Serendipity: A Different View

When last month’s Talk-A-Vino chose Serendipity for the #MWWC13 Challenge two things entered my mind. First, living here on the wrong coast, there are many negatives mostly revolving around the fact that we don’t have the ability to go wine tasting whenever we would like. (oh, and of course, a little thing snowstorms) But one thing we do have is Frrrozen Hot Chocolate from Serendipity 3 NYC.   Seriously, just look at that, it is heaven in a mug! If you have never had, trust me you are missing out! However, I thought to myself, I doubt that this is what he was thinking when choosing this topic.  Saddened, because I could write a heck of a lot on this topic.
The second concept that popped in my brain was the movie Serendipity starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale.  Another topic I can get into, being a huge John Cusack fan.  This movie was all about two people having a chance meeting one night and always feeling like they were meant to be together.  Of course, they ultimately re-find each other just before they are both about to marry other people and it’s a happy ending (well, for them, not their jilted fiances.) Below shows one of my favorite scenes, because Jeremy Piven discusses what it takes to be happy in life and love. As he explains, you need to be a “jackass!”

But once again, I figured this was not what Talk-A-Vino had in mind.  Plus, I was a bit perplexed on how to combine being a “jackass” with wine.  So I had to go old school- well sort of, because who owns dictionaries/encyclopedias any more.  I Googled Serendipity looking for some help that would provide direction for me and this blog.  There were 2,070,000 entries found in about 28 seconds. Wow! According to Google, serendipity is the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.   When I read the definition again, it hit me- there was no choice, I was going back to the “jackass” theme because you know what, Mike and I ARE jackasses!  We decided to enter the wine industry.
That last statement can be taken two ways.  Either we are idiots for getting into this very competitive, extremely time consuming and money engrossing industry OR we “are out there and trying to make it happen.”  I choose to believe the second affirmation.
 When Mike and I began dating, we would cook dinner on Friday nights and we would choose a bottle of wine usually by the label. (come on, you know how cute animals are on labels and most novice oenophiles start off that way) Boy, we have come a long way from then. But back then we traversed the typical road to wine. We started with whites, graduated to reds and we ultimately no longer just drank wine, we fell in love with it.  We have been together over 20 years and being vintners and having a winery has been a dream of ours for a large portion of that time.  That’s why I am choosing to go with the later sentiment.  We are pursuing our passion and that is what being a jackass is all about.  So you see, it was by chance that we found wine, and it most definitely is a happy ending. Here’s hoping that you all find the jackass in you!  That is Serendipity.
~Slainte!