The moments in which everything changed etch themselves into my mind, never to leave. On September 11, 2001, I was living in New York City. On March 13, 2020, I was (and am still) living in Los Angeles. Things have changed, as never before, it seems.
We’ve been indoors, in our apartment in downtown L.A., since March 13. We’ve taken one stroll in the neighborhood — and need to do that more, with masks — and late last month I made a quick trip to CVS for a prescription. Otherwise, we are doing our part, happily. California’s political leaders have responded well to the pandemic, as have most of the state’s citizens.
On March 12, I had lunch with Joel Aiken, a winemaker from California (he’s featured in this Wine Talk). I met him and Rusty Eddy at NoMad , in downtown Los Angeles. The hotel occupies the former headquarters of The Bank of Italy; the building was constructed in the 1920’s, and it’s gorgeous. When you are next in L.A., and when this pandemic is under control, book a table at the restaurant and enjoy the splendor.
I liked speaking with Aiken; he’s a seasoned winemaker, and his conversational manner is relaxed and thoughtful. We discussed his academic education (see the Wine Talk), his beginnings in wine, his tenure at Beaulieu Vineyard, and his current main venture, Scattered Peaks (a project with Derek Benham).
We tasted through several wines at lunch, including the two Scattered Peaks Cabs — the 2017 Cabernet ($40 retail) and the 2017 Small Lot Reserve ($125 retail). Aiken also brought along a 2009 BV, the Maestro Collection Ranch No. 2.
The several hours at the table passed quickly, beginning with a Riesling and ending with espresso. Aiken and Eddy were scheduled to conduct an online wine course in the early evening, I had some work to do, so we parted ways. Until, it turned out, dinner.
Once back home, I recalled a brief exchange during lunch about restaurants in the area — Aiken and Eddy wanted to get a reservation in the neighborhood (their hotel was near our apartment). Angela and I had been wanting to eat at Nightshade, and I knew that she would enjoy meeting both men, so we decided to meet there after their course.
It turned out that the meal that evening, on March 12, was our final one before COVID-19 locked us away. We were already not shaking hands in greeting, and neither were hugs in the mix. I miss both of those things, and I miss sitting with others in a communal space, sharing wine and talk and being human.
What a nice memory. The company, the wine, the food…it’s everything we’re all missing while sheltered in place (well, maybe not the wine…). I do hope we can all do it again soon. There’s so much about the L.A. restaurant scene that I realize I should have been paying more attention to for quite some time.