It was a beautiful Friday afternoon in Laguna Beach and four friends sniffed and swirled their Australian Shiraz together. One of them was jotting down notes about the wine’s profile and the others were confident with their memory. It was tasting day at the wine shop so the staff got to taste what the distributors and wineries were selling that day. The shop was small, but had a specific OC palate it bought for. The big names were always in the shop along with gems hard to find anywhere else. It was across from the Montage in Laguna where a lot of their wine was ordered and delivered by dolly across the street. Tasting the wines that day was exciting but the evening is where the party really began. Don was hosting so they were in Laguna Beach on the edge of the Pacific Ocean. The water was right underneath them with tide pools and rocks off to the left and barreling waves off to the right. Laguna Beach’s water is a little lighter in color compared to more north in Newport and Huntington Beach. Everyone brought two bottles to Dons, so there was eight total along with whatever Don wanted to bring out when those bottles were dust. The guests were Nail, Deesil and then Lionhook whose birthday it was. They were all savvy wine pros that were ready to let loose and pop the night off right. Don provided a 2000 Château Mouton Rothschild and a 1998 Kistler Chardonnay to go with the surf and turf that night. They had bottles of Lewis, Alban, Turley, Etude among other California and Oregon wines sitting on the bar glistening from the ocean’s reflection off the windows and wine bottles. The Dom Perignon started the event off and things just started rolling from there. “Happy Birthday Lionhook!” and they all clanked their crystal Riedel glasses.

Don was the one with the biggest wine collection. He had wine, real estate and stock investments constantly bringing in income to supply his lavish lifestyle. He had a brand new Porsche, a vintage Ferrari, a Range Rover, a fifty four foot boat and two more SUVs. He loved going to Orange County restaurants and showing off his expensive cars, outfits and attractive women on his arm. He only had the wine job to get discounts on the bottles and he loved the comradery with his three good friends and the owner. Don was single and had no kids, so he had tons of extra money. He did think about having kids, but he wanted to keep living the luxury lifestyle, traveling around by private planes, boats and nice cars. As the friends were sipping the 1995 Dom P, it tasted perfect. It blew the four away ending the bottle’s life quickly. They then moved on to the 2001 Unfiltered Newton Chardonnay from Napa. The alive lobsters were boiling and the steaks were soaking in the salt and pepper. The array of appies were allowing the wine to connect and ping around their mouths like a delicate and soft pinball machine. The Pinots were opened and getting ready for their next adventure with the crew. They started with the 2001 Beaux Frères Willamette Valley Pinot Noir and had it with the enticing cheese plate that Don had for them. They had Brie, Havarti, Jarlsberg and Gouda with some fruits and nuts. A term out-of-staters use for Californians. As the Pinot hit their tongues for the first time, they all looked at each other and raised their eye brows and started hooping and hollering about its elegance and power. Not all but some of those older Oregon Pinots had a heavier weight and earthiness not like other Pinots. Deesil was from Dundee in The Willamette Valley, so he was always the one bragging and boasting about how Oregon Pinot is better than California. It was always a fun and laughing matter for the wine pros. Who was right, the Californians or the Oregonian?

Montage Resort and Spa, Laguna Beach, CA

Right before the lobster was served, they opened up the Kistler Chard. The distinct aromas from the wine were floating around the room intoxicating the group. Deesil had drank Bordeaux before but this First Growth blend was something special that everyone had had but Deesil. Everyone else knew what was about to happen but little did Deesil know that his life would be changed forever. The Kistler enhanced the butter and lobster flavors making it a match made in wine heaven. They all started drooling after their first few bites and dinner sips. “Let me get some more of that now! This is ridiculous!” Nail shouted aggressively. They were all melting together. Both the lobster and wine were gone fast due to Nail’s final huge self pour. Now it was time for the 40 oz juicy ribeyes. The meat covered the whole plate while the juices were overflowing onto the table. They were all pretty buzzed by now and the level they were on from the surf and turf and wine was exceptionally high. Having an experience like this puts you on another plane. The room starts glistening and the mind is stimulated past reality. They didn’t even try the Mouton yet that was in the decanter for one hour. It was time to fill the glasses and right before the wine entered the glass, an invisible symphony started playing. It was like something holy was about to happen.

As the wine hit the bowl of the glass the music stopped. The Color was magnificent and glowing and it smelt like nothing he had smelt before. It had referee black cherries with a hint of slow burning smoke. Deesil’s nose almost fell off when the beyond fascinating aromas perfectly shot out of the Cabernet Sauvignon Riedel glass. He could not believe a wine could smell like that. After three big sniffs it was time to taste the legendary and iconic wine. He was not ready for what was about to happen to him. As he lifted his arm, smelt and tasted, time stopped and reality disappeared. It had Ozark dark fruit with spicy Ridge Boys oak and hints of American Spirit tobacco. The velvet pillow soft tannins were balanced perfectly with the Owsley acid and Warren Buffet rich mouthfeel. When the wine was dripping down Deesil’s esophagus, he went into shock and actually shit himself. His eyes were bulging out of his head and he started shaking. The others saw this and all looked at each other and laughed. “What do you think?” Don asked chuckling. Deesil was speechless. He tried to move his lips to talk but he couldn’t. The wine’s finish was still what seemed like peaking. That was just the finish. The wine’s initial taste seem to go on forever, constantly evolving and revealing itself with divine grace in the micro second. It dripped pure euphoria and Deesil dropped to his knees. “What just happened?” Deesil said almost crying. Everyone was laughing hysterically as the wine completely took over his existence and ability to understand anything real. Deesil tried to pull it together and act like that did not just happen. It was way to obvious for hope of that. Deesil after realizing what happen excused himself to the restroom to clean up the mess he made in his pants.

As Deesil returned to the kitchen he had a brand new glow about him. Something did change. His confidence level was sky high and you could tell because everyone was happy to see this new Deesil. Don was like, “Damn Deesil you look amazing.” “I just had the best wine of my entire life, hands down. How could you not feel incredible.” With a huge smile, Deesil put his hand in his jacket pocket and pulled out a gallon size Ziploc bag filled to the brim with white powder. How he was carrying it, they had no idea. Everyone was shocked at first and then they all figured out what kind of party they were about to have. They also realized Deesil might have taken a few key bumps before coming out of the bathroom. “You share the best wine with me, I’ll share the best of what I got with you.” Deesil opened the bag and dumped the whole thing onto the dining room table. It was Scarface-like but with a more friendly environment. The entire pile was glistening. “Straight from Medellín.” Deesil told them. He had the connections so everyone knew it was pure. Right as the bag was emptied, Deesil took out his black card and lined them up.

Deesil was not messing around. He had four fat lines for the group to get the evening started. Everyone but Nail looked nervous but giddy. It wasn’t Nail’s first snow storm, so he he was drooling at the mouth at the idea of attacking the pile. Lionhook took a hundred dollar bill and snorted it like a Hoover vacuum. As he brought his head back up, his eyes were sparkling and you could tell there was no burn. Each one did theirs and instantly felt like a million bucks. As the drip was occurring, everyone looked at each other and knew it was on and poppin’. They only needed one, but they did two, three, four and so on. They went through three quarters of the pile in an hour and a half with their pupils bigger than their actual eyeballs. They were gacked out of their minds but the glorious wines were still stimulating all senses and were going down silky smooth. Each wine was fully alive and expressing themselves profoundly. As the eight bottles turned into twelve, Don brought out a 1997 Château d'Yquem to close the night out on the ideal sweet note. It was absolute perfection going down like golden honey dripping from the actual bee hive. As the wine’s finish seemed endless they continued to chip away at the pile. The next thing you know It was 8am and they were down to their last four lines. The four championed the end of it and by that time were higher than heaven. After some big euphoric but edgy hugs, off they went out the door and into their fancy cars, smiling and still feeling on top of the world. Deesil made sure to grab the Mouton bottle before he hopped into his charcoal big body, Benz and drove off into the bright sunshine. The End

Once Upon A Wine…

GHI

Beer Trip