sara

I took one of the loves of my life from Dallas, Texas to Seattle, Washington in
August 2001. She and I took two weeks to complete the trip. She wanted to see
some national parks and visit some friends along the way. My only request was
that we stop through Sonoma Valley. Why not Napa Valley? Well that is a
different story all together.

We started the trip with five bottles and finished it a case heavier. It was the
best trip of my life. Wine every night and a beautiful woman to share it with. We
spent four days in Yosemite, hiking all day with a cool bottle of red and the
cover of stars. We climbed the cliffs of Big Sur and toasted on the beach while
watching the sun go down. Even though a little sand got in our wine, it was still
amazing. One lesson I learned is to not drink wine on a windy beach without
some cups with lids, unless of course you want a nice gritty finish to your cab.

While we were in San Francisco, we stayed with my Cousin so that we could hit
Sonoma early in the morning. My cousin recommended that we visit a small, old
winery by the name of Gundlach Bundschu, so we stopped there first and I
picked up a bottle of their 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon and a 1999 Zinfandel. We
hit several more wineries along the way as we continued to enjoy and buy more
wine throughout the day.

Later that night, we made it to the border of California and Oregon, right on the
coast in the middle of the Redwood forest. Completely exhausted from our day’
s journey, we pulled into several campsites, but without reservations and with
this being the peak of the tourist season, we were out of luck and unable to find
a campground. Finally we found a place at this “experimental” campground a
Park Ranger had told us about. Experimental meaning, out in the middle of the
nowhere, you know the kind where the restroom facility was an outhouse
complete with a moss covered roof and a symbol of the moon on the door. It
was as close to being in one of those ‘creepy woods-horror movies’, as I’d ever
want to be. We set up camp after dark and I made a small fire somehow as we
sat at the one convenience the campsite had afforded us, which was a picnic
bench. We inventoried our supplies and rations, which consisted of only wine, a
couple of cups, and not much else. Realizing the nutritional value of a good
wine, I uncorked the bottle of 1999 Gundlach Bundschu Cabernet Sauvignon to
let it breath.

As we were just sitting there, staring at the stars, this idea came to me. I will
dedicate this bottle of wine to Sara, the woman I love, on our last night of our
long journey. I will make a promise to her that I will never drink this wine again,
unless I am in her company. The wine I poured that night was amazing. The
bouquet of the wine was of enchanting blackberries and cherries. The color was
a beautiful red burgundy and the phrase ‘the nectar of the gods’ came to mind. I
remembered the wine being so rich and thick, that it seemed to linger in our
mouths for an eternity. It was a dry wine with tannins that made your tongue
stick to the roof of your mouth and the finish only left you wanting more. It was
the kind of wine that would start conversations with the charm and mood it
creates and the conversation between Sara and I was amazing, but I will keep
that a mystery.

I chose to make this connection with Sara through this wine and I will never
drink a bottle of Gundlach Bundschu Cabernet Sauvignon without her. She has
since moved from Dallas and whenever I plan to visit, I send a bottle of it to her
a couple of weeks ahead of time to let her know I’m coming. I have dedicated
two other bottles of wine to my two brothers. Someone asked me if I miss those
wines that I dedicated and love to drink and I told them that wine is an
experience to be shared with people.

That moment is something I will have forever. I recommend that everyone
dedicate a great bottle of wine to someone special so that you may create some
unforgettable moments of your own. So to whom will you dedicate your next
bottle of wine?