It all started with a bottle…
Isn’t that how the best stories start?
In this case, one bottle changed my entire career path. In 2004 we went wine tasting in Napa Valley. We lived less than an hour from the famed wine region, so it was easy to get to and we had visited Napa and Sonoma a few times prior. On this particular occasion we went to the winery that we had purchased all our wedding wine from, Beaulieu Vineyards. We took a tour and also ended up in the Reserve Room - a new experience for us. I decided to splurge and purchase an almost 10 year old bottle of Georges de Latour Cabernet Sauvignon, my favorite from the tasting.
A few months later we hosted a dinner party where we would enjoy this special bottle. I distinctly remember getting lost in my glass while everyone else was carrying on with the conversation. I kept saying to everyone things like “this wine is incredible, don’t you think?”. But it seemed no one else was having the same experience I was. I was lost in my own world and captivated by the juice pouring out of the bottle and into my glass. I couldn’t forget the taste of that Cabernet. I can still taste it today. It became something that I sought after - that taste of elegance, power and nuance.
Some time passed and I just couldn’t get that bottle out of my mind. Over the next year we visited Sonoma and Napa quite a bit. We became even more fond of Sonoma and ultimately decided to move there. A few short months after our move I was pouring wine at a local tasting room and ferociously consuming as much information as possible about the magical grapes being made into wine. It was an incredible time full of learning and opportunity. It’s hard to know where life will ultimately take you, but I knew one thing after starting that job. I always wanted to be connected to the wine industry in some capacity.
Over the years I would keep an eye out on wine auctions and purchased a few bottles of that 1995 BV Cabernet Sauvignon. Every time I tasted it, the wine had evolved and changed just like I had. It was always a treat. I have been lucky enough to have wines that were considered significantly better than that one from the “hot” vintage of 1995, but only a handful that have been as memorable.
What is your “wine that changed everything” for you?
Cheers!
