We recently moved our personal wine collection from our wine cellar, and it reminded us how wine tasting is so much more than the wine. It is a memorable experience embodied in every bottle. For example, we could not pack away a bottle of 2008 Brick House Les Dijonnais Pinot Noir without remembering that special day we spent in Newburg, Oregon. On a neighbor’s recommendation (the neighbor just happened to be the late Patricia Green, award-winning winemaker in her own right), Doug Tunnell, Brick House’s winemaker welcomed us for a wine tasting (which he never does). Some four hours later, after talking about everything from politics, lady bugs, manure, organic farming, the Middle East, and wine we left with a case of fabulous Brick House wines and great stories to tell every time we open one. 

We also found a magnum of 2005 Sea Smoke Southing hiding way up on a top shelf. We enjoyed every drop in our empty house discussing this winery and the nuances of the wine. We laughed about discovering Sea Smoke at dinner one evening in 2002 in Santa Maria, CA. We were told that there was none to be purchased but ended up finding a case of it in a very small local grocery store. We grabbed it and remained on the winery’s allocation list for over ten years.

That is what wine tasting should be about – making connections and creating memories. Next time you are wine tasting, instead of asking only about the wine, learn about the winemaker’s philosophy or vineyard management or the vision the winemaker had for that wine. Experience the nuances of the flavors and aromas with all five of your senses. 

But most of all, walk away from the experience with a memory. It is our goal to have 1,000 friends buy LDV Winery wines and be able to tell a story about us while they pour our wine for their friends and family. Cheers!