FYI. Apparently I pissed off the FB gods and got both of my accounts “restricted” for 24 hours. From a satirical comment from just one of the accounts. I’m surprised this account hasn’t been affected. How could it be both FB accounts? I’m not entirely sure, but since I do have two of them and FB has an account switcher, like Google, maybe it’s making that association. You have to actually log in to each account every time you switch when in a browser. Anyway, like my last post here said, I was planning on logging in less on the socials anyway. Guess this is as good a time as ever. ✌️#peaceout #kinda #illprollystilllogin https://www.instagram.com/p/CjZiVYmNUMF/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

It's begun. I officially threw my hat into the ring to eventually take the @mastersommeliers_americas Advanced Sommelier Exam in 2023. First up is the Knowledge Assessment in November. Assuming I score high enough, I'll get an invitation to take the Theory portion in April of 2023. Once I pass that, I'll take the Service and Tasting portions in July of 2023. There is no October option, which I'm totally down with. If all goes well, which I honestly expect it to, I'll be proudly wearing the "Green Pin" next year. You'll notice me less and less over the next several months on the socials. I'll probably even delete the apps once I get into 2023 off my phone. I'll have videos into next year, but probably have a hiatus at some point. I've intentionally not signed up for the exam recently for many reasons, but I feel now is my time. Will I pass? I can't guarantee it, but I feel good about it. I never stopped studying, and all those maps I've been making are an integral part of my preparation. Will I attempt the Master Sommelier exam? I haven't made that decision yet. It really all depends on passing the Advanced and how well I pass it. But who knows? Maybe I'll be an MS in 2024 :) #sommlife #questforthegreenpin #advancedsommelierexam https://www.instagram.com/p/CjZhkR8NJqY/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Final flight of the day. @sanantoniorodeo #wine #winejudge #sommlife (at San Antonio, Texas) https://www.instagram.com/p/CjQ6xEMPJoX/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Back to judging. @sanantoniorodeo #wine #winejudge #sommlife (at San Antonio, Texas) https://www.instagram.com/p/CjQYYRVrY2w/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Who knew that Austria has so many caves and hunting stands (blinds as they’re also known)? Enough to be on a map. Mapping the Theremenregion. When I visited Germany in March of 2019, on my drive to and from Nahe, I was surprised about the number of “blinds” that looked permanent. @annedonnhoff explained they are usually for wild boar. I imagine it’s probably the same in Austria. Figuring out how useful the OpenStreetMap overlay (Mapnik) in Google Earth Pro has been really fun. It’s been a game changer for me with being able to follow administrative boundaries which most wine appellation boundaries are based on. Takes the guesswork out in many cases. But also seeing all the different symbols and then looking them up has been educational. #winemap #winemaps #map #maps #mapmaking #mapmaker #austria #austrianwine #wine #sommlife https://www.instagram.com/p/CizAlUnuc4f/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Finished Styria while watching my Vikings crush those packers. #skolvikings https://www.instagram.com/p/CiYeECirBTy/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

1/3 of the important winegrowing areas in Austria done. Steiermark aka Styria. #winemaps #wine #sommlife #questforthegreenpin #austrianwine #austria https://www.instagram.com/p/CiYdwIzLn7o/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Hook ‘Em Horns! #ut #utalabama #longhorns #horns https://www.instagram.com/p/CiVRRi6LxGA/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Finally made it to @highstreetwine sorry if anyone came by earlier and I wasn’t here yet. #wine #sommlife #lifewithmark (at High Street Wine Co.) https://www.instagram.com/p/CiT34eNtjlb/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

For anyone coming to @highstreetwine tonight I’ll be there closer to 9:30. Had a couple more wines at the end of the night. (at Luce Ristorante E Enoteca) https://www.instagram.com/p/CiTvU1HNk0Q/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

First two wines of the night. Super solid and delicious. #sommlife #wine #italianwine #venetowine #lifewithmark #birthday #birthdaydinner (at Luce Ristorante E Enoteca) https://www.instagram.com/p/CiTpsjNLLE7/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Fresh cut for my bday. It was actually yesterday but I’m going out tonight. I’ll be hitting up @highstreetwine some time after 8:30 if you’re inclined to buy your favorite wine guy a glass :) https://www.instagram.com/p/CiS9mCvpf5T/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

300 away from 1000 subscribers. If you haven’t subscribed, then do it today! #wine #winereview #winereviews #videowinereview #wwtv #thebestwineshowanywhere https://www.instagram.com/p/CiNZGxeLxcd/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Aaaand I back! #lifeupdate #channelupdate #wine #winereview #videowinereview #thebestwineshowanywhere #sommlife #somm #sommelier #certifiedsommelier #wwtv #wineworldtv https://www.instagram.com/p/CiIzkaaJolk/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

WWTV resumes 9/5! 13 episodes are up and ready to come at you every Monday. I still have yet to record my holiday specials and I have at least two more shows to record that I plan on putting out this year. #thebestwineshowanywhere #wine #youtube #winevideo #videowinereview #winereview https://www.instagram.com/p/CiCD-ZatvgS/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

I may not be able to attend @texsom but I’m getting my reps in. I’m there in spirit. #sommlife #texsom #wine #questforthegreenpin #lifewithmark (at High Street Wine Co.) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch0fwgVLKhP/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Starting my work on my Austria maps. Here is a lesson in precision vs accuracy. The Cyan line is from the Austrian government and it is an administrative boundary of a cadastral community. The magenta line is my trace of the same boundary as indicated via Open Street Map's Mapnik overlay. I also have a pic without my trace in magenta and those boundaries are indicated with a dash and dot type of grey line. Also included the satellite version for reference. The cyan line is very precise. It follows the boundaries exactly when looking at the Mapnik map. But it's shifted a fairly consistent amount. In this case to the east (right) and a little bit to the north (up). The Austrian government's boundaries are the only ones from a free database that don't have a copyright from GADM, the organization that has them. The rest do, but GADM allows non-commercial academic use. Lots of maps that used these administrative boundaries use these files from GADM, and a couple others, but never correct them. I could do the same, but I quickly figured out that all of them are off to a certain degree. GADM seems to be the closest and it's sometimes highly accurate. Why does that matter? Well in some ways it doesn't because of how the winegrowing areas are created. Lots of land is included that don't have vineyards so being off a few miles isn't a big deal. But, there are places where the vineyards are right along a boundary, and THAT IS important to me to get right. This is why I'm claiming my maps will the the most accurate AND precise for the winegrowing areas of the world. Most of the time I'm redrawing the lines. I've gotten better at efficiency, but it's still a long a tedious process. #maps #winemaps #map #winemap #wine #googleearthpro #googleearth #mapnik #openstreetmap #sommlife #questforthegreenpin https://www.instagram.com/p/Chyw191uZIx/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=