Transformational Experiences
If you know, you know.
Transformational Experiences
Connor Jones
“I live for the moments that make me look around and say “Holy sh*t, come check this out!” – Winemaker from Los Olivos, CA.
If you talk to any true wine enthusiast, they typically will tell you about a transformational experience that they had with wine. A moment, where they thought: This is what wine can taste like? The kind of experience that will change the way they look at wine forever.
I had one of those. Actually, I had two experiences that built on top of each other:
- A Business Dinner
- A Trip to France
The Business Dinner
I attended a business dinner in Savannah, GA in February of 2024. I attended it yes, but more importantly I was the one who organized it.
I’m sure anyone in corporate America can appreciate this common scenario: A C-Suite Exec from your company is attending a conference with you and your job is to organize a dinner. Your responsible for finding the venue and inviting everyone. But then once it’s dinner time your “boss” takes the lead and controls every conversation for the rest of the night.
Oh Corporate America, what a place to be. I’m kidding, it’s not all that bad.
The good news was that the colleague who joined me was Paul Broughton. He may be the most charasmatic, and funniest person I know. Think of a old man with grey hair, dressed sharp with no filter, and full of stories to tell. The kind of guy who walks in a conference room, and everyone immediately puts their guard down, sits back and enjoys the entertainment. Everyone loves Paul.
This particular night I remember feeling a sickness coming my way. You know that feeling when you can feel it coming on? You’re not fully sick yet, but you’re a little sick and you know the worst is yet to come.
Because there was no way out at this point, I took a Dayquil capsule that afternoon. On the back of the box it said: “No more than 2 drinks per day while taking this product”.
Ok, well two drinks it is. Hopefully no one notices me sounding slightly sniffly.
We sit down at the table and Paul orders two bottles of wines: 2021 Napa Valley Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon, and Far Niente Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (I don’t recall the vintage).
Both of these wines I was unfamiliar with. It turned out these are two of the most famous, well known Napa Valley Cabernets out there. These are the kind of wines that are in high-end steakhouses everywhere. The kind of wines that show up at business dinners where payment is being made via corporate card so money is not held with as much value as it is on a typical day.
Paul and I proceed to have our glasses filled with the Caymus by our server. Looks like a Cabernet to me, I like Cabernets. I take a sip, unaware and uninterested in assessing the aromas of the wine.
Holy sh*t…..I thought to myself.
This wine has depth.
Dark fruit, plush, smooth. What is this depth that I’m tasting? It’s as if there’s a ground floor to the flavor, then a level below it. What is going on.
Paul leans over to me with a pleasant smirk and a chuckle: “That’s so good“
I nod in agreement. I’m still stunned…..
I look around the table and everyone is having similar reactions. I’ve never been at a table where everyone had this type of reaction to the wine.
I got back home from that conference, and immediately researched similar wines. Specifically wines that could be a little more affordable than $80 per bottle….
Regardless, that was a turning point for me.
A Trip to France
In the summer of 2024 I had the opportunity to go to France with my wife and my parents.
We first flew into Paris during the 2024 Olympics, then took a train down to Lyon where our 7 day Viking Cruise would disembark from. The river boat cruise would then travel south down the Rhone river before we flew back home out of Marseilles, FR.
What a Trip: Incredible, Epic, Life-Changing.
Let’s get to the wine part: While in Lyon, one of the days excursions was up to the Beaujolais wine region to a Winery estate.
Beaujolais? I had never heard of it. But it was fun to say (It’s pronounced: bow·zhuh·lay)
We make the 45 minute drive from Lyon up there and visit a small, family estate in the “Brouilly” cru of the Beaujolais region. The estate was called “Chateau de Nervers”
Beaujolais is known for red wine made from a grape varietal called Gamay. These are generally lighter wines that are comparable to Pinot Noir, but with their own unique characteristics. Particularly the fruitiness.
We enjoyed a tasting of their wines in a cellar environment and I was blown away by the beautiful fruit on the wine. I was hit with notes of strawberry, banana(?), and a specific minerality. It turns out Beaujolais Gamay is famous for these exact flavor notes. The wines were so simple, yet so delicious. I needed to get some more…I thought.
Later on in the trip, we visited the Châteauneuf-du-Pape region outside of Avignon. Of course, at that time I knew nothing about it (ugh). This region of France is famous, and seen as one of the most prestigious wine regions in the country. They’re famous for red blends with a base of Grenache, and then blended with other varietals native to the region such as Syrah, Mouvedre, and Cinsault.
We visited two wineries, and both were impressive. I had never had wine like this before. They were big wines that could hold their own against a Napa Valley Cabernet, but were also very different. Good fruit flavor from the Grenache, and also had notes of spice and earth.
The Impact these experiences Made:
These two experiences built on one another and taught me that there’s a lot more to wine than just wine. Wine is a delicious beverage, but it’s more than that.
Wine is a delicious beverage
Wine tells a story: Every wine is unique and tells the story of where it’s from
Wine is travel.
Wine is history.
Wine keeps you at the table with the ones you love for an extra 30 minutes to an hour than you otherwise would.
Wine is curiousity.
Wine is good.
Final Thoughts...
It’s been fun to see myself get so interested in wine. Part of me often feels a little self conscious because most people really don’t have that much interest in it.
But to me, it’s worth being interested in. It’s worth being curious.
I was at a local restaurant recently called “Gusto” here in Atlanta. On the wall there was a quote by Dale Carnegie:
“Live today with gusto. Make the most of today. Get interested in something. Shake yourself awake… let the winds of enthusiasm sweep through you.”
The world of wine is deep and wide. I’m interested in it, and maybe one day you will be too.