Last Wednesday, I decided to take the afternoon off from work. I have been in my hole doing tax returns constantly lately. I know my wife was longing for some time together, and so was I. We went down to Old Town Clovis to watch the Amgen Tour of California go flying by to the finish. It was kinda cool. I had to go to church, but we made plans to go to Trelio for a nice dinner afterwards.
Everyone knows how much I like Trelio. It is hands down the best food and wine of any restaurant in Fresno or Clovis. But this post will not be about that (because I have posted about it so much before).
When we arrived, there were no open tables. Chris told us to come anytime after 8 because one of the team's and the organizers of the Clovis leg of the amgen were having a party from 4-7. Well I guess they were having quite the time and all stayed for dinner. Chris convinced us not to leave and made settings for us at the wine bar. So we stayed.
After all the quite drunken people left (remember they had been there since 4) around 9:30, we were able to finish our meal in peace. Great meal, paired with a Freeman Pinot Noir.
A man sat down at the bar and pulled a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. He poured Chris (the owner at Trelio) a taste. He turned to us asking if we would like a taste. How polite. So we partook with them. It was great.
A little while later his bag was empty and there were 8 of his wines on the wine bar in which we were able to taste all of them. We got to know this strange man (or an angel sent to Trelio to us). His name is Russell Bevan. Russell is now the winemaker for Showket Vineyards (one of my napa Fav's) and has his own wines as well (Bevan Cellars). Russell poured me some of the best Cabernet Sauvignon's and Syrahs I have ever tasted (and that is saying something since those are the two main varietals I drink). Not only were his wines great, he is just a cool guy. He had his label, some Showket, and some wines he had made for some other projects. Hopefully Trelio has an "in" for his wines now. They are only in a few high end boutiques in NY and a few restaurants in NY. Trelio will be the first one to carry them in CA (yes I know they are from CA). Then came the sucky part. I wanted to know what I could purchase (well what Trelio could get and I could buy from them). Nothing. What we tasted were some of his own personal library wines that he had less than 1 case of each of. The Shoket's hadn't been released yet!!! What a tease. But we tasted several different vintages, and I know anything he does will be quality. I look forward to the futures we will get!!!!
A cool thing Russell is doing with his label: All of his wines have a unique bottle code on the back label. You can text that code to a number, and you will receive all info about the wine. It's making, tasting notes, everything!!! How sweet is that. You know how many times I am struggling in a restaurant on my phone trying to find info and tasting notes of a wine. That is SWEET!!!!
Anyway, it was one of the best wine experiences of my life. We didn't leave Trelio until 2am. Liege, Makenna, myself, and Russell were the only ones there from 10-2. How often do you get to spend that type of quality time with such an amazing winemaker??? What a night. I think part of what makes it so special, is that it was so unexpected!!! I hadn't signed up for a winemaker dinner event, I hadn't planned a tasting. We were just going to dinner, and this amazing event happened out of nowhere. SWEEET!!! DOUBLE SWEEET!!!
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