A Passport to Her Travels: Celebrating a 40th Birthday
Some milestones call for a party. This one called for a passport.
When a client came to me about her 40th birthday, one thing was clear right away: this is a woman who loves to travel. And wherever she goes, she immerses herself in the place, which usually means a glass of whatever the locals are pouring. The wine isn't why she travels. It's part of how she remembers where she's been. So instead of picking one wine region for her tasting, we picked her memories. The backyard garden party became a world tour, and every stop was a place she has actually been, glass in hand.
The Itinerary
Each guest received a custom wine passport at the door. Right up front, an official declaration set the tone for the night: the bearer was granted safe passage through six wine regions, along with all rights and privileges thereof, including generous pours, seconds without judgment, and full immunity from wine snobbery. Inside: six stops, aromas to hunt, and wines to rate, ending with everyone declaring their favorite pour of the night. Here's where we traveled:
Champagne, France. We started with the rules. Champagne is a place, not a grape, and the French defend that name fiercely.
Limoux, France. Then we met the sparkling challenger. Same method, a fraction of the price, and one very expensive word missing from the label. We tasted them side by side and voted. If you want the full story on why one gets the fancy name and one doesn't, I covered it in Clearing up Champagne Confusion.
Kremstal, Austria. A Grüner Veltliner from a winery founded in 1452 to fund the town hospital, still owned by the city today. Everyone practiced saying GROO-ner Felt-LEE-ner and we had a groo-vee time hunting for the signature white pepper on the finish.
Stajerska, Slovenia. The birthday girl's special request: orange wine. White grapes made like a red, fermented on their skins, using a technique that's about 8,000 years old. I'll be honest: the group had a definite love/hate relationship with this one, but every single person loved learning about it, and that's the whole point. You don't have to love every wine. You just have to taste it.
Los Carneros, California. A 2017 Pinot Noir with nine years of age on it, from vineyards where the fog rolls off San Pablo Bay every afternoon. We tilted our glasses to find the brick-orange rim that only time can create.
Bordeaux, France. The grand finale. A Cru Bourgeois blend from the oldest wine merchant house in Bordeaux. The biggest, yet youngest, wine of the night, poured just as the rest of the garden party guests arrived.
The Aroma Game
We ended with a little game: can you guess the aroma? I brought my Le Nez du Vin kit, the same set of scents sommeliers train with, and passed vials around the table. These were everyday aromas you'd swear you could name in your sleep. Lemon. Cherry. Vanilla. And yet, with no label and no context, suddenly nobody was sure of anything. There was squinting. There was debating. There may have been a few hints from me along the way. It was a blast, and a fun little lesson in how much our eyes usually do the work our noses take credit for.
It also led to the biggest laughs of the night, when I shared what sommeliers actually get tested on. Professional wine vocabulary includes descriptors like forest floor. Petrol. Wet leaves. Farmyard. Yes, farmyard. Nothing brings a table together like grown adults asking "why would I want my wine to smell like THAT?"
(The answer, for the record: in the right wine, those funky notes are prized. Wine is weird and wonderful that way.)
Your Turn
This is what my Location, Location, Location tasting looks like in real life. Pick a country, a region, or in this case, a life full of travels, and we'll build the trip from the comfort of home. Passports optional but highly encouraged.
Got a milestone coming up? Let's plan your pour.
Enjoy life with a full glass!