My Mission Statement

I can still remember the first bottle of “wine” I ever drank. It was back in my fraternity days at USC and it was a bottle of Boone’s Farm Piña Colada. My God that tasted awful! I didn’t like it then and well, let’s just say that I really don’t like it now. The second bottle I ever had was a bottle of Foxhorn White Zinfandel I served when I cooked my then girlfriend a “gourmet” dinner of well, let’s just call it “Chicken Finger Parmesan.”

Why am I telling you this? From these simple roots, I grew a passion for what I do professionally. I needed a job to pay for bills in college and little did I know then that this simple job would grow into something that I absolutely love. I love the fact that I can educate, or at least try to educate people on a subject that seems so elusive to some. I love to help people know: why we drink wine.

In March of 2006, I lived in Columbia and worked at a little place called The Gourmet Shop. One night in March, we hosted a wine tasting to arguably one of the best winemakers at the time and unequivocally one of the best wineries in the world. The winemaker’s name was Jean-Bernard Delmas, and the winery’s name was Chateau Haut-Brion. Monsieur Delmas brought all of his wines from the elusive and often underrated 2001 vintage (one of my personal favorites) from France’s famed Bordeaux region (specifically, Graves). We tasted through the wines over the course of 3 hours in a sold out, jammed packed room and Monsieur Delmas commanded the room, never talking down, never talking above people. He was a very down to earth man, even for a Frenchman. I was so impressed by his demeanor and his wine, that I risked my rent money for that month to buy his La Mission de Haut-Brion and had him personally sign the bottle. It said “To Bob and Millie, here is my love for yours.” I later gave it to my parents so they could celebrate their 46th anniversary. They don’t quite remember the dinner they had, but they remember the bottle and they talk about it to this day. Now I’m not telling this story to show what a great son I try to be (Love you Mom and Dad!). I tell it so that I can say this: Wine Tells a Story.

I’ve said this before and the realist in me will say it again: It’s wine. You drink it. But there can be so much more to wine than just that. Red wine is remarkable in that when you drink it in moderation, it can help lower your cholesterol. But past that, there really is a romance to it. Wine does tell a story. I think specifically to the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” when Mary and George Bailey finish a home for the Martini family:

“Bread... that this house may never know hunger.
Salt... that life may always have flavor.
And wine... that joy and prosperity may reign forever. Enter the Martini Castle.”

It may not be the first chapter like a first date or moving into a home. It could come later on to mark a big promotion. It can close the chapter with a wedding. It could come at the end to celebrate love lost. You could have it like my parents did on their anniversary, and subsequently every anniversary since.

Even those among us that don’t drink wine, we wait for that one moment after midnight in the new year when we watch that ball drop and for one moment, everything is right in the world and no matter what happens, hope exists while we sip our bubbly. We drink scotch, bourbon and vodka to unwind, but we have wine with dinner. We tailgate with beer and liquor, but we celebrate with Champagne. It’s for the best times and times to come. It’s why we drink wine.