, 2014. Click on this link for details.

Hope to see you at one of these events or somewhere else down the wine road. Cheers!