A Wine Communication Artist
by Barbara Barrielle
I first had the pleasure of meeting Elaine Chukan Brown when we were both invited to a harvest lunch at Jordan Winery. This traditional feast, orchestrated by the lovely – and tireless – Lisa Mattson, brought me in contact with someone who inspired me immediately by the fact that she was a successful writer who had raised her college-age daughter, Rachel, on her own and had a grace and intelligence that I got to experience more intimately after being asked to write about her.
Brown is a native Alaskan… really and truly a native with parents from two different Alaskan tribes. She grew up in a fishing family and has been on the water since the age of nine, starting her own salmon fishing operation in her teens. Brown has always worked with a dedication that puts those of us who follow a traditional path to shame. She fished the season tirelessly, sleeping very little, and experiencing the highs and lows of what nature delivers. If the season was June 1stthrough August 15th, Brown would keep fishing after the crew left picking up the late season catch. “I am not necessarily driven,” she says. “I do what’s in front of me.”
As one gets to know Brown and follows her unconventional life to where it has led her now – to the top of the wine writing heap – it becomes evident that this simple belief, or really practice, has been the reason her life has been an adventure. Not an adventure of extreme sports or pushing the limits, but an adventure of exploration. She chooses a path and excels, then may choose another path and give that avenue her full attention.
Having a successful fishing operation, Brown chose to attend college a bit later, but when she did, she did it with gusto. Quickly ripping through college at Northern Arizona University, then earning a McGill University ….
I am so grateful. The Wine Industry Network has selected me as one of their nine Wine’s Most Inspiring People for 2019. The rest of the article about it by fellow writer Barbara Barrielle appears their on the WIN website. Thank you very much to everyone at the Wine Industry Network, and to Barbara for her thoughtful article. I am deeply touched, and so grateful for the recognition, and for the opportunity to work in such a fantastic industry with so many incredible people as we have in wine.
Here is the link to the rest of Barbara’s article at WIN: https://www.wineindustryadvisor.com/2019/01/21/elaine-brown-wine-communication-artist?fbclid=IwAR0wjr0lfyXYN0aatnbsoXyyBV1XDSsGNaRTlCO7fU8kcPS6NqbI21f4Rp4
