I’ve been at Sommer Camp for five days, volunteering and giving a behind-the-scenes account of the work and play that goes into producing the annual TEXSOM Conference.
This article is the last of five installments of my 2025 TEXSOM Diaries. For more Sommer Camp stories, see Part One, Two, Three, and Four.
An Enchanted Tuesday
Tuesday is the final day of the TEXSOM Conference. Wine professionals have come from all over the world to learn and taste with the best of the best. The amount of talent and expertise at this event has been astounding. Now, suitcases are being packed and banners re-rolled. Huge gondolas of empty wine bottles have been rolled out to the back dock, awaiting the glass crusher.
And for me–since I have to go back to my real job on Wednesday–it’s the last day of Sommer Camp. I’ve made wonderful friends, avoided embarrassing screw-ups (mostly), and tasted more wine than I would’ve thought was possible. I am ready to give it my all for one more day.
Staff and volunteers have assembled downstairs for a 7 AM breakfast followed by a toast. Most every morning at Sommer Camp begins with bubbly ‘n eggs–only this time, it’s Perrier-Jouët Blanc de Blancs with a caviar “bump.” Nice!
Nobody seems quite ready to leave this enchanted world of wine. The pace of learning is relentless–and the wine that is poured is the stuff of fantasies. Old vintages, new varieties, uncommon blends. It occupies your mind and overwhelms your senses at the same time.
Several Sommer Campers describe the experience as a partial disconnection from reality. “I forget about my job when I’m here. I barely think about my family. It’s like all of that is someone else’s life–or a dream,” one of them tells me over breakfast.
I feel it, too. A sense of being elevated to a rich and marvelous place, like Cinderella at the royal ball. A year ago, I wasn’t a Wine Person–just a person who likes wine. Today I’m here, rubbing elbows with expert somms and legendary winemakers. I’m tasting from bottles that I’ve never even handled before.
TEXSOM’s leaders have been quick to remind all the Sommer Campers that we deserve to be here, that these opportunities are offered to us by an industry that’s eager to adapt and thrive. They’re ours because we sought them out, and because we’re lending our time. Still, as glasses clink around us, we can’t believe our good fortune. The stroke of midnight is coming and we’re all heading home soon…but for now, it certainly feels like magic.
Buckets and Barolo
The Main Conference days of Monday and Tuesday are going smoothly. Sommer Campers are getting to know our roles, and each other. Everything has run on schedule so far. Quite a few sommeliers and students had certification exams on Sunday–with those tests behind them, there’s noticeably less stress in the Somm Lounge.
There are two expo tastings today, and that’s where I’ll mainly be working. Wine in, empty bottles out. Check in with exhibitors and with volunteers. Pick up trash, give directions. Don’t let those spit buckets get full.
There are some tempting Piedmontese wines in the Somm Lounge today, thanks to a visit by G.D. Vajra and several other family wineries. But as of this morning, I’m on the Commonwealth Wine School’s “Guess the Wine” leaderboard and I want to stay there! I can’t start desiccating my palate with Nebbiolo! I savor a tiny sip of Barolo and grab some potato chips from the snack basket.
Am I hopeful about the contest? I am. I’ve made some spot-on calls in the friendly blind-tasting match (Mendoza Malbec, Cahors, Mosel Riesling) and some bone-headed ones, too. (Chardonnay for Albariño, really?)
I have a lot to learn as a taster, clearly. But I’ve shown up for every round, and I’m proud of myself for sussing out even a few of those twelve mystery wines. I used to think blind tasting was some kind of magic trick, and now I realize it just takes a lot of study (and a little bit of luck).
But first, Cab. My lunch break today is with Constellation Brands. The presentation is focused on Napa Valley’s To Kalon Vineyard, one of the world’s most acclaimed sites for Cabernet Sauvignon. We will taste a rare vertical from To Kalon with the vineyard map in front of us for reference. All of today’s wines are single-vineyard, and some are from a single block.
First up is the 2022 To Kalon Reserve Fumé Blanc, which comes from To Kalon’s Monastery Block (95% Sauvignon Blanc, 5% Semillon). Robert Mondavi basically invented the American category of Fumé Blanc and this is a classic exemplar of the style–florals, tropical fruit, wet stone, and subtle oak. “Who likes this wine?” the presenter asks. A show of hands: Everybody.
We contrast it with a bottle-aged Sauvignon Blanc, the 2012 I Block. This wine comes from a 5-acre parcel of head-trained vines planted in 1945. The age of the vines combined with a drought vintage and dry-farming created an exceptionally low yield of only 400 cases. The flavor intensity of this wine is stunning. It’s richly textured and a little creamy, and yet it retains most of the crisp minerality of its little sibling from To Kalon.
A parade of Cabernet follows, poured from imposing bottles by Sommer Camp’s volunteer sommeliers. We taste the 2016 Mondavi To Kalon Cabernet from magnum. Then the 2021 Schrader Cellars To Kalon Cabernet. Then the 2015 Schrader To Kalon (from a six-liter Imperial, whoa!).
They are all ginormous wines, with densely packed dark fruit and…oh well. The speaker is breezing through slides, my table-mates are asking me questions, the pourers need empty wineglasses now, I forgot to take pictures, and I think I missed another Cabernet somewhere? I’m frantically writing down vintages and I feel myself falling behind.
The somms then come around with the 1975 Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon, also from To Kolan Vineyard. Leathery and savory–almost meaty–with mature cherries, coffee, and shades of black pepper, tobacco, eucalyptus, and anise. Lunch is over in five minutes and I have to choose one wine to finish before I rack my glasses. I defer to age–it’s gotta be this one.
Back on the expo floor for another round! (Of work, that is.) The 2:15 PM trade tasting–the last of six at TEXSOM–opens in just over an hour.
In between each expo, Sommer Campers roll all of the wine into and then out of the secure storage area. We restock the glasses and change the buckets and the linens. The exhibitors walk up to their booths, set out their pamphlets, and they’re ready to start pouring again.
It’s the closing stretch before the TEXSOM exhibition hall closes for 2025. The sunny, windowed room fills up with vendors and tasters once again. I log my final blind-tasting calls at Commonwealth Wine School and squeeze in a cheeky #MerlotThursday tasting at Vins de Bordeaux.
The Grand Tasting
Afterwards, I’m wanted downstairs to help set up for the last public event, the Grand Tasting, which opens at 6 PM. This is the only TEXSOM event that’s available as a separate ticket from the Main Conference, so we’ll be welcoming some new guests into the building. The whole third floor is already buzzing with excitement.
Sommer Campers stroll up and down the rows, straightening tablecloths and re-orienting ice tubs. As we work, we gawk. There are some truly enviable bottles on the tables, some of the best appellations, brands, and winemakers from around the world.
But if you’ve read this far in the TEXSOM Diaries, then that’s no surprise. All week they have been spoiling us with wine and food–and we’re about to help spoil the Grand Tasting ticket holders.
Sommer Campers are invited to the Grand Tasting, and some have even brought their spouses to partake in the extraordinary array of wines. It’s a lot of producers and importers–around 40 tables, each stocked with four to eight premium labels. I can feel my palate begging for mercy at this point and the time has come to be strategic.
Today alone, I’ve had Champagne and Napa Cab and Barolo in my glass. (And Gevrey-Chambertin in a blind tasting, also–but I don’t know that just yet.)
What wine do I crave next? Nothing! But on second thought…my Rhône-o-Meter is getting low. So I memorize the table number of the Philippe & Vincent Jaboulet booth and vow to return later when the ballroom officially opens at 6 PM.
I attend the TEXSOM Diversity and Opportunity reception at 5 PM. I mingle. I sip on a Finger Lakes Riesling that someone is pouring. I pick up a scholarship application from Merendino Foundation and a wine key from GuildSomm. (I actually end up with a few of them later that night, when other Sommer Campers remember that they traveled with carry-ons and that TSA will totally steal your cool new corkscrew.)
When the doors open for the Grand Tasting, everyone is finally together in the room at once: Production team, presenters, exhibitors, Sommer Campers, and guests. It’s a jubilant moment and the wine is flowing freely around the room.
But Sommer Campers have one more activity planned for tonight, a dinner to honor the volunteer team. There will be wine there, too, I’m sure. I taste through all the Jaboulet wines–Condrieu to Hermitage. I gaze longingly at the Châteauneuf across the aisle and then wisely fall back on soda crackers and water.
While I’m at the Grand Tasting, two Commonwealth Wine School representatives, Jessica and Tim, approach me. Have I seen the final results? I have not. I’m in a multi-way tie for the high score in “Guess the Wine”! And I’ve won a raffle prize, a $500 tuition award for their wine school in Cambridge, Massachusetts! I feel extraordinarily happy. I have dipped into savings this year to pay for my two WSET classes, and I can use this credit toward my next cert or maybe a specialist course.
A Farewell Dinner
By this time, the sun has set and Sommer Campers take our seats for one last meal. James Tidwell MS, and the rest of the production team are there to thank the volunteers and to recognize some outstanding team members. There are tears and heartfelt rounds of applause. And there is even more wine: All the accumulated bottles from the wine masterclasses that occurred earlier this afternoon.
The convention center’s rules stipulate that everything must be consumed or discarded before TEXSOM closes. We may be pros–but nobody likes the “dumping out wine” part of the job.
And so, at the close of the day, we’re going to gallantly try to drink what we can. My new wine buddy, a sommelier named Elena, selects a favorite bottle and scooches it toward our edge of the table. We finish it together while the other half-empty wines are passed rapidly around the room.
I could go on and on about that wine (it was Premier Cru white Burgundy) and the barrel-fermented Torrontés that was also on my table–and perhaps I will get to revisit them at some point. But just for a moment, I want to set aside the wine and focus on the people.
The kindness, the patience, the depth of knowledge and skill that I encountered at Sommer Camp were truly out of this world. Every person I spent time with was willing to share a word of encouragement or a helpful way of doing something. I got to participate in creating a great event while being truly supported by peers and mentors. At the risk of sounding corny, we all made an awesome team.
I was thinking about buying a conference pass to TEXSOM this year to attend the meals and seminars–and that would’ve also been an enjoyable experience, I’m sure. But that’s not what happened. Instead, I met a member of the production team, Paula, in the Hill Country while doing a Texas wine certification this past summer. She invited me to come volunteer for Sommer Camp instead.
Sending in that application was one of the best risks I’ve ever taken. I don’t have enough words to express my gratitude to the organizers, sponsors, and educators who brought this event to fruition here in Texas.
To be honest, I’m not completely sure where my wine journey will take me. It all feels very new–and it’s no secret what a pickle the industry is in right now. But I have this deep conviction about the power of good wine to bring joy and to weave people together, which is exactly what it did this weekend. Cheers to TEXSOM–and watch this spot in 2026!
Miss the previous entries? You can view all the TEXSOM Diaries here.
Tuesday wines tasted (selected):
Perrier-Jouët Blanc de Blancs Brut Champagne – France
Mouton Cadet Rosé x Mathilde (2024) – Bordeaux, France
Robert Mondavi “The Reserve” To Kalon Vineyard Fumé Blanc (2022) – Oakville, Napa Valley, California
Robert Mondavi I Block To Kalon Vineyard Fumé Blanc (2012) – Oakville, Napa Valley, California
Robert Mondavi “The Reserve” To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (2016) – Oakville, Napa Valley, California
Schrader Cellars Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet (2015) – Oakville, Napa Valley, California
Schrader Cellars Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet (2021) – Oakville, Napa Valley, California
Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon (1975) – Oakville, Napa Valley, California
*Maison Trimbach Frederic Emile Riesling (2018) – Alsace, France
*Dr. H. Thanisch Berncasteler Doctor Riesling Kabinett (2019) – Mosel Valley, Germany
G.D. Vajra Clarè Langhe J.C. Nebbiolo (2024) – Piedmont, Italy
G.D. Vajra Langhe Pinot Nero (2023) – Piedmont, Italy
G.D. Vajra “Coste di Rose” Barolo (2016) – Piedmont, Italy
Château Larmande Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé (2005) – Bordeaux, France
*Villa Maria “Taylor’s Pass” Pinot Noir (2020) – Marlborough, New Zealand
*Domaine Guillon Gevrey-Chambertin “La Perriere” Premier Cru (2018) – Côte de Nuits, Burgundy, France
Susana Balbo Signature Barrel Fermented Torrontés (2022) – Mendoza, Argentina
Domaine Prieur-Brunet Santenay-Maladiere Premier Cru Blanc (2022), Côte de Beaune, Burgundy, France
Wines were provided to Sommer Campers through TEXSOM partnerships with Perrier-Jouët, G.D. Vajra, Constellation Brands, Mouton Cadet, and Vins de Bordeaux. Starred wines (*) were tasted blind at Commonwealth Wine School.
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