We are two friends, Carina + Molly, who share a passion for all things wine! We are super excited to have you join us as we navigate the world of wines and share our favorites along the way! We met through our significant others and formed a friendship over the past years and developed that friendship significantly over quarantine. On a typical weekend, the four of us are together at least one night! So, Carina’s boyfriend, Jason, is super into wine, watches all the documentaries and reads all the books. Molly’s fiancé is our “photographer” when we need a photo of the two of us and we, on the other hand, enjoy sipping, trying multiple wines and eating, of course! Although wine has always been something we have enjoyed, recently, we have had the ability to dig a little deeper into the world of wine, explore new wineries, varieties and regions (from the comfort of our home). Currently, we are pursuing our WSET Level 1 Award. WSET is an acronym for Wine & Spirit Education Trust. In order to expound on our current knowledge, we look forward to completing a couple levels over the next year. So, that is how we ended up here and what we are pursuing – on to our personal bios! We will get Molly’s out of the way first and save the best for last! 😉
Hey! Molly here! I grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I studied Finance during my undergrad at LSU (GEAUX TIGERS) and completed my MBA at the University of Houston – Downtown, while working full time. By occupation, I am Tax Representative for a major Oil & Gas Company. I love my job and my coworkers and I am fortunate to work for a wonderful company! About seven years ago, my pug, Oliver, and I moved to Houston for my current job opportunity. Moving to Houston was a little intimidating at first given my childhood and college years were all spent in Baton Rouge. When I got to Houston, I reconnected with one of my best friends from high school and we began navigating the Houston bar and restaurant scene. It was a match made in heaven, she loves to eat good food and drink good wine as much as I do! About a year after moving here, I started to play around on Tinder (yes, this was pre-Bumble). While playing around on Tinder, I matched with Jordan. I could tell he was fun, enjoyed being the life of the party and had a great group of friends. I tried to meet up with him for probably six months while we were getting to know each other over text messages and he just was not interested, so I started dating someone else. While I was seeing someone else, Jordan continued to message me over that year asking, “you single yet?” Fortunately for Jordan, that relationship didn’t work out and in October of 2015, I was single again! So, we met up and the rest is history! The best part about Jordan, aside from his patience, great friends and meeting Carina, is that he will endure watching countless hours of Bravo with me, as long as I watch all the College Football with him on Saturdays, which is a no brainer! I love college football, traveling and eating + drinking my way through life! I have traveled to Southern Italy, all over Portugal, Ireland, and Turks & Caicos! I truly enjoyed the food + wine scenes in Portugal and Italy, and will do a post on these in detail later. We were planning to travel to the Northern half of Italy + Turks & Caicos this year, but 2020. Hopefully during the first half of 2021, we can explore the wonderful vineyards in California + Oregon! Now, on to my wine preferences! Oh, side note first, just because a type of wine may not be our favorite variety, we are going to do our best to share our favorites of every variety to accommodate everyone’s preferences! I am not going to say that my preferences change seasonally, but I am just more drawn to chilled wines during the spring and summer because it gets HOT in Houston. In the Spring/Summer, you can usually catch me drinking a Sauvignon Blanc, Rose or Champagne! In the Fall/Winter, you can usually catch me drinking a Pinot Noir, Malbec, or a good Red Blend. If I am feeling crazy, sometimes I will even throw tequila in the mix! With that being said, I usually gravitate to wine and I love all wines, I just am typically more drawn to those varieties!
Okay, enough about me, on to Carina, who takes way better family vacations and had a way cooler childhood than me!
Hi guys! This is Carina, the other half of the Modest Cellar! I graduated with my Bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University (WHOOP!) I now work in Human Resources for a Commercial Real Estate company that I absolutely love! As Molly hinted to, I am not a native Houstonian, although it has been my home now for nearly 20 years. I was actually born in Arendal, Norway and spent the first 10 years of my life cross country skiing, climbing trees, skipping rocks and enjoying all four seasons. My Winter Olympic dreams were cut short when my family moved me to Pascagoula, Mississippi to conquer their own career goals. Before you feel too bad for me, I was kidding about the Olympics. Contrary to popular belief, Norwegians are not born with skis on their feet, and athletics have never been my strong suit. However, the move from Norway to Pascagoula, MS flipped the script for me in every way. Oh! And let’s not forget that I didn’t speak a word of English. My mother had to chaperone me for the first month of school, I was picked last for the kick ball team at recess, and this formerly cool kid in Norway had a taste of her own medicine. For the next two years, we shopped at Jerry Lee’s and Winn Dixie, and learned how to properly greet one another, the southern way. Another career move for my parents relocated us to Houston, Texas, which was a much easier transition for me. After college, I moved back to Houston where I eventually met Jason through mutual friends, as he does not have social media. Unlike the rest of us scrolling through Instagram or watching Bravo, Jason prefers documentaries about food, wine, or World War I & II. He is also the biggest Houston Rockets fan. My favorite part about him and our relationship is how he encourages me to step out of my comfort zone and realize my potential. My favorite part about him, however, is his dance moves and witty humor. Also, an introduction of myself and Jason would not be complete without mentioning our pride and joy- our Goldendoodle, Franklin. Don’t worry, you will see photos of this handsome fluffball as you follow along on our journey! Anyway, enough about them and onto my love for wine. I was raised by wine drinkers that love to travel. Each destination was largely chosen based on the meal we would be having there. We did not go to Paris to climb the Eiffel Tower or visit Notre Dame, we went to have Kir Royales and oysters at Le Procope. Due to our love for food and wine, Provence became a favorite destination for my family. They spent their entire summers there and I would visit as often as my entry-level vacation days would allow. My interest and passion for wine really started here, wine tasting in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and the incredible local wineries and shops in Provence. You can typically find me sipping a dry Cabernet Sauvignon, a Red Blend or a Pinot Noir. I am also a fan of Sauvignon Blanc and Rose, but as Molly said, we are here to expand and explore them all. We would love to share our passion, learnings, tips and favorites with y’all!
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