Three Lessons

I was reminded of three important lessons in the course of my weekend in the Sonoma and Napa Valleys, and figured I would document them here before moving back into cancer week. Thursday is oncology day, so cancer is again beginning to consume my thoughts.

In any case, my three lessons...

#1 -- Everyone responds to Dave

There's a lot to be said about The French Laundry (see lesson #3), but I think one of the things I liked best was the sommelier's response to Dave. It was pretty clear that our little group was somewhat out of our element at the restaurant, and the fact that Dave spent the entire meal on the table and I kept taking pictures of everything they brought out didn't really help much. 

But the sommelier, in particular, took it all in stride. Eventually he started commenting about Dave as he came around, and most of what he said was actually quite funny. More important, his tolerance of Dave went a long way toward making me, at least, feel a lot more comfortable. 

So, once again, Dave proves his worth. From Vietnamese villages to high end restaurants. it pays to bring your minion.

#2 -- Money is like air in that, for the most part, you don't notice it unless it seems to be missing

We were fortunate in that a few of the folks on our trip had been to Napa and Sonoma previously, and so had good ideas about selecting wineries to visit that would be fun and engaging to visit. They were, sometimes in unexpected ways.

At one of the places we stopped, we were entertained by the very friendly winery owner who had lots of entertaining stories to tell. She also had a somewhat under developed since of irony, telling a number of stories about the impact the new winemakers were having on the region. They'd made their millions in technology, Hollywood, professional sports and whatnot, and were now coming to Napa to buy vineyards and wineries, driving up the price of the land, making questionable choices with their vineyards, and generally not behaving in accordance with the established practices.

All presumably reasonably fair complaints, but a little ironic coming from someone who had "retired from her first career" in investment banking at thirty-something to take up the life of a vintner. 

To borrow a metaphor, everyone wants to pull the ladder to the tree house once they get inside. 

#3 -- Quality makes a difference

I have a well-developed sense of irony. I am well aware that I've got opportunities that a great many people don't have. There are plenty of people facing terminal cancer who spend their days climbing ladders to continue their work as roofers (by way of an example), rather than visiting exotic places and experiencing world class restaurants.

All that said, it's amazing how big an impact the kind of quality that The French Laundry practices can have. Nearly everything about that meal is perfect. The flavors are perfect, the textures are perfect, and the temperatures are perfect.

It's impressive what talented people can do when they really, really try...

...even if the results cost way more than  99.99% of the population can enjoy.