September 7, 2011
Jess @ Jessup!
Consider yourself warned. I’ve been having sporadic freak-outs not inclusive to shortness of breath, increased heart palpitations, and sudden muscle spasms. Don’t worry it’ll go away by next week. I’m just freaking out because it’s my last weekend wearing my unemployed-grad-school-graduate halo. It was a free pass from all things that smelled of responsible adulthood and it’s about to retire. In fact, by the time this entry is published, I’ll probably have started my new job already. It’s massively exciting, sorta like the first day of school… and since I am a giant nerd, this type of excitement is pure bliss.Anyways, last time I blogged I had just returned from a three week Euro adventure. Yes, I recognize that I didn’t sleep in my own bed for more than 21 nights. I realize that my suitcase had been perpetually packed with clothes that needed laundering. Yet… I still found myself at the airport just two days after my return from Europe.
This wasn’t a spontaneous trip ~ I had RSVP’d “hell yes” to Sara’s wedding months ago ~ I just wasn’t able to give it much thought until I was back in the western hemisphere. It wasn’t until I was sitting in the middle of my Minneapolis moving boxes {next to a suitcase of unlaundered clothes} when I really started to get excited about heading to Napa to reunite with b-school chums, catch-up with Bay Area friends, see my sister and brother-in-law, aaaaand visit my favorite peeps at Jessup.
Reeeeunited *<3
Beautiful bride + groom!
There were actually a bunch of unemployed-grad-school-graduate halos floating around The Valley that weekend ~ turns out that Sara was one of two Kellogg alums getting hitched in Napa and in true Kellogg camaraderie, I was getting a lot of Jessup Ambassador love + support. Friends in town for the nuptials were making surprise stops in Jessup’s tasting room and by the good graces of Facebook and text messaging, I was kept in the 411. I told you :: Kellogg loves vino → vino loves Jess → Jess loves Jessup :: you can flip it and reverse it… the love square still works.
I made it to Jessup at the end of the weekend, bringing my own troop of Kelloggians, family, and friends. It was an awesome experience for me as an Ambassador to experience the tasting room with them… I mean, my friends + family are great – they support me in everything I pursue. You like Jessup? Oh okay, I like Jessup too. Jessup wine is magically delicious? Oh okay, Jessup wine is magically delicious. You’re going to blog about wine? Oh okay, I’ll click on that link and pretend to read your blog about wine. See? Unconditional love + support. But that’s why it was so special to go through the Jessup tasting with them. The looks on their faces, the outbursts of magical deliciousness discovery, the laughter | dialogue | attention that filled our table… that had nothing to do with love + support for me, and had everything to do with tasting and exploring REALLY damn good wine.
Feel free to send over that bottle as a housewarming gift...
Jess + Friends w/ Bob @ Jessup
When I returned to Minneapolis, I collected everyone’s thoughts + memories about their Jessup experience. There were at least 4 separate groups of friends that popped in over the weekend, many with previous Napa tasting room experiences, and some with none. Table For Four was a clear standout, but so was the Merlot, Cab, Sauv Blanc, Manny’s Blend, and Zin… uh, wait… that’s almost the whole tasting line-up. The clearer standout was actually Bob ~ everyone loved Bob!
“Down-to-earth, informative, entertaining” | “Great host, so knowledgeable about the chemistry of wine” | “Knowledgeable and approachable”
These are just a few of the comments I heard about Bob Clark, Jessup’s sommelier. I couldn’t agree more! His energy, passion, and insane aptitude at all things vino set the tone for the Jessup tasting room. I mean, this man calls swirling :: “volatizing your esters”… c’mon, Bob is a vino virtuoso. Not part of the Bob Clark fan club yet? Schedule a visit to Jessup stat, and in the meantime you can watch him here on YouTube.
Be warned though… after listening to Bob talk about Jessup vino, you WILL want to purchase a bottle {or two, or three}. We all left Napa with heavier bags, and my old roomie and her fiancé joined the Twice Yearly Club. The joy of Jessup Cellars all year long?? Now there’s a good reason to retire our halos and get back to work… definitely money well worth spent!
Next time you hear from me, I’ll be all growns up… wearing suits, collecting my morning paper before it turns yellow from prolonged oxidation, actually going to bed at a decent hour… and until then, I’ll leave you with my current obsessions ::
Ideapaint :: I love the idea of this stuff.
In fact, I have a can of it in my house right now. I just can’t figure out where I want to use it. I want a small discrete patch somewhere… and then I need to control myself from marking up my wall like a 5-year old….
Mohu Leaf Antenna :: I’m trying to outwit the monster devil cable conglomerates by using other devices to stream content. So far, I’m not winning this battle {streaming rights are very annoying}.
But I did discover an AMAZING paper thin antenna that brings me 26 crystal-clear digital HD channels. Read about them. The folks at Mohu are brainiacs using their powers for good.
El Bulli : Cooking in Progress :: I haven’t seen it yet,
but I just found out that it’s playing in Minneapolis at the end of September. Can. Not. Wait. Now the big question is… what the heck am I going to eat before the show???
Xo
jess
