Tanji Patton, former news anchor, host of WOAI’s San AntonioLiving and long–time television personality, knows what to dowhen circumstances change, and life throws the proverbial righthook at you. “Smile, and roll with the punches,” this vivacious, petiteblonde laughs. Actually, after talking to her for a few minutes,one gets the sense that it would take a tragedy of monumental proportionsto throw this successful woman off her stride.
Successful is only one adjective that describes Patton. In herjob as journalist and reporter she has traveled the globe, talked toworld leaders and caused judges to change the way they administerlaw here in Texas. She also hosted the highly rated San Antonio LivingShow for many years and co–anchored the evening news beforemoving onto her newest passion.
“At the beginning of the year whenI knew I would not be returning tomy anchoring job, I wondered what Iwould do with my time,” Patton says.“Mike (Tanji’s husband) and I love totravel. It’s something we’ve done sincebefore our son was born. We also loveto find out–of–the–way vineyards andsample the wines. We’re very fortunatebecause Mike has his own business andcan take the time to get away.”
Over the years, the two of themhave traveled locally, nationally andinternationally. They have sampled thelocal fare and most of all, local wines.They discovered that everywhere theytraveled, there were little known vineyardstucked away in the hills whichhad some of the best wines they hadever tasted. “I remember one wineproducer in Italy who invited us tohis vineyard, which was also his homeand we spent the entire afternoon withhim taking in the beautiful Tuscan hillsand tasting his wines,” Patton says. “Hiswines were amazing, but more thanthat it was his lifestyle of enjoying theland and appreciating the small thingswe take for granted like a beautiful sunset,that made a huge impression on usthat day.”
It was then that Patton realized she had found what she wantedto do. “A wise man once told me, ‘When you’re looking for somethingnew to do, stick with what you know,’” she says. Both Patton’sknow their wines. Although Tanji has no desire to be a sommelier(a wine steward in a restaurant, hotel, or other establishment, whosupervises the ordering, storing, and serving of wine), she doesdesire to bring her knowledge to bear and introduce a variety ofwines to the public. She and Mike have taken a number of classesincluding a grueling class at the Wine, Spirit and Education Trustof London, in order to increase their knowledge of wines, regions,and what to look for in a wine.
Taking her friend’s advice, Patton chose to take her knowledgeof wine, her passion for traveling, meld the two and put it togetherwith something she knows — media. She created a show that highlightsvineyards in the country that she believes are worth a visit.Instead of using television as her means of communication, shehas instead turned to the Internet, and her show can be accessedand downloaded from her website.
“The show goes beyond just taking the viewer to a vineyardsomewhere in the country,” Patton explains. Tanji’s website, trueto her word, is filled with recipes from renowned restaurants, funwine segments, a blog, plans for trips and getaways and newsletters.By using the connections she has made over her many yearsin television, Patton has persuaded first–class restaurants to sharetheir recipes with her viewers. She has experts share which wineswork best with which meal. “And we’re not talking the generic,‘white wine goes well with fish,’” Pattonexplains. “We discuss a specific dish orrecipe and then which specific wine,available either online or in a localstore, is the best choice.”
To help her with this, Patton turnedto H–E–B and their ‘Cooking Connections’section at the H–E–B Plus locatedat Blanco and 1604. “Ralph, the HEBwine steward, chooses the wine, andthen Cooking Connections selects adish that complements that wine,” shesays. “A lot of us don’t know a lot aboutwine. Face it, how many of us are intimidatedwhen the sommelier at a restaurantapproaches us and pours us a glassto taste?” says Patton. “Often we’ll justsay yes to the wine without knowingwhat we’re saying yes to. It’s my goal tomake wine less of a guessing game andhelp make the right choice based onone’s personal preferences and taste.”
She also says customers should notbe misled by price. “We’ve been led tobelieve that the more expensive thebottle, the better the wine. That is notalways the case. I have had some expensivewines in my day that were notworth the price, and some wines thatwere relatively inexpensive that wereheavenly!” As a result Patton has a pageon her website that highlights ‘Best Buys’– wines from all over the country and the world that cost less than$15 a bottle.
The website will have trip giveaways to local and national winedestinations as well. It will also showcase Texas wineries right herein the Hill Country region. “There are some fabulous places just anhour or so from San Antonio and they offer some fine food andfine wines,” Patton says.
“At the end of the day I want my website to be a fun place tocome and learn more about our region, about wines and food ingeneral. I want it to be educational, without being a tutorial.” Withall the different segments Patton has introduced to her site, fromthe cooking segment to the blog, she has definitely brought enlightenmentand entertainment to a field of certain interest.
