“FOLLOW YOUR BLISS,” THEY SAY.  For Patricia Thomson, that led to a second career in wine.

As a wine writer, Pat has roamed the resurrected vineyards of Pompeii, bottled Barbera in a medieval cellar, and tasted wine from barrels at the side of world-renowned winemakers.

She writes the wine column in  Tastes of Italia, a bimonthly cooking magazine. And she has written about wine for Gastronomica, WineEnthusiast.com, Pasta, Cellar Fine Wines, Budget Living, and other publiations.

In addition, Pat is president and cofounder of La Dolce Vita Wine Tours, a boutique tour operator specializing in educational wine tours.

Pat’s interest in wine began during her student years, when she studied Italian Renaissance art history in Florence. Here she was seduced by Sangiovese, enjoyed at magic hour while gazing at terracotta rooftops and evening swallows from her loggia on Piazza Santo Spirito. Over time, her passion grew into a vocation. Trips to wine country were followed by studies with the Wine & Spirits Education Trust and membership in the Society of Wine Educators and Wine Media Guild.

On one fateful trip to Italy, she met her husband, Claudio Bisio, while bikin g the hills of Piedmont. In 1999, the duo founded La Dolce Vita Wine Tours, a boutique tour operator specializing in wine tours in Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Since then, Pat’s work as a wine guide and educator has dovetailed with her writing, enabling her to see the vineyards firsthand, build relationships with winemakers, and dig deep into wine culture. She currently divides her time between New York City and Italy.