About a boy...

I think that, on Fridays, I will write less about wine, and more about my life experiences. Some of the people reading this know me very well, others just a bit. That being said, here is the "reader's digest" version of my life-


I was born on April 9, 1977 in Great Bend, Kansas. As a kid, my parents moved around a lot, so I lived in Kansas City, Topeka, Denver, Junction City (Kansas), and Lenexa (Kansas). I went to high school at Shawnee Mission West in Overland Park, KS where I graduated in 1995. I was in sort of the student/athlete/leader type crowd, and pretty involved with Young Life and FCA. I played football, wrestled, threw shotput and discus, and was also in the choir. I also worked as a host at TGI Fridays, and later as a waiter at Houlihan's. You would have known it was me, tearing around in my 1987 Mitsubishi Mighty Max pick-up (which had a 90 hp engine....our boat had more power), with the license plate that read "Monster".


After HS, I went to Baylor University, where I studied the bottom of various beverage glasses more than I did my books. Playing rugby and bartending at Buzzard Billy's Armadillo Bar and Grillo didn't help the old GPA either. I packed up my steadily declining studies and expanding waistline to move to Kansas State, where I did much better. I graduated in 1999 with a degree in Recreation Park Administration. Don't laugh, I had to study for a test and everything. During the summers, I had been working as a wilderness instructor at Summit Adventure in Bass Lake, CA. I moved out there to work full time after graduation. I also quickly learned about things like insurance payments, school loans, and other things I couldn't afford. This lead to a move to Arkansas, where I was going to start my own guide service (I didn't), and then to Denton, TX where I studied under Tommy Nelson, pastor of Denton Bible Church for a year. During that year, I met a girl. After that year, I dated and eventually married her. We got hitched in 2003, where I had come off stints at Chick-fil-A, Wildwood Inn (where I fell in love with wine) and a Human Resources gig, and was working as a waiter at Smith and Wollensky.


The restaurant promoted me to management, and moved us to Boston. The long hours, and small paychecks of the restaurant industry finally convinced me that I would be better off selling wine. I got a job with Ruby wines, and loved it. This eventually led us back to the midwest, where I got a job at Premier Cru Wine Co, who still signs my checks today.





A couple of random factoids about me:

I love honeydew, but hate cantaloupe

I once benchpressed 320 pounds

I have had grey hairs since I was 16

My first kiss was under the stairs at Pawnee Elementary School, with Allison Hood

I snore.

Enough about me. Today's wine suggestion comes from a funny pairing last night. We drank the 2007 Pfeffingen Gewurtztraminer Spatlese with takeout chinese food, and it was magnificent. This slightly sweet wine comes from a family owned producer that has been making wine since 1622, and has a really cool spiciness (like allspice), along with notes of lychee, peach, and lemon zest. I know that 33 wine bar has some, and Niche used to. I would imagine a retailer would charge about $30 for it.



Cheers!