Pink Drinking

Almost 11 years ago, I met Jeremy Seysses, son of winemaker and owner Jacques Seysses of Domaine Dujac in Morey St. Denis.

It was a warm June morning, and Allison, our sales representative at Martin Scott called to tell me she had Jeremy Seysses with her, and could she bring him up to the Greatest Bar on Earth to taste me on the Seysses Family’s newest project, Domaine de Triennes located in the Var. She kept throwing his name around like he was the king of England, and I just kept saying “Sure,” “Absolutely,” “Come on up,” as if I knew exactly of who she was speaking. Of course, I will admit now, I had no earthly idea who Jeremy Seysses was but I loved Allison and I loved to taste wine and it was a Thursday so why in the heck not?

I called one floor up to the Greatest Bar on Earth and reserved a table near the window on the west side, right beside the Sushi Bar where Richard Wong would be rolling sushi in his New York Yankees baseball cap. When Stephen got into work, I asked him about going up with me to taste, and once I told him who it was, he almost started gushing (something he isn’t prone to do).

“Jeremy Seysses is coming for lunch?” “Hell yeah, I want to come!”

“So, you know who this guy is?” I asked.

Stephen looked at me like I had three heads (something he did and still does often).

“Of course, I know who he is.”

“He’s the owner of Domaine Dujac’s son, one of my all-time favorite domaines in Burgundy.”

After Stephen established that I very much should know who this guy was, we grabbed our tasting books and walked up the one flight to the 107th floor from our office.

And, of course, waiting for us were Allison and Jeremy, and a satchel of wine from Domaine de Triennes.

Jeremy opened the St. Fleur Viognier first, and then the Rose, and then the red blend labeled St. Auguste.

We tasted the wines, and agreed on how delicious they tasted and what great wines to pair with food. In fact, I vividly remember eating the Philly Cheese Steak with the St. Auguste while Stephen sipped Viognier while inhaling a Sushi Roll.

There are days that go by so fast you almost believe they didn’t happen and I remember that this day and the two that followed it rushed by at lightning speed.

Because Stephen worked as a sommelier in the dining room on most nights, I attended functions and events by myself. On this Thursday evening, I held two tickets to the Central Park Conservancy Gala held in Central Park outside with a large band and the whole nine yards. It came to pass that Jeremy had no plans for the evening so I invited him as my guest.

We enjoyed a beautiful night with beautiful weather and lots of fun people of all ages. In fact, we had so much fun we agreed to go to my favorite barbecue joint on the lower west side the following night so he could try some incredible ‘Cue and Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Allison and Stephen were totally hip on the idea so on Friday night, we trekked to the Hog Pit and ate what I believed to be the best barbecue in Manhattan. In case you are wondering, it no longer exists, but I think that’s because I moved. When I lived in New York, I ate and drank there almost once a week. In fact, my 25th birthday party was there.

After a super-fun evening, the four of us ended up back at Allison’s apartment to enjoy several bottles of Domaine de Triennes Rose, to this day my most favorite Rose made.

We talked and drank way too late, and before I knew it, my Cinderella experience was over and I was at home in Brooklyn getting ready to go to work the floor at Wild Blue for what was destined to be a busy Saturday night.

When what to my wondering eyes should appear!

Jeremy walks into Wild Blue asking for a table for one.

Stephen and I had a blast opening bottles of wine to pair with his menu, and it was our opportunity to enjoy a last moment to serve one of the all-time great people of the wine world.

It just so happened we discovered Stephen and Jeremy share the exact same birthday.

It also just happened that we became friendly enough for Jeremy to invite Stephen and me to come work the harvest at Domaine Dujac and then travel south to do winery work at Domaine de Triennes.

Fast forward to today, where I arrive at work to find my 3 cases of Domaine de Triennes Rose 2011 in the wine room, a wine I pre-ordered to make sure that my memories of 11 years ago continue to mesmerize my thoughts.

The beauty of wine: it makes you think of and relish occasions and people as if they were right beside you.

Jeremy lives many miles away from Tarboro, and I am fortunate if I get to see him once every two years for a brief 10 minutes.

But, fortunately for me, I still get to drink his juice, bringing back a host of great memories that started with wine and ended as friends.