Ronga’s Rant

Today at 4pm I venture into the big city on a tour of the best restaurants with wine friend, Enrique Ibanez. He will introduce me to the top sommeliers and I hope to try some very good wines. More importantly…what could be more important than wine, you ask? Conversation. I hope to learn from these somms. Just as I expect I will learn from this entire experience. Wine can truly take on new forms and taste completely differentl when shared with others and when there is a story told around it. Some people (hopefully those I’ll meet tonight) have a special gift for explaining and breaking down wine into words that make the wine so truly enjoyable it is truly spectacular.

As Corkd does not (yet) have a mobile app, plan on me taking note of each wine I taste and reviewing them later on Cork’d. This is a PROMISE.

However, I must admit…I’m a little scared. Not about wine being intimidating and interacting with folks more knowledgeable than me. I’m the first to admit when I don’t know something. Here’s the thing: we start at 4pm, before the somms are busy. We’ll hit five or so places….wait til after the rush is over, then hit five or so more places. Have you done the math? That is a lot of wine!

The key is not to drink a full glass (at least in my world… and my body size , just a taste (2+ oz) so you can fully appreciate everything the next wine has to offer. . Enrique may by on a different playing field, however.

I will write about this NYC restaurant tour, of course, in my next post and tell you all about my experience and if I… eh.. I mean “it” lived up to all I had hoped.  Two hours til GO TIME.

I love going out to dinner. And to be honest, it doesn’t really matter if I know the person or not. Of course I love getting together with family and friends for a night out, but I can have just as sensational of a time with complete strangers. Don’t get me wrong, a meal can completely fall flat…in fact this is probably the case more often than not. So let me give my two cents of what makes a dinner remarkable.

1)      Phones/electronic devices AWAY – I don’t care what new-age technologically advanced world we live in, dinner is a time to converse one-on-one with other, real life, human beings. Take that time to learn from a shared experience, a conversation.

2)      Eye contact – no matter how seemingly important one person may be, focus in on every single person there…with your EYEBALLS. Yes, that’s right. If you are speaking, make everyone feel important & engage each person by looking them square in the eyes. It not only makes you a captivating story-teller, but it also makes each person feel as if they’re on an equal playing field which is, frankly, the way it should be. This, in turn, fosters conversation.

3)      Share – not everyone is going to feel comfortable with this one, but I am all about family style when it comes to food. I love trying new things and feel that you break down umpteen barriers when you simply order different dishes with share plates. It makes the meal interactive & everyone feels more comfortable with one another. Again, convo flows.. naturally.

4)      Wine – never just refill your own glass (this goes with water as well if there is a pitcher on the table). Be considerate and refill your neighbor’s first if they give you the nod. But certainly don’t refill your own, set the bottle down and ignore the fact that your neighbor may have an empty glass. This is just a life lesson: Don’t be selfish.

1. Sub-bullet since this is a wineblog, after all. Pick up on the fact that you are trying the same wine with different foods. This is an extraordinary way to experience a meal, especially if there are many different types of food being passed around! This changes the wine profile with each bite of a new dish. Talk about this even if the company may not be “into it” or at least bring peoples’ awareness to the fact that the wine is dynamic.

5)      Conversation – no ONE person should dominate the discussion because it is then in fact not a discussion at all, but rather a lecture or a preaching. Ask questions to others at the table, whether you know them or not. TRULY ENGAGE. This can be difficult, especially if you are still dwelling on things from earlier in the day. However, put yourself and your issues aside, and learn. Look at this as an opportunity to learn what makes other people tick. If someone goes on and on about themselves, well it may not be someone that I’ll likely  dine with on a regular basis, but I might be able to take something away from the (one-sided) conversation. Real-life conversations are not twitter. Rather – they are two-way.

6)      Indulge – dinner is a treat when eating out with others. It has the possibility to stimulate us on so many levels. Taste each bite, savor each piece of conversation and remember each sip of wine.

All in all, a good meal or dinner should last more than two hours. Why? If you are truly engaged, sharing food, learning about one another, and completely stimulated – that is mentally, emotionally and physically, then in my opinion, you should have no desire to pick up an external device or check the latest score. Be in the moment. Be present. And most importantly, care. Show those people around you care by looking them in the eye when they speak and vice versa. Listen and respond. Don’t pretend you’re listening while texting away. This is what kills social media – when it interferes with real socializing.

Until the next (wine) posting, drink up, and have a lovely dinner. Please let me know what you think in your comments (or add to the list). xo, linds

There is NOT a one size fits all model – not for life, for business, success, even clothes (yes Michael Stars, I’m talking to you…but oh how I LOVE your clothes). There are so many different ways to “make it” in life and while I think it’s important to listen to those you admire, you have to stay true to yourself. Make mistakes on your own, learn from them and become the person God intended you to be <please trust that I will relate this to wine>

This is why I was so partial towards the learning model at Harvard Business School. With the case method, there were no lecturers telling you how to do things or what is right and what is wrong. Remember, life is not black and white. We learned via discussion. Ninety of us would peruse a case on Jack Welch, for example, and his management style, then take it into the classroom and have a heated debate and a truly riveting conversation about different approaches one might take in his situation. Go figure, all 90 of us don’t agree on how to handle a situation: whether it’s a software implementation, running a country, or raising VC money. Even more interesting, we all come at it from a different angle and none of us is “right.” Each ONE of us has a different background –ethnicity aside, we were all raised by someone (or not) who had extreme influence in the way we turned out as individuals. I believe our values, ideals, and perceptions were very much set before adulthood. Now, I believe these can be changed…but keep in mind someone else had loose control for almost 1.5 decades. It takes times to undo that programming.

Now, onto wine. And more specifically the palate. What is so awesome about the palate is that we are all blessed with different ones. Thank GOD. Can you imagine if we all tasted the same thing and all liked the same things? B-O-R-I-N-G. What I see, smell and taste in a wine, I hope, is different than what you will get from that same wine. Why? Well it fosters conversation for starters.

Just the other night I threw a little wine shindig for my Corkd and Vaynermedia colleagues. While I was sniffing the wine trying to pinpoint an unidentifiable scent (frustrating as heck!), Vaynermedia’s Sam (who, I think, found his calling a wine sommelier) picked up on pineapple. Which led me to what I couldn’t pick up on – pina colada. The wine, Graffigna Centenario Pinot Grigio, was just ok. But it did take me to a tropical island where I envisioned myself lying on a beach with a fruity cocktail in hand (oh & cocktail accessorized with pineapple pink umbrella).

Drinking wine with others is great for this reason – because you can pick up on things you may not have otherwise. On the contrary, I often like to see/smell/taste the wine before anyone says anything so I don’t have any preconceived notions in my head. I don’t want to force myself to smell or taste something. Like in life, go with your gut, trust your own instincts. Don’t just take someone else’s opinion and make it your own.  This can be difficult when you don’t feel well-versed on a subject such as wine. But you can always listen to others, discuss, ask questions, then decide for yourself. You can do this with life, worldly issues (spanning from politics to philosophy), AND with wine. Be open-minded and in the end, just be you. And have faith in YOU.