The first week of college a young man in a well-worn navy Brooks Brothers sweater suggested that I join him and his roommate that evening for a cigar in the courtyard. I didn't smoke, but was intrigued. What 18 year old smokes cigars? Sometime after dinner I walked outside our dorm to meet them and discovered nearly two dozen freshman assembled in the dusk, some smoking but most of them failing to keep their cigars lit. The chairman of this gathering had offered the same welcome to the entire floor apparently. It was a grand and unusual gesture. We gathered in a clumsy circle and he held court, telling stories into the night. And we all listened, grinning, feeling like a part of something.

He seemed to be from another era, too old for young love and too much depth for his height. A charismatic Kerouac with an unhealthy hint of Hemingway, a rogue who would rob me of much of my formal education. We became fast friends. We occupied our time with absurd entertainment for our age: listening to the Marcels or Armstrong, playing dominoes and drinking lemonade, dressing in old men's suits and selling (giving away) goldfish to children downtown. Little ones would hobble up with a shy how much, mister? and he would beam: For you...nothing!  

This friend was also a great nuisance, often waking us all in the middle of the night, insisting the moon was ripe for adventure. Each time I'd almost think it a dream until I tasted the salt water on the air. Before I knew it we were lined up once again on the end of the pier, overlooking the Pacific. The wind in our hair and the stars above and all of us counting to three and plunging into the cold, glorious depths below. 
 
We'd drive back in silence, our teeth chattering. The car heater blasting and the windows cracked and howling. With nothing behind us, everything ahead of us. 


THURSDAY NIGHT FLIGHTS $12, from 4-8pm
French Whites
2016 Metaireau 'Carte Noir' Muscadet
2016 Deux Moulins Loire Sauvignon Blanc
2016 Domaine de Nerloux Saumur Blanc
French Reds
2016 Domaine Dupeuble Beaujolais Villages
2015 Francois Xavier Cotes du Rhone
2016 Vannieres Heritage Rouge

SATURDAY: DOMESTIC FLIGHTS 3-6pm, $12
2015 Dancing Crow Sauvignon Blanc (w/ Stefan Cartlidge)
2016 Broc Love Red
2015 Helmet Santa Barbara Red

SUNDAY FLIGHTS: ROSÉ ALL DAY! 12-6pm, Flights $12
2016 Trailmarker Eagle Point Ranch Rosé
2016 Fenouillet Cotes du Ventoux Rosé
2016 Vinum Rosé Paso Robles

Everything is ahead, this weekend and beyond. Come be a part of the adventure at OAKLAND YARD. Bring a friend. Bring a goldfish. Let's be close (but no cigars).

See you soon,

Daniel