I went over this one just the other day but finalized it last night. Speaking of last night, the winemaker Matt Morris came in after along hiatus. Love this guy. I actually had some weird imaginative thoughts about him after he left. No, not the ones you think. I started fantasizing he was this world’s recent incarnation of Bacchus, or Dionysius, whichever moniker you wish to use. He’s the nicest guy and his instagram is fantastic. It features his travels which mostly revolves around these great spots in and around Napa. He sat down at the bar and quaffed a corn identity as he awaited the person he was to dine with and handed a big bottle of wine across the bar to me. Of course, in true Matt Morris fashion, there was a big story behind it. A petite sirah of which only 25 cases were made. Not commercially available, but just enough for him to bring and distribute to his favorite restaurants. We were first on the list.

With his latest batch of wine, Matt told me he had produced 270 cases, that’s 3,240 bottles. Why does this statistic matter? Because he bottles, labels, wraps, and distributes all of it himself. Pretty impressive. Crazy actually. He’s one of the saviors of charbono, a grape only planted on 65 acres in all of Napa.

The petite sirah was unreal. Rich and grippy without being overly tannic. Huge mouthfeel. Almost smoky. Lots of chocolate, dark berries. There’s really something to wine. Duh. I’m horribly undereducated about it but it’s really a great farm to table experience, especially if you drink products made in California. Most small winemakers have a direct relationship to their farm and the people that help them. They’re not making much money off what they do, they do it because they’re close to the earth and it completes the cycle of life. They say farmers are the poorest but happiest people out there. Being close to the land does something special to your soul. A big part of Matt Morris’ instagram stuff is dedicated to just that and if you go to his website he explains it well in a romantic light.

I love seeing this sort of artistry and passion in person. Like I said, he’s kind, sweet, jovial. Very much a god of wine among us. I put him up there in the running with this other guy, Brando, who has the same sort of verve for life and has become my spirit animal via social media. Matt Morris is more the person who I live vicariously through.

For those who have been living in a cave for the last four thousand years, Bacchus (also called Dionysius) was the god of wine and vegetation but also of fertility, festivity, and theatre. They all go hand in hand if you think hard enough about how to do it. Maybe you don’t have to think so hard. Try not to think so hard.

Mike Tyson once said “When you’re favored by god, you’re also favored by the devil.” Great quote from his library (he once told Lennox Lewis ‘I want your heart. I want to eat your children’). What he meant was that when you’re one of god’s favorites and rise into fame and fortune, you can also go down into stupidity quite quickly and watch as it all goes away. A story as old as time.

Anyway, I’m going for a walk down to the farmer’s market. Here’s the specs:

Copycat

1.5 oz. London Dry Gin

1 oz. Manzanilla Sherry

.5 oz. Plum Jam

.5 oz. Lemon Sherbet

.25 oz. Lime Juice

.25 oz. Blob of Chamoy in bottom of small coupe. Shake and strain into small coupe, garnish with a green gage plum with a Luxardo cherry inside.

Again, the idea stemmed from the former sous at Birdie G’s and his green gage plum chamoy dish. We just happened to have some chamoy sitting around that Angel made. I enjoy cocktails like this. You can drink as is and wait for the present at the bottom or stir it up when you receive it. It’s like a choose your own adventure.

The original drink design looked better than the one in the coupe, more like the dish…But had no chamoy.

It ended up being more like this weird Jack Rose thing. I don’t know. It’s hard to not put dairy or even fake dairy in cocktails these days. They just don’t taste the same now without it.