April Yap-Hennig

Sacred Drop Channel was started in Spain with the idea of sharing my experiences and love of Spanish Wine. Here you will find a little bit of everything from festivals to wine tastings to winery visits. It has now expanded to include experiences in Portugal to France to the United States.

Doing what I love to do! Here I am harvesting Garnacha grapes at Bodegas Juan Carlos Sancha

I came to Spain to re-discover my love of Spanish wines. It was back in 2001 when I was doing a study abroad in La Rioja where I tasted a phenomenal wine that changed my life forever. It was then that I decided that I wanted to do something in wine. While the wine was phenomenal, it was truly the experience around the wine that really brought me back to Spain.

To understand a wine, you need to understand the culture behind this wine. And this is how Sacred Drop was born. I am the Sacred Drop seeker, in search of the perfect wine and experience that is sacred to me.

You may be wondering who I am and what I know about wine.

I am a certified Wine Sommelier from the International Wine Guild in Colorado. I just finished my second Master’s degree, a Master’s in Viticulture and Oenology from the Universidad de La Rioja in Spain.  I also hold an MBA degree from Purdue University and a B.A. degree (Licenciatura) in Public Relations from the University of Utah.

I came to La Rioja in November 2010 to follow a long-held dream to work in the wine industry. This dream was born when, as an exchange student to the Universidad de La Rioja back in 2001, I fell in love with the country, the region, the people, the culture, and finally the wine.  Then, after a successful career in corporate marketing in both the U.S. and Europe, I decided to finally pursue my dream and try out my skills with the wine industry.  Thus I came back to where it all started, La Rioja.

I not only had a very positive experience in La Rioja, living and enjoying this beautiful region but began to work for wineries in La Rioja and later decided to move to the Willamette Valley of Oregon where I worked with small, medium and large wineries. I have since moved to Denver, Colorado where I have worked with a number of small to medium size companies in food and wine.

I currently live in Denver with my two little munchkins and husband, enjoying the sunny and ever-changing weather of this beautiful, mountainous state.

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.”  – Thoreau