Jordan Estate Tales - Volume 9, 2014 - 29

tHE Gift of WiNE
(and tears)

M

y parents were married in 1980. When their
30th anniversary approached in November
2010, I knew I wanted to give them a special
gift-and it had to be a wine. I was born and raised
in Alexander Valley and grew up trying sips from my
parents' glasses. Wine has always been in our lives, but
which wine was worthy of uncorking to celebrate three
decades of marriage?
I started asking my mother a few subtle questions,
hoping to get some shopping ideas without blowing
my cover. The best question I asked: "What's the most
memorable wine you've ever had?"
Her response? For their wedding, a friend had gifted
them a 1976 Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon-Jordan's first
vintage, a wine far older than me. I did some research
and found the 1976 Jordan tasting notes on its website,
but no purchase price. I wasn't sure they would sell me
a bottle even if I asked them to. But lucky for me, I went
to school with Jordan Winemaker Rob Davis's daughter,
Andréa.
With his help, I was able to secure one of the few bottles
of 1976 left in the cellar.

When they opened the gift box on their 30th anniversary
night, my mother cried. My dad kept clearing his throat.
"Oh, wow, wow," he repeated over and over. It felt
so good to see them moved beyond words. Mission
accomplished.
- Alex Neureuter

BEHiND tHE NAME

I

first became aware of Jordan Cabernet
Sauvignon with the 1976 vintage.
At that time, to me, it was the best
domestic red wine I had tasted.
When my wife and I were married, we
used to drink Jordan with dinner all
the time. While my wife was pregnant,
we contemplated whether or not to
name our son after someone on either
side of our families-traditional names
like Jonathan, Michael and Christopher,
or even Ira Jr. Then, we thought back to
that wonderful Cabernet we'd always
enjoyed over dinner and said, "That's it.
We'll name him Jordan."
We were on a good creative roll, so we
started discussing middle names. Go
traditional? Again, that didn't feel right.
We wanted a middle name that had an
emotional connection to the first name.
I thought of the Alexander Valley where
the Jordan grapes came from, and the
baby-naming project was complete:
Jordan Alexander Kaye.

When Tom Jordan heard our story, he
invited us to the winery for a private tour.
Jordan Alexander was just a baby at the
time, and we decided to make it our first
family trip to wine country.
Unfortunately for my wife, baby Jordan
was very fussy that day, and she decided
to wait outside the winery chateau with
the crying baby while I enjoyed a private
tour and tasting of our favorite wines.
I must admit: I loved every minute of the
tasting, and felt a little guilty. Afterward,
Mr. Jordan sent us two cases of a 1980s
vintage Cabernet Sauvignon, signed by
Rob Davis.
One of my fondest memories was sharing
a bottle of Jordan with my son on his 21st
birthday. Jordan wine is now our family
tradition too.
- Ira Kaye

29
http://www.jordanwinery.com/wines/cabernet_sauvignon/vintages/1976
Jordan Estate Tales - Volume 9, 2014

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