Meet Lu Diodovich | Wine Specialist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lu Diodovich and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lu, we’d love to hear more about your end-goal, professionally.
At the moment, I split my time between my two businesses. I am the happy owner of Eight Wine Eight, a boutique online wine shop and the writer behind Wine With Lu, an educational blog to learn about wine. Also, I studying to finish one of the most prestige certificates in the wine world called WSET Diploma. But this is just the beginning. My goal is to have a brick and mortar place where I can, not only sell wine, but also provide wine education and a space for small family oriented wineries to showcase their wines. Also, travel around the world choosing the best wines for my shop is my dream.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Getting to where I am today took me a long time and a lot of hard work but I couldn’t be happier of where I am in my career. I am from Argentina and came to California over 22 years ago. Although I have a background in Tv Production, I started working in the restaurant business soon after I moved here, and there is where I found my love for wine. Studying wine is expensive, the certifications are expensive and tasting hundreds of different wines to learn, it’s also expensive. So the road to get where I am today, took a lot of my savings and many hours of dedication but I think it was worth the ride. And, for sure, I am not done yet. There is still a long road ahead, plenty of long nights studying and lots of wine bottles to taste, but it will be all worth it. I am comfortable to say that if you shop at Eight Wine Eight today, you will find great wines curated by me and that will not disappoint you and that it’s because of all the wine education and certifications I achieved.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
When my friends and family from Argentina come to visit, I make sure to take them wine tasting to the many wineries only a couple of hours away from Los Angeles. The sightseeing driving north in the 101 is priceless and going to the wineries I get to be close to whom I am and my friends always have a great time. I love to visit Presqu’ile Winery, they have a nice food and wine pairing experience. Melville is another one of my favorite wineries, but there are so many great wineries in the area of Solvang, Lompoc, Los Alamos and Santa Maria Valley that it’s impossible to name them all.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I am lucky to be part of an amazing L.A. wine community, that is always supporting each others work and achievements. It would be impossible to name all the great people that are part of it, but for sure, I need to name Christie Norman that gave me the opportunity to be part of this community and introduce me to many successful wine professionals and also Monica Marin, who has been my coach in my wine studies for over 5 years now.

Website: www.eightwineeight.com / www.winewithlu.com

Instagram: https://wine.with.lu

Linkedin: Luciana Diodovich