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

Red wine and the holidays.

It's the Holidays! A period of gifts, parties, homecomings and poinsettias. In a country known for celebrating the longest Christmas season, there's something more than the cold breeze and mall wide sales that I looked for in this part of the year, that is having a dinner with a bottle of red wine with family and/or friends.

My appreciation for these blissful moments started in one of the family gatherings (my father's birthday) when I discreetly opened a bottle of red wine from one of his presents. Thinking that I don't have the luxury of opening another bottle without being reprimanded, cause it was one of those from Tinderbox, I slowed down after my second glass and enjoyed every sip until the bottle was done.(We Filipinos are mild drinkers indeed.)

Maybe it was from the aroma or the woody taste of the wine, blended with the nostalgia shared by my relatives on the table at that time. Or maybe, it was the alcohol content that enhanced my deeper enjoyment to our passage of lifetime that from there on drinking red wine with my family and/or friends was brought in a sort of different level.

That experienced didn't made me a wine connoisseur though but it somehow widened my understanding about red wines along the way. Like it helped me to determined a good wine from a better one. I noticed that an expensive wine doesn't mean its always better - specially in our country wherein good red wines are a bit pricy. Also, I gained some personal thoughts on food and wine pairing as well.

Here's a sample of my food and wine pairing for this Christmas by the way:

1. For a lechon, I'll go for "Gold Label Pinot Noir" from Marks and Spencer.

2. Beef steak or brisket will be nice with "Bibulus" from Manny O Wines.
3. For hams, a Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon from Carlo Rossi will do just fine.
4. A Chianti (there's a good one from Tinderbox) will best match Spaghetti and Carbonara.

So in one of your gatherings this Christmas, it maybe of friends or family, bring in a bottle of red wine. Keep the atmosphere in nostalgia. Share stories in the past and stuff like how things come and go as the year ends. This simple pleasures keep us somehow "centered in life" as they said and prepare us for the next year to come.

Cheers!!