Wine Ballin’

Here is a story about Mr. Hogan who was an All-American high school basketball player out of Mission Viejo in Orange County, CA. He could have gone to any college in America, but he chose to go to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo because he loved the area and people when on his recruiting trip hanging out with his future teammates. He ended up being Cal Poly’s leading scorer of all-time and was a lights out three point shooter, although he couldn’t rebound worth a shit. His handles were next level and had this left to right Allen Iverson-like crossover that used to punish the Big West Conference. He really loved to party but somehow he always delivered for his team and school. He had really long blonde hair and wore different colored headbands playing with a full beard other than one season where he shaved his head and wore a thick goatee. He once got player of the week back to back when he spent the two weeks wasted out of his mind. He got benched for smoking cannabis when he was trying to just heal his knees, back and crazy brain. Towards the end of his senior season, his coach asked him if he wanted to play in France and Mr. Hogan was all for it. While playing in France he found his second passion, wine. He drank and studied Bordeaux and Rhône wines throughout his three year injury-prone professional career. He eventually moved back home and substitute taught, earning his teaching credential and a job teaching music history at his alumni high school. While he was subbing he tried out for the Portland Trail Blazers, but didn’t make the team unfortunately. However, he found a group of wine lovers that just happened to be in the NBA.

When Mr. Hogan was up in Portland at the Blazer’s tryout, one person that he met and really bonded with was CJ McCollum, the NBA player who owns a vinyard in Willamette Valley Oregon wine country. He also had his own wine brand, McCollum Heritage 91. He played with the Trail Blazers when Mr. Hogan met him, but is currently balling it up in New Orleans with the Pelicans. Mr. Hogan had never been to Oregon before so when they were in CJ’s vineyard for the first time, it was strange to him because he felt like he was at home for some reason. CJ produces a Rosé, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and a Sparking wine. He partnered with Adelsheim Vineyard, so the quality is as good as it gets for the area. When the two were in CJ’s vineyard in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA, Mr. Hogan curiously asked, “Why did you get into wine CJ?” “Wine brings people together and connects them to each other, to history, to places and to culture.” Mr. Hogan deeply agreed and understood how CJ would fall in love with the beautiful landscape, kind people and eyebrow raising wines from Oregon. Especially Pinot Noir. Pinot thrives in the Willamette Valley because the grape experiences a cool, maritime climate with warm summers, cool evenings, mild winters with a longer growing season. Mr. Hogan loved the elegance, silky textures, bright red fruits, vibrant acidity and earthiness of Oregon Pinot Noir. During the Summers when Mr. Hogan was not teaching he visited CJ and enjoyed his time talking grapes, wine and ballin’.

When Mr. Hogan was hanging out talking Pinot Noir grapes with CJ, he learned that it was not only him that was into wine, but a list of NBA players who were already deep into their pursuit. Wine and the NBA might date back to 1996 when the San Antonio Spurs hired Gregg Popovich also known as the “Popfather of wine” where he began introducing unique wines at team dinners walking around sharing and educating them on the wines that he was serving. Wine can stimulate the mind and soul, bringing people together, elevating relationships through the bottle being shared. Mr. Hogan had the pleasure of meeting Pop one day and got invited to one of his bring your own bottle wine get togethers. The invite list was exciting and surprising. It was LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Steph Curry, Channing Frye, Chris Paul, Kevin Love, Jimmy Butler and Carmelo Anthony, all who are a group of wine loving ballers. Mr. Hogan who was 6’6” wasn’t intimidated by the height of everyone or their wine savvy, although he was with the level of ball these guys played and the bottles that were brought by Pop and the players. Mr. Hogan ended up having an exquisite and riveting time and his bottle showed very well. He was now officially wine ballin’.

Mr. Hogan went through many different phases and hairstyles, so on one perfectly clear and sunny Saturday afternoon, Mr. Hogan was with some visiting friends from his high school, and some from college and were off to a 3,000 acre ranch on the outskirts of San Luis Obispo. Unknown to Mr. Hogan and his friends, the property had five large blocks of Pinot Noir near the middle of the property and the locals planned on hiking and drinking wine in the cherished vineyard. One of the friends who grew up on the land was leading the way for the fun and adventurous group of six. The land owner secretly brought four bottles of Pinot from the vineyard they were off to and began to hike to their destination. Mr. Hogan and his high school friends had no idea where they were headed because the college friends were hiding the wine and secret treasure of the hillside vineyard. As they were twenty minutes into the hike, “Stop.” said the host as he reached into his backpack and pulled out the wine and four eighths of magic mushrooms for all of them to share. Shocked in disbelief but seriously intrigued, Mr. Hogan’s friends were interested in taking a psychedelic trip through the green hills of the county. “I think it’s a bad idea. We shouldn’t mix alcohol and psilocybin. It could be dangerous and mess with the trip.” said Mr. Hogan who was usually all about mixing. All the friends looked at each other and back at Mr. Hogan and began laughing hysterically.

Mr. Hogan didn’t find the friends reaction very humorous at all. His gut told him no, but the thick peer pressure and crazy part of his brain made him contemplate the more exciting and risky option. “Fine, let’s do it.” said Mr. Hogan, not feeling good about his final decision. Once he agreed, they started distributing the large bag appropriately giving more for the heavy hitters and less for Mr. Hogan who was still worried about tripping and drinking. They then put the stems and caps into peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that were premade for the hike. In what seemed like an hour later, they all started feeling something different inside and were suddenly locked in with each other already having telepathic thoughts and light visuals. The green grass brightened and started moving along the trail that started mystically glowing and mysteriously guiding them to the small Pinot Noir vineyard. The California poppies were radiating electric orange and the other native flowers seem to be rising from the ground with faces and smiles on them. The group began feeling like a tribe of some sorts and had a bond that went beyond friendship. After an hour of build up, the clouds came in and the sky got darker and they found themselves hiking a steep hill that seemed to never end. The leader of the group timed the sunset and vineyard view with the peaking of the mushrooms so when they arrived to the top of the hill, they saw the exquisitely groomed vineyard and glorious sun setting, making them feel one with the earth and solar system. The vines on the trellises were moving up towards them and coiling around the cables, shooting up in the air right in front of their eyes. As they were deep in their trip and the waves were coming on strong, they were firing on all cylinders and it was time to bring out the wine. The leader somehow perfectly opened a bottle and poured the wine into the six stemless glasses.

As the wine was poured, the high-end fermented grape juice came out of the bottle in what seemed like a lifetime. They all smelt and sipped the Estate Pinot simultaneously and the second it hit their palates, the combo hit them like a ton of bricks. They could taste like they never have before and were seeing visuals of each of the flavors clearly. There were no words being spoken, just the experience happening with the friends knowing exactly what each other was thinking and tasting. The wine instantly shot them down the hillside as they all rolled down the hill and rows of the vineyard laughing carelessly, not carrying about the dirt all over their clothes, face and hair. After continuing to laugh as hard as they ever had, they were picking up the dirt and letting it slide through their semi-fisted hands fascinated by the San Luis Obispo soil. When they were looking up at the sky they were confused by the electrical cables they were seeing because they weren’t ever there. They continued to roll around on the flat land and the vines started whispering to them, telling them to look out for a big boulder on their path back to the car. They all were told and It was time to start heading back. When they were walking back, they came upon the humongous boulder the vines were talking about. They didn’t notice it on the way there, but this time, they all stood stunned wondering how this enormous rock got in the middle of the empty and rockless field. With a little bit of light left, they decided to climb up on the rock to feel the astounding energy it was giving off. Mr. Hogan was still rolling pretty good and feeling the alcohol in what seemed like a purple dream state. As he admired the boulder and surrounding area, he took a small step backwards and in slow motion, fell off the rock.

As Mr. Hogan suddenly disappeared from the scene, only one of the friends saw him actually fall. It was shocking and surreal as the friend could not believe what was really happening all of the sudden. Things instantly changed and the trip turned into something else not so celebratory. When the word quickly spread, everyone came over and looked at the bottom of the rock and there was Mr. Hogan with his eyes dilated and bulging out of his sockets. Thank goodness there was somehow no blood, so a big sigh of relieve swept over the group. Somehow everyone kept their cool, but they were all worried about Mr. Hogan who looked very distraught and drastically confused. They climbed down and looked at his arm to see if it was broken and when they looked down at it, it was completely moving back and forth from the trip so they could not tell what was wrong. They eventually realized it was his foot since he couldn’t walk on it, so the leader who was around six foot decided to put the 6’6” 215 pound Mr. Hogan on his back and got a move on it before it was dark. The psilocybin gave the leader superhuman strength and he carried him miraculously all the way back to the car where the moon was now huge and yellow. As the rain started right as they loaded into the car, a melting and perfectly timed Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo from a live Grateful Dead show came on and matched the mood when they were all still tripping pretty hard. They were all too wasted to drive so they called an Uber and ended up in the emergency room with a doctor that had to know something was up. The three high school buddies made it back to Mr. Hogan’s place and eventually passed out. They woke up feeling light, recharged and more insightful than ever and had to decide if the incredible and invigorating beginning part of the trip was worth the bad part of it. As Mr. Hogan’s friends were packed and ready to head back to the OC, Mr. Hogan thought deeply if it was all worth it? He pondered this for years and eventually decided it was a break even…