“We have an infinite amount of work to do & a limited amount of time to do it in.”

Kill me. At the time, I remember Anuj laughing and going to start in on the work; I, on the other hand, was fresh meat, and terrified by the thought. Nowadays, I have an infinite amount of work which excites me and the prospects keep me driven and reassured that we have indeed created a business model that works at Cork’d. But there I go again ranting about something unrelated to wine…

The point of the story above is this: Anuj and I were enjoying a bottle of wine while talking & laughing over dinner. He always defers to me when choosing wine which I love which means I get to order something I haven’t tried before. We depleted a 2007 Muscadet Sevre et Maine “Sur Lie” Domaine de la Tourmaline made with the Melon de Bourgogne varietal.  I use this wine for illustrative purposes, to expatiate upon tasting, reviewing and scoring wines…and what might happen with the subjectivity of ratings.

Scenario UNO – You drink this wine alone on your couch. Yeah, I said it. And I do it. SO? Here’s the thing. You have no one to discuss the wine with, you’re likely not deep in conversation (except in your own MIND). Similar to seeing a thought provoking movie, you want someone to discuss with afterward, otherwise it’s not as fulfilling. This wine is fine, but that is all…it is wine, it’s in a glass. Perhaps you have it with a salad, do some work while you eat. You think about it, review it on Cork’d, but of course. You may rate it 86 points.

Scenario DOS – You imbibe this baby with a dear friend over dinner (my experience over the weekend). Mesmeric conversation not only about the wine but also about life, politics and relationships ensue giving this wine new life. You are feeling good about life, about yourself and having a remarkable time as you sip. You feel satisfied as you both agree on the backbone of this wine and debate about particular flavors. You score this sucker 88 points – see my review here.

Scenario TRES – You drink the wine with the winemaker at a restaurant. He visually brings you to the vineyard, telling you the history of the terroir, the vines, the labor that goes into the very bottle you are consuming. You hear his story, learn about his family and his passion for wine. You taste his sweat in the glass. After this encounter, you dig this wine, give it a 90.

Scenario QUATRO – Now… for the kicker! You go to Loire Valley, sojourn on the vineyard, see the vines, tour the cave with the winemaker. Feasting on an incredible meal with the most interesting people who live life the way it should be, you taste the wine again. Conversation is flowing and ever engaging. You are the life of the party and have never felt so good. You are influenced by how much everyone loves the wine. You give this baby a 92.

In my world, I often meet with the producers or folks in the industry and taste the fruits of their labor. I’m not naïve to think that knowing the winemaker and drinking his or her wine has no effect on scoring the wine. However, can I do it objectively? I’d like to think so…but relationships are powerful. The human connection is moving… and sometimes has subconscious implications.  Moreover, when it comes to wine “objective” doesn’t exist. However, I often rate wines on Cork’d right in front of winemakers and have no problem scoring a wine sub-90 points with my honest thoughts. Nothing against the person or the wine. My palate simply doesn’t LOVE the wine…doesn’t mean you won’t.

Just food for thought… or wine for reflection, as I like to say. Score a wine how you will. Just be AWARE of the surrounding situation and embrace it. Better yet, note it (in your review or tasting notes if you take them) so others know how to interpret your score.

MUCH LOVE to you all because human interactions and connections influence our thoughts and almost everything we do.

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.

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

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.

OK, it’s time. It’s past time. So… what’s up with the lag time in my blog? Was it writer’s block? Laziness? Was I out traveling the vineyards of France? Nope.

More exciting, in fact. I’ve been running Cork’d – a place where wine meets online media and winelovers, both expert and noobs, come together. Gary Vaynerchuk and I are working on BIG things here and working towards the big Cork’d relaunch. Admittedly Cork’d has been through its ups and downs, and well, I’m ready for it to just get high if you know what I mean.

This past month has been absolutely amazing. And I know you hear people say that. But really, it’s my dream job. I’m coming from a world of private equity and investment banking working for some of the smartest people I’ve ever met. They have been my mentors, my sounding boards, my family away from home.

Now I have a new family – I am still getting to know some of them, but what I love is that they keep me young. Cork’d shares its offices with Vaynermedia, a company founded by Gary and his brother, AJ Vaynerchuk. The VM crew is a bunch of fresh, creative, young thinkers who have a unique perspective on the social media space. Since Cork’d is where new world meets old world, it is helpful to immerse myself in this environment.

Did I mention I have also hired four Cork’d interns who are all rockstars in their own respects? First we have a highschool student, who during the interview mentioned he’s into astronomy and black holes. When I told him I like Stephen W. Hawkings, he told me Hawkings was “old school” and proceeded to drop some knowledge on me about who to follow online for “up to date” info. Next, is a beautiful personal – inside and out – from Alaska. She at one point during high school pushed around a food cart selling salmon, etc on the street in Alaska. She has taken her first level Sommelier test and flew out from San Francisco for the interview. Her personality is rocking. We have our resident actor/singer who keeps it real by singing in the office. He makes everyone laugh which is super important in any culture. Although he was more into the social media side of things, his reviews of wine, which we taste in the office (yeah, I said it!), are off the charts and on spot. Last, is a guy that is probably be more qualified than me … a Darden MBA spending his summer here at Cork’d. Aside from being an all around awesome human being, he knows Rails, social media, and now wine. He has gone out of his way to help me understand the Rails world (riveting…). People like that are QUALITY. I’ll say it again; you don’t find people like this in just any economy. AND, finally – our kick ass RAILS CTO Kyle should probably get an entire post entirely to himself (which is why I struggle to find words write just a couple lines). His talent is sick as I’ve mentioned many times on Twitter and he’s not just another developer. He’s the real deal. We have lucked out completely here at Cork’d and I couldn’t be more appreciative, more grateful. The A-team, indeed.

My days are anything but predictable. Last night I had a glass of wine with a Cork’d user, who I was honored to meet. Getting feedback in person from a company you run is something that all CEOs should do. I truly value feedback from users. Other days I spend meeting with guys in the social media, tech or wine world. They help me get a better handle on what’s going on out there. All in all, here’s what I DO know: I don’t know it all. If I did, life and my job wouldn’t be fun. I love learning. My job is challenging and it’s because I’m always on my toes. When I stop learning, I’m not sure it will be fun anymore. So for now, I’m a sponge…and I’ve surrounded myself with people who are kind enough to coach me, mentor me and be my family again.

However, I’d like to end by mentioning the two people who have been truly there for me: mom & dad. You guys know more about business than I ever will. Mostly because you are wise and know about life… And, I’ve learned that the two go hand in hand. Thank you for your advice, love and support. It means the world to me.

Next post: I’ll be back to writing about wine

There are so many wine bars in NYC.  I’ve made it a personal goal to hit up each one while I’m here.  Ambitious, I know…

The best tool I’ve found to assist me in doing this is a mashup created by Dr. Vino that shows most wine bars by geography in NYC.  He not only has wine maps for wine bars, but also wine shops and covers the Chicago area.  Tyler – Dr. Vino – also writes a great blog worth checking out.

Anyhow, y’all know I’m a sucker for South African wines.  I love them all. When I came across Xai Xai South African Winebar, I about died & went to heaven.  They only serve South African wines, & not just your typical African wines (as if there is such a thing).  Really, really interesting ones.  It was hot outside & I wanted a white.  So I went with a grape I know… one that is 1) slowly going extinct in South Africa because it is becoming more expensive to grow so it is becoming increasing replaced with Sauvignon Blanc & one that is 2) delicious because the soil & weather there supports its growth.  Sorry for the ridiculous build up. The grape is Chenin Blanc.

The South African bartender poured me a taste and it was good… a little oily, petrol like, but good.  Then I do what I always do & ask him if he had to pick ONE wine to drink, which would he choose.  This usually proves an impossible question to answer.  But not for this guy; he immediately pulled out the Haute Cabriere ‘06 Pinot Noir-Chardonnay from Franschhoek.  I have never had a Pinot Noir Chardonnay combo, except in sparkling or Champagne of course, but there was no second fermentation on this baby.  We are talking new territory!

Wow.  What a treat.  This made the Chenin Blanc seem like PBR in the world of beer.  I opted for his suggestion & was even more impressed by the temperature at which they kept their wines. Honestly, it was perfect…not freeeeeezing. Room temperature, rather.  You could actually taste the flavors in the wine. While the mix was unclear (I was told it was 70/30 chardonnay/pinot noir), this did not ooze chardonnay to me.  Instead I got richness, intensity, & a medium body.  Crisp & green, there was some acidity to add to the balance of the wine.  I am salivating as a write about this.

If you get a chance to pickup this wine – do it.  More importantly, go check out Xai Xai on 51^st & 9^th Ave. Well worth the trek.  Cool ambiance, friendly staff. Didn’t try the food, but would be a great after work spot.  Let me know if you end up swinging by.

What is the difference between Gavi and Gavi di Gavi wines? They’re both from Piedmont (Italy), white wines and made from the Cortese grape. So what gives? Many times, for example the other night, I’ll see a wine on a list that is simply a “Gavi” followed by an Italian name and a “Gavi di Gavi” followed by an Italian name. What?!

Apparently, Gavi is a wine producing area within Piedmont. It extends from the village of Novi Ligure to the lower hills of the Ligurian Apennines. Gavi di Gavi, however, is produced exclusively in the village of Gavi (province of Alessandria). Not all that interesting if you ask me.

So I decided to do a little taste test a couple nights ago at my favorite wine bar (on the corner near my new studio in Chelsea, NY!) called Le Zie. I ordered a glass of Broglia Gavi di Gavi “La Meirana” 2006 ($11/glass). Then I ordered a bottle of Castellari Bergaglio Gavi Fornaci 2007 ($42/bottle). After an odd stare from the bartender, I double fisted the glasses and alternated smelling and tasting.

For me, the Gavi di Gavi tasted citrus-like, zesty, crisp. You could taste the green color. The Gavi, on the other hand (again, same grape, just not as specific of an area) was slightly sweeter, the fruits not as citrus like, but more cantaloupe-like….or honeysickle. Still refreshing and soil like, just not as crisp and balanced. Ugh. The color was similar, think a hardy urine color. Not taste or smell people, I am just talking color, don’t get grossed out on me.

Anyway, that was my opinion. Could have been the vintage, the bar, the fact I was by lonesome waiting on someone to arrive, many factors. But I was hoping there was some really fun fact that made them different. Some confounding difference between just a regular old Gavi and a Gavi di Gavi. Sometimes you’re just disappointed… or maybe y’all know something I don’t? Please do tell….

I recently went to Boston Wine School and had a lively discussion on wine prices and the cause. Well…let’s not beat a dead horse here. There are many causes. Hype, quality, raw materials / additives, marketing, good ratings (can you say Robert Parker?), vintage / climate, or just pure nonsense. I guarantee I left some out. Regardless, many of these are directly related and I am going to focus on two that resulted in somewhat of a debate.

Additives and quality. Here was the argument by the winemaker – what does and what could potentially make wine prices so high are the “additives” winemakers use to enhance the wine. Without getting too technical on you (and myself for that matter), for winemakers to get the right chemical balance of acidity, sugar, sulfites, etc., they oftentimes have to add yeast, yeast food, enzymes, sugar, sulfites, tartaric acid, other vineyards’ juice, oak chips and other substances.

Some winemakers claim they don’t use “additives” but might use color-extracting “enzymes” or corrective measures to perfect a tannin imbalance. All of these adjustments/modifications allow the winemaker to do whatever he or she can to make the wine as saleable as possible. If winemakers don’t make adjustments (for example add the right type and amount of yeast pre-fermentation), they may have hundreds of gallons of rotten eggs instead of wine on their hands. So, adjustments are important and should not be viewed as negative, but rather the science aspect of making sure wine has the right levels before bottling.

Getting back to the winemaker’s argument, one can see that the more adjustments made, the more raw materials used in the wine making process. Economics tells us this makes prices go up. Right, got it. … wait a second…

So this is where I entered the debated. What if a harvest or wine is crap, for lack of a better term. So a winemaker keeps adjusting and modifying pre-fermentation to get the levels right to compensate for poor soil and other factors. Then maybe again post-fermentation through blending with other vineyards’ juice and by adding oak chips, etc. Again, who pays? Well, we do in the end. Personally, I don’t like this idea one bit. I would much rather pay a premium for a wine that comes from the ground (terroir), using the wild/natural yeast on the grape for fermentation… and STRAIGHT to the bottle. Now how often does that happen? I’m no expert, certainly no winemaker. I imagine very rarely. But, in my opinion I think the industry should charge MORE for less modified wines (assuming they have the Brix, pH, tartaric acid levels within range). If a wine isn’t naturally rich in color, I’d prefer winemakers not add a commercial enzyme to extract that color. Enzymes along with other additives mask and affect the smell and taste of what is truly going on in the vineyard. It’s almost impossible to know how “modified” a wine is – it certainly doesn’t say on the bottle, but you can start to smell and taste for it. For example, overly oaked wine might be masking a flaw in the wine…I personally look for wine that tastes like dirt. Like soil, like earth worms crawling in the ground. Yeah, I said it.

Terroir. Of course I love to see a deep, rich color in a red wine, but don’t judge a wine by its color…eh, unless of course it’s brown. You still want all the other good flavors and those depend on the varietal, region, etc. But I encourage and challenge you to see if you can taste some of the vineyard itself in the wine. Do a little homework or leave a comment of which vineyard you’re drinking from and I’ll help with the characteristics. Is it Alexander Valley? Mendoza? Oklahoma? Here’s to you, health and happiness…

This is my first post (obviously). I had so many clever ideas for the first posting, such as how many nicknames you have and why, which cities you choose to live in and why, etc. But then I thought, why not just go straight into what I’m about.

I care. I care about the world. About who’s in charge, how it affects me and how it affects the slums of India. I care about people. About genuine connections, relationships and maintaining the friendships which are important to me. I care about family. They, along with society and my friends, helped shape me into who I am today. I owe my family everything and nothing. As in, they want nothing, though I always feel indebted. I care about people living up to their potential. What a world we would live in if everyone pushed themselves to their potential. And didn’t settle for some mundane job because they feel comfortable. People are oftentimes choosing to perform below their potential. It is their choice and I respect that. I’m just saying I care about those people and would love to see them be proud of themselves and see what they could accomplish. I care about spirituality. I care that people have a reason to be spiritual or not be. Me personally, it helps me get through the day, through life… it is like passion or having an opinion. I surround myself with those who have passionate opinions on subjects even if those opinions differ from mine (sometimes especially when they differ from mine). I’d encourage you not to be complacent, not to just agree, but to be a person with a backbone, with an informed opinion. It makes you more interesting.

This leads me to a couple passions that I get excited about and could write for pages on. I’ll save the best for last. First, music. A quote from Oliver Sacks, Neurologist and author of “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain.”

Music can lift us out of depression or move us to tears –
it is a remedy, a tonic, orange juice for the ear.
But for many of my neurological patients, music is even more –
it can provide access, even when no medication can, to movement, to speech, to life.
For them, music is not a luxury, but a necessity.

This has pretty much served as a life mantra for me. It just speaks to me, kind of like music does. There is a song for every mood I’m in or a song to change or enhance whatever mood I’m in. As my mom has said, music can pierce the soul. And I truly believe it can be a healing tool.

Second and an even bigger passion for me is wine. No, not just drinking it. But learning about it. John W. Gardner said “don’t try to be interesting, be interested.” Well, there it is. I am emotionally, mentally and physically enthralled by wine. The process, the people, the color, smell, taste and vast amount of knowledge out there that is unknown to me. The industry is constantly evolving. Consumers are changing. Palates evolve, people learn what they do and do not like and even that changes. I love industries that are constantly changing because I never get bored. Corks, to synthetics, to screwcaps. But why? Well, my interest has been peaked and out I go into the internets because I’m curious. I want to know why to satisfy my own curiosity.

Not sure if this is long or short for a first post, but it was a stream of consciousness as I sit on the bus from NYC to BOS trying to avoid swine flu. I’ve inhaled Airborne, practically bathed in hand-sanitizer, given dirty looks to anyone that coughs (including a child). But writing this lifted my spirits and reminded me, as I listen to my pod, what is important to me.