It is really exciting when you are introduced to a new adventure, particularly one that involves great new people. Well, that’s what happened to Lady M and me a couple of weekends ago. You see, at a recent Community Solutions event, we along with four other couples, bid on and won a luncheon at the Martin Ranch Winery in Gilroy. I knew in advance we would have a good time since we would be with terrific friends. But, I had no idea that it would be as totally enjoyable as it turned out.
We drove to the winery in our classic ’Vette – it’s first real outing since we added her to our family last fall – in the hills west of Gilroy. Therese and Dan Martin greeted us like old friends. What a welcome! We were seated in the rose garden where we were served incredible hors d’oeuvres paired with delicious Martin Ranch wines. Next, we were shown to the bottling room where we all participated in bottling a case of wine for our very own.
This involved filling the bottles, inserting a cork, affixing a label, and adding a foil seal. Voila – that’s French – a finished case of fine Martin Ranch wine to take home. Very cool.
Next, we were treated to a super lunch, again paired with just the right wine. The meal was prepared by Therese and followed by her incredible orange/lemon cake.
After lunch, we had the chance to see hundreds of barrels of wine being aged and a Q&A session with Dan Martin about the art of wine making. One got the feeling that Dan could talk about wine until the moon rose without getting tired – even if some of us – make that me – asked some pretty naive questions.
A walk through the grounds let us see the great vegetable gardens, chicken coop, and, of course, vineyards. All in all, it was a fantastic way to spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon.
By the way, winery is open to the public once a month and the bottling experience is offered to the public several times a year. I strongly recommend you check it out, if you’re a wine lover. If you aren’t – no that can’t possible be or you wouldn’t be reading this far.One of my favorite wine-related stories involved a restaurant in San Francisco. This happened many years ago – I believe it was a Basque restaurant in North Beach. After being seated, the waiter asked if we would like to see the wine list. Of course we said we would. Seconds later, we were presented with a beautiful, leather-bound book with the word “Vin” – that’s French – gold embossed on the cover. Very impressive.
In this era, Alfred’s, Antoine’s, The Blue Fox, and so many San Francisco restaurants, were trying to out-do one another with their fancy wine lists. Now I’ve even seen the multi-hundred-page wine list at Burn’s Steak House in Tampa. But none could compare with this.
Upon opening, on the left hand page was the following: No. 1 – White. On the right hand page were the words: No. 2 – Red. At the bottom of the right hand page was the note: “Please order wine by number.”
I have no recollection if the food was any good. But to this day, I remember this restaurant and laugh just thinking about the incredible sense of humor of its owner.
But no restaurant story that I remember can top the one that happened when I was in college. I had a date with a young lady, we’ll call her Patti – because that was her name – and we double dated with my older sister. I, of course, had picked Patti because I was trying to impress the heck out of Sis with this beautiful, sophisticated young lady.
We went to a French restaurant in New York City – Louis XIV, if I remember correctly. It was grand and very expensive. But I didn’t care. This was my chance to show off little brother’s latest love to know-it-all Sis.
We were seated and presented with a menu, much of which was in French. After perusing the contents for a moment or two, Patti said – and I kid you not – “Oh, soup du jour, my favorite kind.”
Sis still brings it up, occasionally. Some impression!
I never saw Patti again after that evening. And that’s sad because, today, if she were able to laugh at herself, she probably would love to hear me tell that story. Or not.
Henry “Hank” Miller is a retired rocket scientist, he has an interest in classic automobiles, good conversation, martinis and community affairs. Reach him at ha******@gm***.com.
