Late Afternoon Delight

I never thought I would get the chance to meet someone with so much passion and enthusiasm when it comes to wine. Indeed last Monday afternoon, I've had such a late afternoon delight.

Mr. Gordon Alan "Dondi" Joseph - wine connoisseur and owner of D+B Wines located at the Crossroads Mall, Banilad, Cebu City, warmly welcomed me with a bottle of Castello D'Alba Douro '09, a Portuguese medium-bodied red, in his cozy bar last Monday afternoon.

Me with Mr. Gordon "Dondi" Joseph holding a Fat Bastard - Merlot (which he gave to me afterwards).

Without exaggeration, I was overwhelmed at first. Simply because in front of me was a real oenophile, of which there are only 4 or 5 in the city by the way. So I rattled and my agenda of questions faded somewhere between the beginning and right before the middle of the conversation. But his very pleasant attitude removed all feelings of intimidation and thus made the conversation went as casual as I hoped it would be.

Straightforward yet not snobbish. A charming and sophisticated man who likes to eat toasted bread dipped in red wine. If I were to put his appreciation for wines in two words, based on our two-hour conversation. Starting from Boones and Cold Duck wines during family gatherings in Clark Air Base to wine tastings in South Africa and France. Including the 300-plus labels of wine distributed by Darras + Bowler. Also to specially mention his wife, Ms. Corrine Darras Joseph, whom he said is more expert in wines than him. It will be Time and Passion.

I do feel oblige to share his "chronicle" about wines and clearly our conversation wouldn't just fit in one blog. Thus I will be writing a sort of episodes then. I will write one for his most favorite wine, that according to him he will choose if he were to be stuck in an island. Then there will be also one for his food and wine pairing preference.

Being grateful for that opportunity, I plan to share my time and passion to others as well and hopefully bring it to his level. So folks, expect postings of schedules for wine tasting, food and wine pairing in my blog soon. With wine connoisseurs present like Mr. Gordon Joseph himself, it would be a pleasurable and learning experience then.

So see you guys soon.

Cheers!

P.S. You can check out Darras + Bowler on Facebook, just go to http://www.facebook.com/yourdplusb