Brandon Mitchener
Born and raised in the United States, I have lived in Europe for more than 30 years. I studied in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, then later worked as a journalist for Dow Jones Newswires, The International Herald Tribune and The Wall Street Journal in New York City, Frankfurt am Main and Brussels for 15 years before making the switch to public relations, European public affairs and wine.
I first started discovering wine while learning German near Freiburg im Breisgau, and have been lucky to later live near good wine country in Austria, Germany, Italy, France and Belgium ever since. I currently focus on Greek, Belgian and Portuguese wines.
In 2014 I took a sommelier class to learn more about wine. I earned my sommelier diploma after 18 gruelling months of tasting wine, beers and spirits and learning how to pair them with food. Since 2018 I have been organising my own wine tastings in Brussels and online and selling wine as a labor of love.
My wine business is a side activity. My “day job” is advising companies, business associations and the occasional NGO on European public relations, government relations strategies as well as association management. You can learn more about me on my LinkedIn page. You can learn more about the consulting services I offer on www.terremielicieli.eu.
The name Terre Mieli Cieli (pronounced TER-reh MYEL-ly, CHEL-ly) comes from the Italian words for Earth, Honey and Sky. The earth--think terroir--and sky--think weather--represent two of the most important elements for a great wine. Honey represents the proverbial fruit of the land and what winemakers make of it.
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Terre
Terre (lands) represents the terroir, the environment that a winemaker has to work with. That can mean soil that is more rocky, chalky or sandy or a latitude that lends itself to one kind of grape or another.
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Mieli
Mieli (honeys) stands for the fruit of the land and of our labour, whether it be wine, beer or spirits. Luck helps, but consistently producing results worth talking about takes careful planning and more than a little bit of skill. Ultimately, taste and beauty are subjective. The trick is knowing your customers and producing results that click.
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Cieli
Cieli (skies) represents the inevitable element of luck that keeps us humble. The Italians call it la fortuna, which can mean both good fortune and bad. The best vineyard and practices can be brought low by something as random as frost or a hailstorm.
