I was driving home this week listening to an old playlist and a song by Amy Winehouse came on. I hadn't heard her music in a long while and was feeling it. When the song finished, my four year old in her car seat behind me concluded: "Dad, she sounded really sneaky...". I suppose she picked up on some of the chorus from "You Know I'm No Good", but I still appreciated her primary impression.

Last week a new employee, Natsumi, and I were discussing how people talk about wine, the impressions and verbiage that goes beyond "strawberry" or "grapefruit". Talking about the possibilities and limitations of language and how we ultimately try to find some agreement on a shared and understood vocabulary. We feel mostly ok talking in curious stretches about music or film. Pink Floyd might be described as sonic or atmospheric. One might say there is tension in some particular song, whether from Radiohead or Miles Davis. A certain band might succinctly be described as fun. And many folks will nod without much challenge. Someone might decide a film is "for them" after it being labelled simply scary or even jarring. Or, conversely, feel-good, funny, or perhaps action-packed!.

But all the adjectives and efforts can be a bit baffling with wine for some reason. How does one describe Carignan to another? Or Vermentino? What about the character of Sicilian wines - or those from the Canary Islands? Folks seem to want to hear more than: it is earthy or fruity or tannic. But we might be (rightfully) challenged going beyond that: What do you mean salty?! Or... Smoky? Spicy? Chewy? Honest? Pure? Rustic? Etc. We may describe wines with higher acidity as being bright or even refreshing. But then it can get somewhat interpretive. Can we say a wine is lively and be in accord? What about Playful? Vibrant? Joyful? We think so, but again, we recognize it's all a bit silly (or playful, I suppose;).

Ultimately, the best way to have some agreement realized (or challenged) is to have a shared experience. Exiting the same movie we can engage in more meaningful discourse. When a song is blasting and we are all out on the floor, moving or spinning or bouncing or flailing, we can quite clearly agree that the groove is catchy. Or infectious. Or simply, fun.

Here's to shared experiences. And opportunities abound at OAKAND YARD... In addition to our usual wines by the glass available everyday, weekly flights have returned and we have special guest winemakers and importers behind the bar pouring curated flights of their wines each weekend! It is action-packed here! TONIGHT 8/11: Thursday Night Flights... New French Whites and Reds from California Reds. Your choice. Flights from 5-9pm and wines by the glass until close.

FRIDAY 8/12 NIGHT: TERAH WINE CO. Special Tasting w/ Winemaker and rising star, Terah Bajjalieh, pouring a flight of her wines from 5-8pm! A sommelier and winemaker, Terah studied enology and viticulture in both Spain and France. She completed 13 harvests in five countries, including France, Australia, Argentina, Willamette Valley, Sierra Foothills, Sonoma and Napa. Come taste some delicious and dynamic wines from her current lineup - sustainable and organic offerings made with great care and minimal intervention … bright and balanced and, above all, very delicious.

SATURDAY 8/13: French Flights with special guest (and actual French person:) Paul Duroussay, pouring wines made by his friends and family in France - and other selections from his excellent Pierreclos Imports portfolio. Flights $15 from 2-6 and wines by the glass until 9pm.


See you there (with two thumbs up),

Daniel