Corks & Forks Wine Events by Cindy the Sassy Somm

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Once Upon a Glass

It was 2008. I had won a contest for selling the most wine as a bartender at Carrabba’s. They were sending me to Napa Valley for a week long educational tour.

Now, I liked wine at the time. Or so I thought. I liked Beringer White Zinfandel, Yellow Tail Chardonnay and thought that Estancia was the most beautiful Pinot Grigio ever. Now, mind you, I am not saying these are awful wines now. I am merely saying...I thought I liked wine. I had no idea I was about to fall in love.

One week of getting up and hitting the road by 8 am. Breakfast was wine and cheese. Lunch, also wine. Dinner, you guessed it more wine. We were treated by eating lunch with wine makers from the likes of Franciscan and Simi. We had 2 days of classes at Mondavi and had private tours that the public doesn’t usually see. We went to the Coopers to see how the barrels were made. (Hint if you ever go, don’t wear hairspray. Not unless you want a Michael Jackson moment like I almost had). We went to winery after winery, met some really chill people. I thought these winemakers would be snobs. But no, they were just people passionate about what they were putting in a glass. It was my A-ha moment.

Everything in my life started to make sense. They taught me that they made the wine with food in mind. And the Chef’s make the food, with the wine in mind. I learned about how the vine struggles and produces a more complex wine. I was getting my degree in Psychology so this spoke to me. Deeply. One evening, we were dining with the wine rep from Ruffino. We had dinner in a cottage in the middle of a Franciscan vineyard. They had classical music on and I had a lovely Chianti in my glass. Boris, our personal chef for the evening, prepared for us a true Wagyu ribeye with a red pepper salsa. I took a bite. Then, the strangest thing happened. A tear formed. I am not one for crying, so it was an odd moment. Then another tear. The combination of the view, the music, the steak and the wine actually made me cry. To this day, I can remember who sat where, the decor and the view. I remember it because, it was a moment that was beautiful to me. I went home and all I wanted to do was teach back everything I learned. I wanted to go back and create that moment I had with Boris’s ribeye and the Ruffino Chianti. I started doing pairings for people at Carrabba’s. It made me so excited when I saw their faces when they tasted the magic of a perfect pairing. It gave me goosebumps. When I cooked at home, I dimmed the lights, put on some classical music and had a glass of wine with my dinner. I wanted to feel that moment over and over again. And that is how I realized wine was more than a drink for me, it was the one thing I was passionate about.

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