Carolyn Dismuke documents two-year wine country pilgrimage across California in new book, 'Drink Your Words'

The first chapter of Carolyn Dismuke’s new nonfiction book outlines her departure from San Francisco, where she left her studio apartment behind to embark on an ambitious road trip across California. Over the next 25 months, Dismuke lived out of the suitcases she was able to fit in her convertible.

click to enlarge Carolyn Dismuke documents two-year wine country pilgrimage across California in new book, 'Drink Your Words'
PHOTO COURTESY OF CAROLYN DISMUKE
MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD : Carolyn Dismuke’s new book, ‘Drink Your Words,’ was released in April and was recently announced as a nonfiction finalist in the 2022 Next Generation Indie Book Awards program. During a couple weekends in July, Dismuke will be appearing at a handful of book signing events in Buellton, San Luis Obispo, and Paso Robles.

“I’d only planned to be a vineyard vagabond for a year, so I got a tenant to sign a 12-month lease and put all my stuff in storage,” said Dismuke, who stayed in more than 20 cities during her extended trek to explore California’s various wine regions.

Carolyn Dismuke documents two-year wine country pilgrimage across California in new book, 'Drink Your Words'
A TASTE ODYSSEY: Find out more about Drink Your Words and its author, Carolyn Dismuke, at carolyndismuke.com. Dismuke will be signing copies of the book at the Hitching Post II in Buellton on July 30 at noon. Additional book signings will be held at Barnes and Noble in San Luis Obispo on July 23 at 1 p.m., and Sea Shell Cellars in Paso Robles on July 29 at 5:30 p.m.

“I spent a month at a time at each location with a few exceptions,” said the author, whose 300-plus page book, Drink Your Words, chronicles her two-year journey across the state, stopping in Los Olivos, Santa Ynez, Solvang, and other wine country hot spots in Santa Barbara County along the way.

Drink Your Words was released in April and was recently announced as a nonfiction finalist in the 2022 Next Generation Indie Book Awards program. During a couple of weekends in July, Dismuke will be appearing at a handful of book signing events in Buellton, San Luis Obispo, and Paso Robles. 

The Buellton signing, slated for July 30, will be held at the Hitching Post II, one of Dismuke’s favorite venues that she highlights in the book.

“Gray Hartley and Frank Ostini from Hitching Post told such entertaining stories that I retold in the book,” Dismuke said of the local staple’s owners. “They remain endearing connections.”

click to enlarge Carolyn Dismuke documents two-year wine country pilgrimage across California in new book, 'Drink Your Words'
PHOTO COURTESY OF CAROLYN DISMUKE
A TOAST TO THE POST : Author Carolyn Dismuke describes various encounters with several winemakers and business owners she met during her stays in the wine regions she’s visited. One of her favorite venues was the Hitching Post II in Buellton.

Dismuke describes various encounters with several winemakers and business owners she met during her stays in the wine regions she visited. Some of her other favorite Central Coast venues were Buttonwood Farm Winery and Vineyard in Solvang, Bridlewood Estate Winery in Santa Ynez, and Scott Cellars, Demetria Estate and Vineyards, and Carhartt Family Wines in Los Olivos.

“Bridlewood had a lovely Spanish mission-style setting I adored and a full bodied cab that was like velvet,” Dismuke said. “I recall liking the whites at Buttonwood and Demetria. Scott Cellars always pleased my palate, as did the sangiovese from Carhartt.”

click to enlarge Carolyn Dismuke documents two-year wine country pilgrimage across California in new book, 'Drink Your Words'
PHOTO COURTESY OF CAROLYN DISMUKE
THIS MUST BE THE PLACE : Drink Your Words chronicles Carolyn Dismuke’s two-year trek to explore California’s various wine regions. She stayed in more than 20 cities during the road trip. “I spent a month at a time at each location with a few exceptions,” she said.

Another Los Olivos highlight for Dismuke was visiting Kaena Wine Co., which she dubbed “the king of grenache.”

Wine wasn’t the only thing that caught Dismuke’s attention during her stay in Los Olivos—she returns nearly every holiday season to enjoy the town’s tree-lighting ceremony, which she described as charming and heartwarming.

Dismuke currently lives in Paso Robles, where she continues to document her winery visits across the Central Coast through a blog on her website. The author originally recorded details from her two-year road trip as blog entries, before her work on Drink Your Words began. 

click to enlarge Carolyn Dismuke documents two-year wine country pilgrimage across California in new book, 'Drink Your Words'
PHOTO COURTESY OF CAROLYN DISMUKE
FAMILY MATTERS : One of Carolyn Dismuke’s favorite Central Coast vintners is Carhartt Family Wines in Los Olivos, where she praised the winery’s sangiovese.

“The blog was an afterthought because winemakers I’d interview would ask me where I came from and where I was heading next. So it became a way for them to follow and suggest other regions as the journey evolved,” Dismuke said. “When I sat down to write the book, I used the blog posts as content to weave the themes, character development, and stories together.”

Dismuke said that her favorite time of day to write is usually in the afternoon or evening, and explained why she isn’t always a morning person.

“Most writers say early morning is best because your mind is still in that subconscious state from dreaming … I’ll awaken to jot something down if it’s been percolating in my slumber. But I do my best writing in the late afternoon and night,” Dismuke said. “When I’m really in that zone, I’ll write until 2 or 3 a.m. and then be no good in the morning.”

Jot something down for Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood at [email protected].

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