Chapter 32
“This restaurant is gorgeous,” I say, taking in the tasting room with stacked wine bottles stretching up to the ceiling. It feels like a library of wine, complete with rolling ladders.
Gideon catches my gaze, smiling as he hangs up his quilted jacket.
He looks like he stepped out of GQ magazine with his turtleneck, dark wash jeans, and Chelsea boots.
He drapes my coat on the back of my chair, then gestures for me to sit.
As he pushes in my chair, I take in the candlelit table set for two with four wineglasses at each place and think about how much I like being with Gideon.
“I’m Jason, your sommelier,” a man announces as he enters the room, setting down a modest charcuterie board. “What types of wine do we usually buy for ourselves?”
“Pinot, Cab, Tempranillo,” I share.
“I’m more of a bourbon guy, but enjoy a bold red,” Gideon says while tracing over my hand with his finger. He’s always touching me in some way or another. I like it.
“Are there any notes that really turn you off, like cherry or cinnamon?” Jason asks.
“I don’t know. I just really like wine.” I shrug.
“This isn’t a pass or fail situation,” Jason reassures.
“I’m here to curate the best experience for you both.
The local wineries are known for having a similar profile to California wines.
One of the perks of global warming is that we can grow more varieties here than we used to.
We carry any top-tier wine you could want.
Don’t feel like you have to drink local. ”
“I’d prefer to stay in the red family and am open to anything.” I look to Gideon for his thoughts.
“Let’s add a couple to the tasting that we won’t be able to get anywhere else,” Gideon adds.
“We have some exclusive vintages I’d love to add to your tasting.” Jason smiles. “To set expectations, what’s your price per bottle ceiling?”
“Let’s focus on unique and rare and skip name brands,” Gideon casually says.
Jason hesitates. Gideon is sort of saying he doesn’t care, but with wine, you can easily run up a bill.
“I trust you,” Gideon says and our sommelier nods, then leaves.
“You’re the fancy one,” I tease.
“I splurge on experiences,” he says, grabbing an olive from the board. “Of course, I like nice things, but I value experiences over possessions.”
Adam is the exact opposite. Images of various gifts he has bought me flood my mind. Jewelry, clothes, furniture … he’s always buying me things. He’s a things guy.
Our sommelier returns with four bottles of wine.
Decanting the first bottle, he says, “This is a Cabernet Franc. The grapes were grown in Traverse City, and the winery is family-owned.”
I ask, “We’re not going to have four bottles of wine tonight, right?”
“We could do that if you want.” Jason laughs. “But once I pour your glasses, I’m going to take this to another table that also ordered glasses of the same bottle.”
“Okay, good. I was about to say that this would be the most aggressive wine tasting I’ve ever done.”
Gideon chuckles, and Jason pours the first glass for each of us.
“These glasses are beautiful!” I say, admiring how thin yet robust the glass is as I smell for the notes.
“A local glassblower does them,” Jason shares. Then, he spends the next few minutes telling us all about this type of grape while we take our first sips. “I can send in a server if you want to talk about food, but we have a note that you might want to let the chef run wild.”
Gideon looks over at me. “Kurt called ahead. One of his culinary school friends is the executive chef and owner.”
“How cool! And this wine is epic,” I say after a sip.
“If the chef’s choice is on the table,” he says, looking at Jason, “we’ll do it.”
Jason leaves, and Gideon looks more relaxed than he’s been all evening.
“Are the stresses of the day fading away?”
“I’m not going to lie; I was stressed about planning this weekend.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because you deserve the best.”
I internally melt at that comment and sip my wine.
“I’ll be the glassblower in our movie,” he says after a moment, smiling.
I giggle as an avalanche of small bites and plates arrive at our table. As we make our way through the tasting, Jason serves us a Tempranillo from Portugal and a Montepulciano from a small-batch vineyard in Italy.
“This is unreal,” I say, savoring a sip. “I thought I’d tried every wine in Italy when I studied abroad there, but it appears I missed one.”
“Italy. One of my favorite countries.” Gideon smiles at me, then takes a sip of his wine. “I wish I would have done that … studying abroad while I was in school. When else in your life are you ever going to be able to live in a foreign country for months with barely any responsibility?”
I laugh at its truth. I had more free time in Italy than I’ve ever had.
“It made me really appreciate different cultures, and I need to travel more.” I pause, then share, “I haven’t left the country since then.”
Gideon smirks, and it reminds me of Adam.
“You are not taking me to a foreign country on our next date.”
“I’m getting another date?” He chuckles before sipping his wine, and I smirk.
After more food and laughter, Jason returns with a pinot noir from Portland. Dining with Gideon is on a whole other level. It’s intimate and educational and truly an experience I will treasure forever.
“Thank you for this.” I squeeze his hand.
He leans in, placing a soft kiss on my lips. “What was your favorite wine tonight?”
“That’s such a hard decision.”
“You liked all of them … equally?”
“I would drink all of them again, for sure. I guess the one I could see myself wanting the most is the pinot noir. After a long day of work, opening that bottle and sipping on it would be a dream.”
“Is there anything else I can get the both of you?” Jason asks.
“Can you add a bottle of the pinot to the tab? And if the chef has a minute, I’d love to thank him for the experience.”
I glance at my phone and notice it’s after eleven o’clock in the evening. Shit. That was the fastest couple hours of my life.
“You’re really setting the bar high for dates.” I lean toward him, kissing him softly.
“You’re worth it,” he whispers, pulling my face in for another kiss.
“I hear we hated everything on the menu,” a man in a chef’s coat jokes, entering the private room. “I’m Tony.”
Gideon smiles. “Chef, everything was outstanding. I’m glad Kurt told us to drop by.”
“Compared to Maverick, this is some local deli shit.” Tony leans on the table.
“Nonsense. There was art in every dish. Truly a gift,” Gideon praises. I like how he interacts with everyone.
Adam. He never spoke to people like this when we were out. He always has an assumed sense of status—a superiority.
“I appreciate it.” Tony smiles. “Tell your Chicago friends to come visit.”
“Will do, man. I wanted to make sure we said thank you for an amazing night before we left.”
The use of “we” has me feeling all sorts of ways. It could be the wine, but I don’t hate the idea of “we.”
Jason reenters as Tony leaves, dropping a bill.
“Does that say five thousand?” I whisper-shout.
“You’re the fancy one,” he pulls me in for a kiss. I peek at the receipt, and the bottle of pinot is three thousand dollars.
Holy shit.
“It was a business dinner,” he says almost sarcastically, then kisses my temple. “Hope to do it again soon.”
“You’re reckless.” I laugh, seeing him place his corporate card down again.
“It’s my company.”
Curious, I ask, “How are you going to justify this dinner to accounting?” I think back to Adam’s comment about how Real-ity isn’t going to make its projections. He could at least cut expenses if the revenue isn’t going to be there.
“Easy. A large check for our development fund needs to hit our account shortly after the dinner. Don’t worry, I’m already expecting one from a new investor.”