Good Morning!

I think I will start pairing wines with people and not with foods. I was thinking last night about some of my friends and why it is I have never had a bad time while having wine with them. I will breakdown my friends and which wine I have most enjoyed with them.

Sara- My best pal, her nickname is Cubby. She lives in Indianapolis, IN and is an actress and director. Our favorite place to drink wine is on her back porch and we normally have Moet bubbles! We love to sit there for hours catching up on gossip, family, hopes and dreams. We both love to cook and grill so we constantly search for the best pairings but even if the food falls flat…that’s ok, we had a blast together.

Jon- Another great friend JonSwain is one of my favorite people ever! He lives in DC and we actually lived to together for several years back in Indianapolis. Jon and I would watch Jeopardy everynight. We would have a value priced red, normally we would open a bottle of Cabernet at a price point of $10-14.00 and which ever label was cool. I know sometimes we would try other varitals like Syrah and zinfandels, but mostly we would laugh, shout out answers to Alex Trebeck’s questions. I loved the 7-7:30 ritual.

Tony- My buddy Tony Wayne has a love for life and alcohol, I can not live up to. He lived in Austin, TX and we would buy bottles of Kendal Jackson Vitner’s Reserve. It would join us by the pool and we would spend hours sipping and giggling. Tony and I spent many nights on 6th street in Austin drinking wines and listening to music and watching shows and then stopping for tacos on the way home.

Michelle- My good friend Michelle is an ex-chef and total foodie, she knows her taste buds and really loves to have fellowship with wine. Michelle lives in Oakland and the last great day of wine together we started out with raw oysters and Sauvignon blanc and of course it was a perfect pairing. The best thing about how adventurous Michelle’s palate, nothing is off limits and any restaurant can be a source of great fun.

Kelly- K Ho…my pal Kelly has an affinity for Russian River Pinot Noir and actually she has very savvy taste buds. Kelly lives in San Francisco and she belongs to many wine clubs. Her love for life makes any occasion and her unique ability to find extraordinary people. We have been tasting together and before you know it, she will be in the back room or cellar with the winemakers. I love her pure connection with people.

Stacey- Stacey lives in Denver and her palate is AWESOME. She is very well traveled and is a total foodie too. We have drank some amazing wines together, but what I think most about Stacey, she is one of the best critics of my personal wines. Back when I was just starting to make wines in the basement, she was one of the people I would give a bottle to sample. Her direct feedback and thoughts on what wines she liked really helped me form some of my opinions about what customers might enjoy.

Mom- I always enjoy any wines I have with my mom. I will say her taste for port is fun for us to try some new things. She prefers reds in general, which is funny to me, because we have the same DNA and I LOVE my whites so much.

I could write about my friends all day, there are folks out there who I have to mention, Rick, Clark, Karolyn, Lia, Miles, Jessica, Gigi, Sarah, Joe G. Scott, Lance, Bryan, Denny, Angel, JP, Raquel, Jim Rosenau, Chris Ebert, Sherman, Chris Jones Erica and Olivia (though Olivia does not really like wine that much yet). I love drinking wine with Hobar, Terra Doyle, Dealio, Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam, Mikey Hayden, Michelle Merritt, Andy, Brad, Phillip and all the girls I worked with too…Little Anne, Liz and Brandee, It would be fun to tip a glass with you all right now. I would drink a glass now with Brad Kime, Topher, Scott, Todd and Aaron…along with Chris and Jeff too. I could and would list you all but today, I am just grateful for so many friends who share my love of wine and life.

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi