San Diego Magazine's Happy Half Hour

Jennifer Carruthers is one hell of a sharp brain on wine. Not surprising. She had a successful career as an engineer before deciding she was far more interested in the structure and story of a good wine. So she spent a decade studying wine as a broker and distributor—eventually making it to the Advanced Sommelier level (an incredibly byzantine, difficult and rare knowledge of wine). Finally, she launched her own company, JC Select Wines, which specializes in hand-picking wines for special events and clients. We asked her to come in and share a few things: The top six wines we all have to try, and the story behind them. The biggest trends and myths about wine—explain them and debunk them, please. And so she does. Hilariously. “Wine gets a bad rap from the people who sniff a glass and say ‘this was grown by a river, and there were three, possibly four, golden retrievers on the property,” she says. JC Select connects people to niche, hand-picked wines. Her mission to source wines from sustainable, top-notch make