I emerged from the Columbus Circle subway station, maneuvering past the slow-moving sidewalk traffic with the dexterity and intensity of an Olympic track star.

I was being a typical New Yorker – in a major rush – on my way to the Museum of Art and Design on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. I was attending the first-ever Provence Iconic Panel and Experiential rosé wine tasting sponsored by Vins de Provence.

The beads of sweat danced on my head, ran down my neck and slid down my back.

I was in a state.

The temperature was a mild 71 degrees that day. It was only the 21st of May 2019, a Tuesday to be exact. But I was really feeling the heat.

It was exactly one week away from the release of my very first wine education book called the “The Less is More Approach to Wine.”

I was feeling all the feelings: excited, anxious, relieved, nervous, proud and pressured.

Not only had I taken nine full months out of my hectic life to write the book, I was also responsible for the publishing, the public relations, the social media, the launch events and planning the book tour.

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While I was extremely excited about my book launch journey, the opportunity of being transported into the world of rosé wine, if only for a few hours, was a welcomed distraction.

After checking in, saying hello to some friends, poking around my swag bag and being led to the auditorium, I eagerly sat down, pulled out my notebook, clicked my pen and prepared for the discussion.

Speaker by speaker. Chart by chart. Topic by Topic. And detail by detail, I found myself taking copious notes – page after page – oftentimes simultaneously merging the information I was taking in with my own thoughts.

Before the two seminar sessions were over, I felt my heart start to race. It seemed I came to a super scary and equally exciting epiphany: I was going to write a second book that was solely about rosé wine and it had to come out by the next summer.

This came as a complete shock to me. The thought caused actual heart palpations.

While I was thrilled to have just written my first book – which had not even officially come out yet – I had no idea if the book would be welcomed in the wine world or how the book would be received generally. And now, I was already thinking about working on book number two.

What the world!?!

Then on top of all of that, the process of writing my first book was super intense. It was long, challenging, draining and extremely lonely at times.

Yet, I was exhilarated about the idea and the subject matter. I was euphoric, in fact.

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I was really stirred up because this would be a great opportunity to take a closer look at the rosé wine category – from around the world – through my journalism, sommelier, wine educator and consumer lenses.

I would have the chance to produce a much more fleshed out version of rosé education than what I have previously been able to offer during my 90-minute wine classes.

That is the night – Tuesday, May 21, 2019 – when “Maneuvering Rosé Wine with Style” was conceived; in that auditorium and in front of all those people.

That inception laid out my next step as an author, helping me continue the mission of bringing people closer to wine through my education work.

And just like that, I was off to the races; off on a new journey and off on the development of this rosé education book.