Lunching With The Guys

I told you in the beginning I would be nothing but honest, so here it goes; I rehearse before I speak to you.  Not kidding.  I’ll give a speech in my car, in the shower, right now as I’m writing this, mostly to no one who is listening.  I do that because I don’t trust my words.  I have calmed down IMMENSELY since my youth, but still have not mastered getting my point across.  I speak to much with my gut, and I don’t think people want to hear gut talk; to messy.

So I rehearse, and I usually wind up not speaking a word of what I rehearsed.  But let me tell you, its really good.  So good that you would think I was intelligent, an analytic, someone whom should write books or give speeches on human identity.  So what throws me- a side glance, an individual that just doesn’t jive with me, a fleeting smirk; do you think I am wrong, ugly, inappropriate with poor wine choices….

Surrounding myself with people that are cushions also effect me; sometimes for the good, and sometimes, well….  Lunch with some great industry guys effected me.  I went with all good intentions of showing a new wine, gaining respect, swapping New Jersey sales war stories…and it happened.  To the guys, it was a great lunch, but to me, I was awkward and felt a shift.  I stumbled in front of an obstacle in the way, made a little funny that no one thought was funny but me, and  probably gave away a secret that was as plain as the nose on my face.  None of that happened, but I’m still fantasizing about it two days later.

I showed a new wine; The Stag.  Amazing, strong, sexy, inviting, and excepted by my audience.  We ate a ridiculous amount of food.  Drank even more wine.  And thank god for that wine; what a great smoke machine for my emotions.  The guys are stellar, good people, generous, and are willing to follow my lead.  So here I go, I’m leading, but still feel like the blow up doll in the corner.

What we drank; The Stag – Great Cab, well, blend from the North Coast of California.  78% Cab to be exact; the rest a little bit of Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot.  The “North Coast” can be so, well, looming of a description.  A lot of this fruit is sourced from the Red Hills in Lake County; this area produces very elegant but concentrated wines, most likely due to the volcanic soils present in the area.  Truly a special place, and a fairly new American Viticultural Area (AVA for short – this is an area of California, with specific boundaries, that speaks to a”sense of place” of a wine for many reasons – more to come on this.  Your wine lesson for the day – and… you are welcome).

This is not Stags’ Leap Winery; I know I speak a lot about Stags’ Leap Winery, but this is something completely different.  This is from St Huberts; an Australian producer that sources and finds great projects all over the world.  This is all American born, down to it’s core.

What should you have in your purse?  Good question; this is a new release.  You are looking under $25.  This wine drinks much more expensive than that.

Where can I buy it?  Anther good question.  I just sold it to Wine Chateau, but there will be others coming.  I’ll definitely send an update!

Is it any good?  It’s great; not life changing, but very very pleasing.  Supple is a good word to describe this wine; ready to drink when popping the cork, tremendous balance, yet lovely structure.  Dark berry fruit that paired with our Italian lunch; acidity of the tomato sauce, hot antipasto, fresh sausage and broccoli rabe.  The wine stood it’s ground, yet didn’t over power any of the flavors of the food.

Where did you eat?  Go here if you have not already; BYOB, chef is friendly and prepared all the food for us (we didn’t look at a menu), and everyone is more than welcoming- shout out to my paleo, gluten free, macro eating tribe – you can do it here! Rusillo in West Caldwell, NJ