Tasted Saturday, July 16, 2005 - Sunday, July 17, 2005 by jamiekutch with 1,665 views
The decision to take the leap of faith and follow my passion has been the best decision I have ever made in my life. Its so f”ing amazing how much good has come from my initial post on following a dream. From that day forward, the incredible heart felt emails haven’t stopped coming in. The wildest part though is the ½ dozen people who said that after reading the post they decided to make a major change in their own lives and pursue something they always wanted to pursue.
I posted some of my favorite letters in a .pdf last night
I must admit, I was nervous as shit the day I was set to leave NYC. I gave myself plenty of time and dragged my two suitcases into the elevator on my trip to the airport. Now I have never in my life been stuck in an elevator but that day between floors the elevator abruptly stopped. I pressed the alarm button and was told to sit tight by the doorman while he got someone to get me out. I had about 15 minutes alone in that box and started thinking could this be an omen. I was then scared to get on the plane. I quickly erased the thought when the elevators where pried open and I was hoisted up with the two bags. I took the stairs and the guys helped carry my bags. Weird… Next I was sitting on the tarmac with the plane waiting to take off. My stomach was killing from stress and I was totally nervous about the decision I made and all that I was leaving behind in NYC. That was absolutely the only moment I second thought my decision.
Since then, the whole thing continues to feel like the FORCE from Star Wars and after seeing the movie some weeks ago I totally related after it was over. I went for it. I am doing positive proactive things and thinking positively. The crazy part is how much comes back to you when you do that. People are friendlier, offer to help, give you their shirt off their back, etc. Totally weird again… Since the post I had the opportunity to dine with Robert Parker thanks to Dan Kravitz, was interviewed on GrapeRadio thanks to Jay Selman, Brian Clark & Leigh Older, was written up in Pinotfile thanks to Rusty, was quoted in Monterey County Weekly thanks to Charyn Pfeuffer, and soon to be written in Bloomberg markets when I sit down next week with Elin McCoy in S.F. who wrote the Parker Biography. It’s totally insane!!! I recently wrote how I am dying to taste some more aged Rochioli and bam within 30 minutes I received a PM from a board member asking when we can meet for dinner in LA and pop a few of his.. He even mentioned that he used to drink frequently with Alan Meadow's and maybe we could get together for some Burgundy... ROCK & ROLL!!!
Within the first week out here I met up with Andrew Vingiello and Brian Loring to attend the Pisoni Memorial day weekend party in the Santa Lucia Highlands (which I wrote up on the board) After that there was a great Rhone dinner at Rubicon I also wrote up. Roy Hersh was in town for a California dinner we also had at Rubicon and stayed with me at my new pad. Since my bed just arrived the day before, I put Roy up on the air mattress I had been using for the first week I was in town. The air mattress was brutal and my back was hurting for several days after sleeping on it. By the time you would wake in the morning, the air was all depleted from the mattress and you were literally sleeping on the hard floor. Sorry Roy.
Guillaume Deschamps was next to arrive a week or so ago. With Guillaume coming to town, I decided to buy a new air mattress so he would be comfortable. We had a good time together and the first night went to Christine Huang’s new apartment literally 5 blocks away for some delicious home cooked food. Christine started us with a nice Duval Champagne and some prosciutto rolled with figs and goat cheese. It was delicious paired with the Bubbles. We then moved onto a killer salad with a beef cheek in the center of the salad. (Ask Christine for the recipe - her dishes were divine). It was paired with my epiphany wine, the 2002 Kosta Browne Kanzler that introduced me to Kosta Browne. I wanted to share it with Guillaume. Finally for the main we had lamb chops with the 1985 Chave Hermitage.. Wow was it a match made in heaven. It was a great night. and we had tons of fun. For a conclusion we did a scotch tasting. Guillaume brought 4 small airplane size bottles of scotch with him home. At night end, I was exhausted.
The following evening, several local board members got together to welcome Guillaume to town. We had a good old time and the theme was 1994 California Cabernet. I never got around to taking notes on this dinner as I needed a break. I did jot down some brief notes in the beginning of the night on the older Cabs. Guillaume looked exhausted as well especially when we all went for cocktails at the conclusion of the dinner.
Next up was a great weekend up in Pataluma. Kristen, my girlfriend arrived on Thursday of last week and for the weekend we rented a car and drove up to Leslie's home. Leslie started and used to write the online wine column for the NYTimes and currently writes for the SF Chronicle, judges several wine competitions every year, and is working on her second book about wine. Kristen worked on her publicity at Harper Collins for her first book "Wine For Women" and they have a very close relationship. She is wealth of information and we were up till 2:00 am eating, tasting, and playing Twister. All the food we ate was delicious and very visually appealing. Doesn't that look good? It's common for Leslie to open 100+ wines in a weekend.. Damn what a job... We entered her garage and she asked, "what do you two want to drink". I almost fell over. It felt like I was in acandy store for the night. We started with some bubbly as a toast along with two damn good whites (notes below). We moved on to some delicious reds, and finally finished with some outstanding dessert wines - including a cask sample of 2003 Grahams . Yumm. Leslie even sent us home with a piece of her mother (a mother is a congealed piece of vinegar - you add wine to the jar and it continues to make red wine vinegar). We spent the night and I had trouble getting up the following morning.
The next day we drove up to Michael Browne's home in the early evening. Tony Velebil was already there and was sipping on a Coors from a can. Bahh... Michael is a wealth of information and it was great listening to him talk about winemaking all night. I wanted a special bottle to share with Michael and brought along a 1986 Lafite. Tony was out back sporting some wild sunglasses while the rest of us helped with the food preperations. It was another fantastic night with many dead soldiers on the table at the end.
Next up was a trip down to TX. where I had the opportunity to meet some great board members. I flew in on a Monday night and when I got off the plane made a dash for a cab. Finally when I walked into room the phone rang and Craig said, "I'm downstairs, lets go." With a quick change I rushed to the offline carrying a bottle of 1993 Rochioli West Block and forgetting the camera behind. Bummer... It was a great night though and the wines were darn tasty. I look forward to going to Lola's next time.
2002 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Kanzler Vineyard
USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
(7/17/2005)
Biased.. Loved it
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1985 Bernard Chave Hermitage 94 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
(7/17/2005)
Great terroir nose of sous le bois. Mushrooms, tree leaves and bark, some saddle leather and beefs blood all signify the beautiful nose of this wine. An incredible accompaniment with the porcini crusted baby lamb chops we ate. Awesome pairing - thanks Christine.
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