Omnia mutantur, nihil interit
Everything changes, nothing is destroyed - Ovid’s Metamorphosis, 8 AD

Wine changes as it rests in the glass. It might open up, revealing new complexity, or soften with exposure to oxygen. Given enough time, or too delicate a structure, it may completely fall apart.

Investigating winemaking traditions has taught me much history. I’ve learned that as early as 3600 BC, Santorini, the southernmost of the Cyclades Islands, was home to a thriving Minoan colony, until 1500 BC, when the entire island exploded in a violent volcanic eruption. Two hundred years later, after the dust settled, Santorini was resettled by the Phoenicians, followed by the Lacedaemonians of Sparta, then Byzantines, Venetians, and Turks. The island of Sicily’s indigenous Sicanians, Elymians and Sicels were vanquished by Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Vandals, Ostrogoths, Byzantines, Aghlabids, Fatimids, Kalbids, Normans, Aragonese and Spanish, before the island merged with the Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

Alsace was German, then French, then German, and now French again, thanks to the Treaty of Versailles. And Royal families of Austria, Italy, and France danced around the Alps for centuries planting flags before arriving at the current state of apparent stability. Hungary, having been occupied by Urals, Ottomans and Habsburgs, became part of the Soviet bloc in 1945, and finally wiggled free and held its first democratic elections in 1990. Slovenia (home to Illyrians, Celts, Romans, Slovenes, and Avars) and Croatia (ruled by Romans, Franks and Byzantines) too fell under Soviet rule in the forties, as Yugoslavia, and became independent nations in 1991...and all the while, the people grew grapes and made wine, a product of the land whose name had changed, but had not been destroyed.

From 1913 until 1957, 420 40th Street - the site of Oakland Yard - was a railroad depot, the terminus of the Sacramento Northern line, where you could transfer to a train that crossed the Bay Bridge. Most recently, our space was home to the National Center for Science Education. We took over the vacant space in 2016. Who needs science when you’ve got wine? In one month, Oakland Yard will be six years old. So much has happened in the last six years! We’re planning an anniversary party - save the date - Saturday, NOVEMBER 12th! And this coming Saturday, we’ll focus our flights on the recently contested areas now known as Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia. But first...

TONIGHT 10/13: THURSDAY NIGHT FLIGHTS - ALSACE WHITES and CALIFORNIA REDS

Mann Sylvaner, Kuentz Bas Riesling, Les Vins Pirouettes Saveurs de Claude, Armitage Merlot, Ultraviolet Cabernet Sauvignon and Vignerons Pinot Noir.
$15 flights from 5-9pm and wines by the glass until 9pm.

SATURDAY 10/15: TASTING FLIGHTS from the FORMER EASTERN BLOC:
Črnko Jareninčan, Sziegl Bábel, Tinon Birtok Furmint, and Piquentum Malvazija Istarska. $15 flights from 2-6pm and wines by the glass until 9pm.

Cheers,
Max