Brandon Mitchener

Born and raised in the United States, I have lived in Europe for more than 35 years. I studied in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, then later worked  as a journalist in Frankfurt am Main and Brussels for 15 years before making a career switch to public relations, European public affairs and wine. I still do some freelance writing.
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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.

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 searching for unique wines, rganising my own wine tastings in Brussels and online and selling wine online. My webshop currently focuses on Greek, Portuguese and Belgian wines for their good value-for-money and novelty, respectively.

My wine business is a labor of love. ‍My “day job” is advising companies, business associations and the occasional NGO on public relations, European government relations strategies, and association management. You can learn more about me on my LinkedIn page. You can learn more about my consulting services 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.

  • 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.

  • Mieli

    Mieli (honeys) stands for the fruit of the land and of our labour, whether it be wine, beer or spirits. Producing good wine consistently takes careful planning, skill and experience.

  • An iconic sunset over the caldera of Santorini and Thirasia.

    Cieli

    Cieli (skies) represents the inevitable element of luck. Something as random as frost or a hailstorm can severely challenge the best vineyard and practices. The Italians call that la fortuna, which can be either good fortune or bad.

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