I’m Mark Damschroder, the founder and creator of Uncorked Explorers

My journey with wine started in my last year at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. I took “The Geography of Wine” class from Professor John Dome. Every Thursday evening, we students would make our way to class carrying our three wine tasting glasses in an empty six-pack carrier. For the first hour or so of class, Professor Dome would cover the geography, climate, soils and other growing conditions of the then great wine regions, mostly in Europe. This was back before many people had computers and long before PowerPoint. He brought these places to life with overhead transparencies (if you are too young to remember these, you’ll get a laugh if you look it up!) that contained maps and other information, but most memorably photos of his travels to some of the great wineries and vineyards. Often he or his wife would be in those photos giving the class a real personal touch. After the lecture, Professor Dome would lead us in a tasting of wines from the region he had just covered. Can you think of a better university class?

Oh, have the decades since gone by fast. Along the way I’ve had the chance to live in San Francisco and Europe (twice) and see some of the same wine regions Professor Dome covered, as well as many others that have now grown into their own. I even had the chance to participate in the wine grape harvest (“le vendange”, in French) in Switzerland.

More recently, I have studied through Level 3 of the Wine and Spirits Education Trust courses and passed that professional entry level test (“with distinction” I might add, for both the written and tasting portions!).

So Uncorked Explorers combines my passion for travel and my enduring curiosity about wine and wine production. I hope to bring you many of the great wine regions of the world in a way that will be just as memorable as Professor Dome’s class. Lets explore together!