Wilfred Wong, Chief Storyteller, Wine.com (San Francisco, USA)

Years In Industry:

48 Years, 8 months in many areas - Retail (Ashbury Market, BevMo!, Wine.Com), media (I wrote for Bay Food, a Berkeley CA Publication), BIN Magazine, Wine Country Magazine, Tasting Panel, Robert Whitley online and a few other things.

My Biggest Challenge To Wellness: 

Staying active and not being tied to the computer terminal all of the time. Keeping balanced in all aspects of life (family, friends, and community)

Tasting a lot of wines requires focus and stamina. Whenever I approach a wine tasting, I am aware of how many wines I might taste, what is the format and how long it may take. When I attend a trade tasting, I figure out the priority wines, put on my headphones, and go to it. In a wine judging, I know before we begin, how long the day will last. I always spit my wines in these scenarios, unless a wine is so spectacular; I might swallow a bit of that one.

To keep my palate fresh, I will drink a little water. Coffee? Only after I am done. Over the last six years, I have been averaging around 5,000 wines.” This year, with no trade events and only one or two judgings, the number looks like 4,000 wines.

How I Keep It Together To Stay Well: 

I try to work smartly, do the things I have to do in the box and beyond, not take myself too seriously.

Since 2003, I have maintained a program to keep active by regular exercising (cardio and weights). I went to the gym two to three times a week and workout for 1-1/2 hours. This was effective as I lost weight and strengthened my muscles. I got away from the gym and weights in recent years, but I kept my cardio. 

Just before all of us got shut down, I started attending hot yoga classes. My metabolism is pretty good. Last year I enrolled in a year-long health class because my numbers indicated I was pre-diabetic. Ironically, this number dropped after I joined the class. This was a major lifestyle change and caused me to look closely at my total health picture including diet and stress.

While I still enjoy ribeye and roast chicken, I eat more veggies than I ever had. Since March, I have lost around 5-6 lbs. Our four-year old dog Kaili orders me take two to three walks with her a day. Alice joins me and relaxes on a bench while I take Kaili through the woods. I enjoy this walk because it is serene and peaceful with some of most spectacular ancient trees. On the hill across from our house, I avoid the path (where all the people walk) and trek over gopher holes, rocks and things.

In my daily routine, I do not set a minute by minute schedule; I have a bullet journal divided into sections: The plan; food; wine stuff; photography; exercise; deadlines; catch up with friends. I don’t have need to complete each section, but they help me remember what I should be doing. I have been writing a journal for years now and continue to revise it. 

For decades, I wrote my notes in those black composition books, and they served me well. As I transitioned from Ashbury Market to BevMo to Wine.com, I have to adopt or I wouldn’t have succeeded. While I am not a techie, I am pretty up-to-date on the best technology to get it done. Since Wine.com has an incredible need for information as quickly as possible, I have had to figure the fastest way to get the wines properly tasted and posted on www.wine.com if they score high enough.

I started my photography career in 2002 (I did take some fun photos earlier, but this was the year that I decided to add it to my repertoire. While my old notebooks were great, my iPhone, iPad Professional, and cameras made my work flow much easier and satisfying. I am most happiest when I have my tools with me.

You can connect with Wilfred on Instagram @willieboysf  @willieboy12, @willieboysf_wineguy on Twitter @willieboysf and Facebook WilfredWong