Monkey Bay Sauvignon Blanc

Tonight, my old and new worlds will collide: my first visitor from New York arrives.

It's always an interesting experience when you're trying to describe your life to someone far away - the place you live, the people you've met, the job you do. No matter how much detail you give (and you all know I'm giving quite a bit here!), it's like reading a book; everyone imagines the characters differently in his or her own mind, sees the setting in a unique way. Words can only convey so much. Without a visual image, there's just too much left open to interpretation.

That's why I'm so thrilled that my dear friend, Amy, will be visiting for the long weekend to experience Napa with me. I want my family and friends to be a part of my life here, despite being thousands of miles away back east (remind me why you're all suffering with that 95 degree heat with 85% humidity again?), and further. Words- phone, email, this blog - simply can't do this place justice.

I am intentionally not including an image in this post to illustrate this very point. Without the visible proof, what I'm telling you are just stories. They might be true, or fabricated, but regardless of their legitimacy, they're far less interesting without the photos. Yes, that's right, I am purposefully writing an uninteresting blog post - and hoping that the words are gripping enough to keep you coming back to read the next.

Perhaps the difference between what's real and what's imagined is on my mind as a result of my first client meeting yesterday. To protect the privacy of both the company I work for and my clients, I won't be giving names, but let's just say that the man I met with is incredibly successful, passionate and, all right, I'll just say it: charming. He managed to turn what should have been a one hour meeting into three and, by the time I'd left, our focus had turned from the agenda items to popcorn. Yes, popcorn. There's really not much more to fill you in on in between that; I'm not quite sure how we got onto that topic either.

The thing is, though, his enthusiasm was contagious. I left that meeting incredibly motivated to work closely with this vineyard. And, while most of the things we spoke about are just "ideas," many of which may never be realized, this man was an inspiration. He loves what he does and the wheels are constantly turning because his job is his livelihood. I was inspired just by proximity.

But, I can't properly depict this here. No matter how detailed a description I give you of the room where we sat, at a round white table, with six chairs and floor to ceiling glass doors overlooking a pool, no matter how much I tell you about the walk we took through the vines first, passing by the lone picnic bench in the middle, a luxury for visitors who buy the winery's reserve wines - you will never see quite what I saw. I had to fight the urge to take my camera out during the meeting, but the voice of reason in my head told me that the multi-millionaire Frenchman might have frowned upon it. Not to mention my manager.

Yet, when Amy is here this weekend she will get to see it first hand. She will see my house with the pool in the backyard overlooking the vines. She will meet my roommates, my friends. She'll taste the food in the restaurants. And, when she goes back home and I tell her a story months from now she'll have a far more accurate image than I could ever give here (though I will continue to try).

It's the Friday before the fourth of July, a holiday weekend, and most of my office has started celebrating early - even those of us who stayed the full day. Friday afternoons means opening a new bottle of wine (have I mentioned I LOVE my job?). Today's choice: a Monkey Bay Sauvignon Blanc, by far the most stereotypical New Zealand style of Sauvignon Blanc I've ever tasted. I'd try to describe it to you here, but until I can incorporate the sense of taste into my posts, you'll just have to come visit and taste for yourself.

If that's not a cry for more visitors, I don't know what is.