<a href="http://planetavino.net/newsite/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Mary-about1.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-508" title="Mary O'Connor" alt="" src="http://planetavino.net/newsite/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Mary-about1-229x300.jpg" width="229" height="300" /></a>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Welcome to the new Planeta Vino! I'm Mary O'Connor and after more than 10 years living in Madrid, Spain, I've returned to the US for personal, family reasons...</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Hard to leave Spain, great to come home!  Crazy hard to leave a Spanish family, friends and my business behind... closing the business and transitioning has taken a lot longer than I thought!</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Planeta Vino was originally the website for my wine tasting school and wine events business in Madrid. Now I've redesigned it and am re-inventing it as a blog primarily on Spanish wine and food, but also about anything wine that grabs me.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Spanish food is seemingly everywhere in the US and is quite popular at the moment thanks to high-profile chefs such as Jose Andres.  Despite this I still find it is pretty hard to find places that walk the line between respecting Spanish traditions and innovating enough to add that something special. Also a lot of what is billed as "spanish" is anything but!  I'm excited to find some of the good places as well as discover the new gems in Madrid and around Spain on my trips back there.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Spanish wine is less well represented here in the US than Spanish cuisine; it definitely does not get the respect it is due for offering top-notch wines at extremely good prices. Ten years of immersing myself in these wines have really instilled me with a missionary zeal to spread the gospel of Spanish wine!</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Check <a href="http://planetavino.net/newsite/old-planeta-vino/">here</a> for more info on the "Old Planeta Vino"</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">To follow me as I share my passion, follow my blog or sign up <a href="http://eepurl.com/qrtFH" target="_blank">here</a> to get my monthly newsletters with the latest on Spanish wine and food.</p>