I certainly don't remember my first BBQ, but I can almost still smell the smoke of so many from youth to yesterday. My father lighting up the chimney in the side yard. Endless summers at the Gleasons. Forgotten flames and burnt burgers. Age 12, consuming an entire jumbo bag of old Jujubes and a gallon of Mountain Dew and later vomiting in a bush. The time a company of salsadancers crashed the party. The time I grilled a giant tri-tip steak that went missing - convinced my friends had hid it, only to surrender to the shock and disappointment that our dog, Max, had indeed devoured the entire thing when we weren't looking.

I love BBQ's and their slow, secret rhythm that belies the wild 'anything goes' spirit of the spread - an all day buffet of odd belly fellows like salsa and jello. Funyuns and footlongs. Mesquite burgers and Mayonnaise cake.

With a retail shop, sometimes all the shortspeak and the shpiel, hashtags and the like - things that came along with promoting what we are and what we do - seem a bit silly. I sometimes joke that we specialize in Adventure Provisions. Wines to pair with parties and picnics and camping and coastlines. But BBQ Provisions, though far less sexy, might be even more succinct. And perhaps it all sounds a bit too whimsical, but at the end of the day there's really nothing that got me into wine more than the simple pleasure of the weekend BBQ. Nothing that gets me more excited to drink wine. A communal feast for friends, for families, for fun - and a mystical math where the scattered independent elements seem to somehow total one million in the end. And, if you're lucky, fireworks.


OAKLAND YARD is OPEN today! Special HOLIDAY HOURS for July 4th, from 11-6pm. No flights tonight but we'll be keeping the spirit going through the long weekend. SATURDAY 7/6 from 2-6 we'll pouring BBQ wines. Session wines. Picnic and party provisions. Crips white, dry rosé, fresh, chillable reds. A focus on fun and affordable, food-friendly, day-drinking delights. SUNDAY will be all Sparkling Flights at OAKLAND YARD... Flights from 2-6 both days and wines available by the glass too as always!

Happy fourth, happy long weekend, and happy grilling.

Cheers,

Daniel